It's what socialists do - raise taxes

And sometimes, We The People get pissed off about it. From Scotland's Express:

PARIS BURNS: Riot police fire tear gas as 30,000 protestors furious at Macron hit France
Tear gas and water cannons have been fired by riot police in France amid a desperate struggle to control violent protests of more than 30,000 residents angry at President Emmanuel Macron over rising fuel prices.

A bit more:

A poll this week indicated that 73 percent of people in France have expressed support for the protests, which have been characterised as a grassroots movement lacking in clear leadership.

The price of diesel has risen 23% over the last 12 months and was scheduled to rise even more.

An excerpt from Reuters:

The unrest is a dilemma for Macron who casts himself as a champion against climate change but has been derided as out of touch with common folk and is fighting a slump in popularity.

Despite calls for calm from the government, the yellow vest protests have spread to French territories abroad, including the Indian Ocean island of Reunion, where cars were set on fire.

The unrest has left two dead and 606 injured in mainland France, the Interior Ministry said on Thursday.

Of course Macron is out of touch with us Normals - he is an elite.

An excerpt from Associated Press with some numbers:

The anger is mainly over a hike in the diesel fuel tax, which has gone up seven euro cents per liter (nearly 30 U.S. cents per gallon) and will keep climbing in coming years, according to Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne. The tax on gasoline is also to increase four euro cents. Gasoline currently costs about 1.64 euros a liter in Paris ($7.06 a gallon), slightly more than diesel.

Diesel costs about $3.50/gallon here or about half. This also makes the cost of everything go up as everything in your grocery store got there via a truck and the freight costs are going to be passed on to the buyer. The socialists saw a pool of money there for their use, they implemented a tax and are now finding out where people's tipping points are. Not good optics...