French and German Farmers are not happy with their governments

[Vambram]

French farmers threaten to intensify protests over taxes, regulation

France’s largest farm union is considering staging nationwide protests in the weeks to come amid anger over a government tax on tractor fuel, competition from cheap imports, and excessive restrictions…

www.france24.com

France’s largest farm union is considering staging nationwide protests in the weeks to come amid anger over a government tax on tractor fuel, competition from cheap imports, and excessive restrictions and red tape.
France’s largest farm union FNSEA is considering nationwide protests in the coming weeks, a spokesperson said on Friday, potentially expanding action by farmers in the southwest who have blocked a highway and dumped manure on public buildings.
Like their German counterparts who held a massive demonstration over the weekend with tractors rumbling towards Berlin from every corner of the country, French farmers are mainly protesting against taxes and regulation.
The FSNEA will decide whether to organize nationwide action next Thursday after meeting local branch representatives and different farm sectors, the spokesperson said.
Hundreds of tractors and farmers from across southwest France have been protesting in the southwestern city of Toulouse this week, causing traffic jams.

 

[RileyG]

This isn't surprising.

 

[Arcangl86]

I mean it's France. They protest at the drop of a croissant.

 

[7thKeeper]

It's France. Protests and strikes are par for the course there. Same as strikes over here, they are a normal tool of unions against policies they do not agree with.

 

[Vambram]

It's France. Protests and strikes are par for the course there. Same as strikes over here, they are a normal tool of unions against policies they do not agree with.

The farmers in France and Germany are have official unions??

 

[Arcangl86]

The farmers in France and Germany are have official unions??

Yes. In France it's the Fédération Nationale des Syndicats d'Exploitants Agricoles, which is an umbrella organization of local farmers unions.

 

[7thKeeper]

The farmers in France and Germany are have official unions??

... You've got to be bloody kidding. You... It's the first sentence in the portion you quoted in your OP!

Edit: I'm sorry, but I seriously need to add this, why did you post this if you didn't even read it yourself?

 

[Vambram]

... You've got to be bloody kidding. You... It's the first sentence in the portion you quoted in your OP!

Edit: I'm sorry, but I seriously need to add this, why did you post this if you didn't even read it yourself?

I did read the article. However, there are times when my memory fails to remember everything that I have read from 18 hours ago.
I apologize for my mistake. Please forgive me.

 

[Vambram]

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/frances-farmer-lobby-turns-up-heat-government-before-talks-2024-01-22/

 

[Tuur]

Staff Edit

The idea that a law of God is immutable is the very point found in the Declaration of Independence and for a good reason: If all laws are a creation of man, then all laws can be amended or abolished. If, however, there are laws given by God, they cannot be amended or abolished by man, and to go against them is the violation of those laws. If all laws are by men, then the colonists in revolt against Britain were in the wrong. But if King George III and Prime Minister North had violated laws of God, then it was they who were in the wrong and the colonists were justified in seeking relief.

I won't bore you by quoting that portion of the Declaration of Independence, which you likely know better than I do, anyway. And I know you're an atheist with no belief in deity, and by atheist belief if there is no deity to make a law, then all laws are creations of men and subject to revocation or amendment. But by an atheist standpoint it's also hard to argue that any right exists at all.

I'm not sure this difference in view on laws is reconcilable, as it hinges on the belief in deity. But to one who believes in deity, there are those laws which man cannot amend simply because they were not man's to begin with.

 

[Hans Blaster]

The idea that a law of God is immutable is the very point found in the Declaration of Independence and for a good reason: If all laws are a creation of man, then all laws can be amended or abolished. If, however, there are laws given by God, they cannot be amended or abolished by man, and to go against them is the violation of those laws. If all laws are by men, then the colonists in revolt against Britain were in the wrong. But if King George III and Prime Minister North had violated laws of God, then it was they who were in the wrong and the colonists were justified in seeking relief.

I won't bore you by quoting that portion of the Declaration of Independence, which you likely know better than I do, anyway. And I know you're an atheist with no belief in deity, and by atheist belief if there is no deity to make a law, then all laws are creations of men and subject to revocation or amendment. But by an atheist standpoint it's also hard to argue that any right exists at all.

I'm not sure this difference in view on laws is reconcilable, as it hinges on the belief in deity. But to one who believes in deity, there are those laws which man cannot amend simply because they were not man's to begin with.

Don't confuse rhetoric for facts. The DoI is rhetoric and it isn't based on your god.

 

[Tuur]

Don't confuse rhetoric for facts. The DoI is rhetoric and it isn't based on your god.

Yet you held that all laws are subject to amendment.

 

[dzheremi]

I used to be an anarchist and then I realized how my finances sometimes force me to be pro-Little Caesar's Pizza. Not wanting to be a hypocrite, I now identify as a pizza monarchist, but don't let my political fantasies extend beyond my dinner table.

As to what the French and Germans are doing, I can't help but look at this as a very clear demonstration of why evil forces within society do not want workers to unionize, and why we here in the USA (where I live) should take unionization as a given/pre-requisite for serious, stable employment (i.e., "Oh, company X does not allow/heavily discourages workers from unionizing? I don't need to work there, then"), rather than continuing to buy into the owning class's arguments against them. Union membership in the USA is mostly pretty (a)pathetic, and we have not had a significant increase in real wages since the late 1970s. Coincidence? I and my simultaneously regal and disgusting pizza beg to differ! Vive la France! Deutsche Kartoffeln über alles!