Mind 1: People are "rioting" over a 17 cent a gallon gas tax increase in France (it is 30 cents with Diesel.) Furthermore this tax increase has not even gone into effect yet.
Mind 2: Well "my" country is no different. We (aka the US) had a "tea party" over a tax increase that went into effect 6 years earlier. 6 years prior to the tea party taxes were increased on many goods tea and other things with the Townsend acts. 3 years prior to the tea party all the taxes in the Townsend act were repealed with the exception of the tax on tea. Aka people were protesting on the "symbol" of taxation and not the actual taxes itself.
Are those comparisons relevant though? The tea party was not a riot or popular demonstration, it was a planned, organized and specific PR move. And yes, it WAS about the principle. That was the whole point. A lot of Torys (contemporaneous and historical) have attempted to point out that the tax was not particularly onerus and that it was a reasonable and justifiable means to defray expenses associated with the colonies. The opposition's point was always that it was about the principle, and that a representative Parliament had no right to tax those it did not represent. And the crown's position was likewise that even if it chose to repeal certain taxes, it was not out of agreement with the colonists' protests, and the tea tax was left in place as an assertion of their right to levy whatever taxes they wanted to. Like "Winter Dragon" was made and aired to retain the rights to "Wheel of Time". The tea party demonstrators dumped the tea in order to make the point that even if they couldn't stop the taxes from being passed or collected, they were going to make sure they were not paid. They reimbursed the owner of the tea, repaired damaged property and one demonstrator caught stealing tea for his own use was punished. This has absolutely no relation to people setting random cars on fire and fighting the police because they don't like a tax.
Wow you are telling lots of myths and there are falsehoods in said myths. (such as whether the tea was paid back, hint it wasn't, and they closed the port of Boston over it.)
But whatever I learned long ago arguing with you about history is a waste of time. I am wishing you a good day sir, Mr. Cannoli.
