French and international media have been overemphasizing the violent looting and even arson at public buildings that has, in fact, occurred. There has been far less reported about the close to 800,000 people (students, firemen, nurses, lawyers and yellow vests), who have tried to peacefully express their outrage at their collapsing living standards, ruined by billions spent on Ukraine, rocketing energy prices, etc.

While provocateurs operated in “black bloc” mode, and gangs of looters sacked the commercial areas of several cities, especially Paris, Lyon, Marseille and Limoges, orderly deployments by the high school students and yellow vests also occurred, and got massive public support. There are people who strive for solidarity against the injustices, and not division.

One example is the heroic intervention of a 400-person youth orchestra, the “Orchestra of the New World” (inspired by Dvorak) that played in the midst of the giant crowds, demonstrating completely legally at Place de la République in Paris, among other places. The orchestra was founded five years ago by Etienne Jarrier, a young clarinetist and amateur orchestra conductor, who did it for the specific aim of using “music, an incredible medium that everybody understands and which can assemble people. (…) The idea is to use it to give strength and voice to the social and climate struggles.”