I’m asking as someone who legit doesn’t know, how does the French government respond to protesters? In the US at least we get shot at, maimed, felony records that lock you out of the job market forever, all kinds of stuff. Protesting in the US can be a life or death thing. Striking is also very difficult at a scale big enough to matter to the government because the US is enormous. If not enough people strike for critical mass then companies start firing everyone and any fines are just operating expenses. It’s not impossible, we’ve done it before, but it’s not like we’re struggling to resist for funsies