On 16 April 2019, a catastrophic fire engulfed the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, with the fire damaging the roof and historical art pieces and other artefacts present at the time. President Emmanuel Macron launched a fund-raising campaign which brought pledges of funds from the rich community, bringing donation amounts close 1 billion dollars in just 3 days. The president of France, at the same time, cancelled his speech on TV in which he was due to address the long going yellow vest movement, a rising protest against social inequality in the country. At glance there would not be much correlation with the yellow vest movement and the pledge to rebuild Notre Dame. But there is something much deeper than just two movements and prioritising.
Macron has been accused of making the false choice of not helping the poor. The yellow vest movement was started by the workers of lower wage middle incomes who pay some of the highest tax bills in Europe and the increased fuel prices. It all started with the 1979 Oil crisis, which led to the government deciding to use diesel to recuperate costs, which henceforth led France to having one of the highest consumer rates of diesel consumption in the world. The movement took place when Macron’s commitment to curbing climate change was with higher carbon taxes.
When there was money raised within the span of weeks, with rich society donating millions to rebuild the Notre Dame Cathedral, protests broke out again, with backlash from the public because of the money not wanting to help the poor. The protests may seem of two different issues but there are other factors that require some close attention, one of the major reasons of the backlash would be because of 60% tax deductions the rich get for the support of social purposes, which was linked by many protesters during the protest. Soon after, there were statements from many of the donors stated publicly that they deny any of the tax deduction they would be provided. It was all an example of how there is a stark difference between the rich and the poor and if put in effort there could be aid to the minority, who are struggling to make two ends meet. The protest which stood against the social inequality can also been seen in the history as the famous French revolution, an event in the modern European history that took place in the 1789 against the rising monarchical and feudal system in the country. A synchrony to the current government can be seen wherein the common masses have been giving the president the title ‘’ president for the elite’’, a label that had been long ago given to the monarchs of France. The yellow vest movement would be a small-time agitation against the tax reforms in fact the problem got worse when the nominal head of a country failed to negotiate or listen to its people, the same community who vouched for them during the elections. France always gained its power from the working-class community, democracy exists because of the belief that everyone’s voice will be heard, per se to listen to their demands and come with a better and equal society, to negotiate and to make sure everyone has an equal opportunity. The nation had come so far in believing ‘’ liberty, equality and fraternity’’, for now it seems like history is repeating itself, the people are once again protesting for their rights and inequality in the society.