"Let them eat cake" not resonating well among The Great Unwashed

'Your Majesty, the peasants don't have enough bread to eat, what is Your recommendation?'  Historians disagree that the wife of King Louis XVI of France, Marie Antoinette, actually replied 'then let them eat cake' (brioche, I believe was the actual confection she suggested), but there can be no doubt that the French elite at the time of famine within their realm around 1800 held their constituents in poor regard.  And remember, things did not go well for these elites shortly thereafter, what with guillotines, pitch forks, torches and stormings of the Bastille coming to fruition as a result of this indifference on behalf of the disgruntled proletarian's 'betters.'

History repeats itself, or so they say.  We now see a modern day French president, insistent upon foisting an unpopular green agenda on those who can least afford it, jacking up fuel taxes in order to; a) fund the many hare brained green programs that clearly cost jobs, resources and tax money, and b) discourage the Great Unwashed from buying artificially high priced gasoline and diesel fuel, thereby funneling them into turning towards higher priced green policies.

I myself lived in Europe for the better part of 6 years during my two stints in the U.S. Army back in the 1970's and early 1980's: I saw for myself how the average Europeans lived their lives.  A typical West German family was jammed into an apartment (nobody except the elites owned private homes) of perhaps 800 square feet.  A pack of Marlboro cigarettes cost a German about the equivalent of $2.50/pack, when American G.I's could buy these same cigarettes in the PX for 14 cents a pack.  Hence a healthy black market for entrepreneurial folk aware of this situation.  And this was nearly 40 years ago.  Similarly, a liter of gasoline was approximately $1.00/liter, or $4.00/gallon - 40 years ago.  The average price in Europe for gasoline is now around $7.00/gallon.

The average German family was forced to go to the market every day for food - their tiny, dorm-sized refrigerators scarcely had room enough for a few eggs and a liter of milk.  No such things as deep freezers for Europeans - they took up way too much space which was desperately needed for elbow room.  And as for automobiles, the average German walked or rode a bike to where they needed to be; only the very affluent among the holy poly could pop for a Mercedes Benz, and some hoping to break into the upper crust could afford maybe a Citroen CV, popularly known as the 'Ente,' or 'Duck.'  You've seen these little death traps on occasion, not much more than a riding lawn mower with a windshield.

The standard of living in Europe in 1976 was akin to what we in the U.S. would call 'below the poverty line.'  And this was among West Germans, one of the most 'affluent' countries in Europe at the time.  The average G.I. was paid peanuts back then, and they lived like kings compared to the average German.

Things have not improved over the last 40 years.  They have in fact gotten worse; unemployment has been in the double digits for generations, crime is sky rocketing out of control owing to unchecked immigration of millions of barbarians flooding in from Africa and the Middle East.  And now President Macron of France believes that he and his elite buddies can eliminate fossil fuel from their constituent's lives and live in peace and harmony within a Green paradise.

These elites are heading for troubles.  Paris is burning 24 hours a day now.  It won't be much longer before the Great Unwashed have had enough, and storm that Bastille yet again, and break those guillotines out of mothballs.