MBC documentary explores French youth protests driven by inequality and budget cuts

An MBC production team traveled to France to investigate why youths have been confronting police for nearly two months following the Macron government's implementation of tax cuts for the wealthy and welfare budget slashes. The upcoming broadcast, scheduled for November 10, examines how social polarization has deepened as the national debt reached approximately 3.59 trillion euros.

Photo provided by MBC

The broadcast is scheduled for Tuesday, November 10, at 10:20 PM.

France has been engulfed in massive anger for 55 days. As the 143-year-old Limoges City Hall burned and collapsed and looting occurred across the country, international media outlets have been daily consuming images of "riots." However, the reality in France witnessed directly by the MBC production team beyond the flames and tear gas is entirely different. Why are French youths confronting the police in the streets for nearly two months? The team entered the heart of these French protests.

In high schools in Créteil on the outskirts of Paris, including Lycée Saint-Exupéry—named after the author of the fairy tale that reminds adults of what is most important—the harsh reality of the adult world has been revealed, proving the "equal opportunity" promised to be a lie. While France is known as a land of equality with the Baccalauréat and free university education, this ideal educational environment is merely a "story from another world" for students in impoverished, underdeveloped areas. Unlike schools in wealthy central Paris districts, high school students in the Créteil area face a shocking reality of leaking hallways, swarms of rats, and ceilings collapsing during lunch. With a severe shortage of teachers causing classes to stop, students eventually poured into the streets this past October, declaring that "education is a right, not a privilege," amidst the inequality and indifference neglected by adults.

When the French government blockaded Place de la Bastille, a symbol of the Great Revolution, citizens gathered on the outskirts of Paris. The protest sites witnessed by the production team were far from the images of "riots" seen in domestic media. Instead, a scene of peaceful solidarity unfolded, where workers, parents, and the elderly stood behind the youth, dancing, singing, and encouraging one another. Citizens even worried about the safety of the production team from Korea, handing them artificial tears and masks to wash away the tear gas.

However, as the sun set, the streets instantly transformed into a battlefield. Tear gas exploded in various locations, and intense confrontations continued between heavily armed police and protesters. What exactly drives ordinary citizens to clash directly with public power every night? The team recorded the vivid scenes in the midst of protests thick with tear gas smoke.

The young people met on these French streets are all experiencing a crisis of survival. Forced into survival-based part-time jobs to afford murderous rent and living expenses, French youth face a difficult reality. Citing fiscal deficits, the Macron government significantly slashed welfare and public service budgets for youth and ordinary citizens. Conversely, the government implemented so-called "tax cuts for the wealthy," such as reducing corporate tax rates for large companies and abolishing the wealth tax, in hopes of a "trickle-down effect," but social polarization and conflict have deepened.

As the Macron government, which claims to be centrist, wavers, the far-right party RN is gaining political benefits, transforming France into an extreme battlefield between the far-left and the far-right. French youth are crying out, saying, "There is no political force anywhere that represents us."

France is a land of "equality" and "tolerance." While called a major global economic power and an advanced social welfare state, France's national debt has reached approximately 3.59 trillion euros, or 119% of its GDP. Amidst fiscal crises, austerity, and inequality, why has the reality of France changed so much? Why have the youth taken to the streets, and what is it they truly want to change? "Angry Masses, Entering a Shaking France," which looks into the reality of a shaking French democracy, will be broadcast on Tuesday, November 10, at 10:20 PM.

Read the original (Korean)