I have no special knowledge about the subject, but the incoherent mix we're seeing in French riots of anti-climate, anti-immigrant and "drain the swamp" anti-technocrat slogans certainly mirrors other, Kremlin-supported efforts.
Given what we know and are learning now about Russia and the Carbon Lobby's connections to Trump, Brexit and the European Far Right, it seems almost willfully naive to assume that this protest against Macron and his climate policies was entirely or even primarily organic.
Indeed, given the facts, it doesn't take a conspiracy theory to say that headlines like these are extremely useful for those interests:
nytimes.com/2018/12/06/wor…
nytimes.com/2018/12/06/wor…
Note, for example, the now conventional wisdom that comparatively moderate fuel taxes were a terrible policy:
"increasingly violent protests signaled the perils and political headwinds governments in wealthier countries may face when that transition is ill-conceived."
"increasingly violent protests signaled the perils and political headwinds governments in wealthier countries may face when that transition is ill-conceived."
Note that I'm not claiming that these taxes were well designed.
The point is that much larger changes to people's live occur regularly without being followed by violent riots.
it'd be very interesting for someone to study what the bots amplified leading up to this.
The point is that much larger changes to people's live occur regularly without being followed by violent riots.
it'd be very interesting for someone to study what the bots amplified leading up to this.
