Yellow Vests protest Notre Dame reconstruction

https://www.wsj.com/articles/notre-dame-pledges-from-frances-wealthy-re-energize-yellow-vest-protesters-11555776387?mod=hp_lead_pos1

“Nearly $1 billion in reconstruction pledges have poured in since a fire tore through the famed cathedral’s roof Monday evening, bringing down its majestic spire and shocking the world. Protesters taking to the streets Saturday for the 23rd consecutive weekend of yellow-vest marches, however, decried the hypocrisy of elites who they said were willing to mobilize large sums to rebuild the cathedral while allowing France’s working class to languish.”

“This is a false controversy,” Bernard Arnault, who heads LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE , told shareholders this week, defending an announcement that his family and the luxury-goods company it controls would contribute €200 million to Notre Dame. “It’s quite concerning to see that in France you are criticized even when you do something that is clearly in the public interest,” he said."

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Yellow-vest demonstrators set fire to motorbikes as they protested for a 23rd week in Paris on Saturday.](https://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/S1-CI987_YELLOW_OR_20190420100356.jpg)

The more time goes by, the harder I find it to take the French seriously in any aspect of their society. I suppose now they are mad that donors want to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in worker salaries to rebuild this building.

it’s kind of like how people will waste money on their pets but don’t give a shit about the bum in the street. I treat them all fairly at the very least!

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It is disgusting that money is given for old buildings when the poor languish. France has a great poverty epidemic dating to the statue of liberty times.

People should stfu and not worry about how much money someone else has and how they spend it.

There are very simple legislative fixes that could all but eliminate poverty without taking money from anyone, but the elites are too afraid to implement.

Why don’t we just make poverty illegal.

Huh? We can end poverty (and all its associated side effects like hunger and disease) by passing a few very simple laws?

Pray tell. We need to get world leaders on this ASAP!!!

THE WORLD NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT THESE EASY FIXES THAT WILL CURE US FROM ALL OUR PAIN!!!

Well, by simply realigning the wealth parameters for “middle class” to a lower level, you could lift millions out of poverty. Yet the elites are too fearful to take this step.

says every monarch and feudalist in the history of mankind

y’all americans need to stop equating money earned through merit and money earned through rent seeking. while not every capitalist today is a rent seeker, any capitalist that has far beyond what he and his family will ever need is by definition a rent seeker, even if the capital was earned through merit initially.

The concern of this thread was that Yellow Vest was protesting an action that would in fact reduce inequality and contribute to France’s national interests. You should support things that align with your goals, rather than insist on the policy form that exists only in your mental manifesto, if indeed it exists. Other suggestions, like implementing other redistributive policies, are not relevant to this protest.

Are you saying that if we simply redefine the “middle class” as $0-150k per year" instead of $50k-$200k per year (E.G.), then we can, by definition, eliminate poverty?

That would be the first step. Eventually you could realign the “upper class” so that it includes the homeless, among others.

lol hows the rebuilding of a church improve inequality and french national interests. sounds like a waste of money! whats the roi on this? it better make me say notre DAYUMMMMM!!!

change the definition! change the world!

people arent starving! they are fasting!! builds character!

They should rebuild into a casino and night club, amirite6

Nery, French workers and artists will be hired to rebuild the church, and likely in larger numbers than before. Furthermore, having attractive sights in the city will create more jobs through tourism. These monetary contributions are only positive for people who choose to work for the benefits.

From a non-financial perspective, the cathedral is a landmark and national symbol and source of national pride for the French. How can the French continue to profess their cultural and historical value while refusing to maintain their own national icons?

We can address the inequality debate without giving credibility to violent anarchist groups whose agenda is to disrupt productive activities, rather than to further the values they claim to espouse.

trump tower notre-dame

waittttt. but church so borign though

Huh, I thought all bitcoin did was mack on girls in the church. Need clarification now.

important to note is that the church was going to be rebuilt by the state anyway so the fact that the rich are paying for it is definitely a net benefit to the average dude.

on a side note, does anyone actually expect a mob of broadly uneducated protesters to fully grasp anything they are protesting against or for?