The Plague of Democracy: The Yellow Vest Outbreak in France

Democracy is a charade imposed by the elite upon a docile people to keep them docile. It was never intended that the stinking proletariat should actually decide anything. But universal education and a rising standard of living, both prerequisites of a tech-based industrial economy, have changed all that. Thus, as we observed of Britain:

... by the end of the 20th Century, something like half of all school leavers were entering post-secondary education, mostly graduating with at least a bachelor's degree, and often a master's or doctoral degree too. This combined with the ease with which the Internet has made it possible for anyone to disseminate their political opinions widely and to challenge the political narratives of the mainstream media has resulted in the emergence of a threat of genuinely popular democracy. For the first time, the people have opinions on, and interests in, almost every aspect of public policy and moreover they were beginning loudly to demand that their voices be heard and their interests be served.

Moreover, due to increased prosperity, the proles are well fed if not overfed and thus match the elite classes in stature, health, and appearance. They even smell no different, and indeed, hardly smell at all.

In Britain the resultant outbreak of democracy has led in recent months to the collapse of Theresa May's Prime Ministerial credibility and the fragmentation not only her government, but of the governing Tory Party. As the Daily Mail relates:

Desperate Theresa May will plead for MPs to back her Brexit Bill in a crucial speech tonight - as her hopes of success fade. The PM will make the case for her 'bold' package in a speech in Westminster this afternoon, urging politicians to get on board with her plan. However, MailOnline understands that chief whip Julian Smith warned the PM that she is staring down the barrel of defeat.

Meantime, across the Chanel, France's traditionally stupendously arrogant elite are faced with outrageous public contempt from the pestilential and never relenting Yellow Vests, who, it is reported:

...have already succeeded in shattering the capitalist myth of “representative democracy” in the age of neo-liberalism. Their uprising has unmasked the lies and violence of republican government, as well as the duplicity of representative institutions like political parties, bureaucratic unions and the mainstream media.

Moreover:

...the Yellow Vests represent the first time in history that a spontaneous, self-organized social movement has ever held out for half a year in spite of repression while retaining its autonomy, resisting cooptation, bureaucratization and sectarian splits. All the while, standing up to full-scale government repression and targeted propaganda, it poses a real, human alternative to the dehumanization of society under the rule of the capitalist “market.”

Vivre Les gilet jaunes.