SINCE EARLY NOVEMBER, France has been plagued by swarms of yellow jackets. Not the kind, mind you, that occupy hives. These yellow jackets instead occupy, usually on Saturdays, the country's boulevards, highways, and traffic circles. As France enters the third month of protests, the economic cost of the movement known as the gilets jaunes — the French phrase for the high-visibility vests worn by the demonstrators — has been estimated at several billion euros. More staggering has been the human cost: the barriers at traffic intersections, as well as demonstrations in cities, have led to 10 deaths and hundreds of injuries.
The movement's targets are many, ranging from the government's proposed increase in gasoline taxes (meant to help France transition to green forms of energy) to the prospect of continued decreases in a typical household's purchasing power. There are deeper causes, as well, in particular the growing divide between the nation's so-called “métropoles” and “périphéries” — the thriving urban centers and withering rural and exurban regions. While the former welcome a highly educated and cosmopolitan elite, the latter shelter a struggling and alienated lower middle class and working class.
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