Featured Image Credit: @maximedaviau via Storyful. This Is Fine Meme
Topics: News, World News, France
Charisa Bossinakis
Topics: News, World News, France
A bizarre viral clip shows French people ignoring fires as the world literally burns around them.
As protestors spilled out onto the streets marching against President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reforms, things took an ugly turn yesterday (March 27) when the demonstration reached its most defiant day.
The protest quickly turned violent after rioters set fire to the Bordeaux Town Hall.
While the once peaceful protest seemed like it descended into utter chaos, some French people are completely nonplussed by the movement.
Advert
One video, posted to social media, showed locals sitting outside near the Place de la Victoire in Bordeaux enjoying a vino or two as bonfires on the street burn.
A woman is even seen approaching a table quite close to the fire before sitting down for service.
The video strikes an eerie resemblance to the ‘This Is Fine’ meme - you know, the one of the defeatist dog silently drinking his tea as the world around him is engulfed in flames?
The video left many puzzled, as one person wrote: “It’s so chaotic but at the same time it gives me peace.”
Another commented: “This is a prime example of humanity; the world burns while we just allow it.”
A third said: “When you asked to be dined near a heated patio.”
While another shared: “Looks like a clip from a movie.”
A series of general strikes and demonstrations began in the country in late January, organized by citizens opposing the 2023 French pension reform bill.
The bill, which the Borne government introduced, increases the retirement age from 62 to 64 years old.
The protests have led to widespread disruption, as millions of people have rallied in the streets.
BBC News reported that more than one million people took to the streets across France yesterday, with 119,000 in Paris, according to figures from the Interior Ministry.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told the CNews Channel that 903 fires were lit in the streets of Paris yesterday, as per AlJazeera.
Around 441 officials were injured, marking it as one of the most violent days since the demonstrations began almost two months ago.
“Anger is growing,” a 48-year-old striking worker told The Guardian.
“This has gone far beyond pensions, it is about our political system. The president has executive powers that need to be rethought. It’s about protecting France’s whole postwar system of social protection.
“It’s about hanging on to our welfare state, as Macron tries to unpick it – from housing benefits to the unemployment system. French people are well informed and politicized, they won’t let this pass.”