France’s secondary education system is a mess, its streets are crowded with protesters, and the nation’s leaders have no idea what to do about it. The French government spends a lot of money on its schools, but throwing money at problems without fixing them is one of its specialties. Thus, the sagging ceilings in their schools and rats in the schools’ kitchens. Beginning in September, a wave of spiraling street protests, sparked by various grievances about the education system and government budget cuts, has turned violent across numerous major cities in France.
The unrest has spilled over into Belgium, where a nationwide anti-austerity strike has triggered clashes between masked youths and riot police. In cities like Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Rennes, Bordeaux, Liege, and Brussels, there have been student blockades, arson, and rioting that’s led to over 6000 arrests.
Street protests are thought of as part of the social fabric in France, but perhaps it’d be more accurate to think of them as rips in that fabric. When farmers have repeatedly taken to the streets in protest, the government has responded with regulatory concessions and financial relief. But no regulations can fix the problems in the schools.
The youthful protesters (some just 14), brought up in a welfare state that’s acted as a surrogate parent, have little awareness of their nation's serious money problems. “Daddy” has always provided for the French people—young and old—and like all children they expect that to continue. What they don't get is that Daddy’s broke now. It's been like a game of musical chairs in which the music kept playing for so long that people thought it would play forever. But the music's about to stop. Their government’s been providing for them with a “credit card,” but the minimum monthly payment’s too steep make that practice sustainable. France can no longer afford its generous social welfare programs that have provided such luxuries as early retirement while making the nation an attractive destination for refugees. Social benefits provide for around 11 percent of immigrants’ living standards in France, compared with six percent for non-immigrants.
France offers medical care, free schooling, housing allowances, generous unemployment and maternity benefits, income assistance, and substantial paid leave. But the real backbreaker is pensions, mostly due to the ridiculously low retirement age of 62. I hope the youngsters acting up in the streets don't think their nation’s sixtysomethings are willing to work a few years longer in order to fix their broken educational system.
France’s national debt now exceeds its GDP, just like it does in the U.S., but the US has a sovereign currency, so it can print as much money as it wants to. France doesn’t have this policy option, as it gave up the Franc for the Euro in 1999, ceding its monetary policy to the European central bank. France's annual budget deficit is greater than five percent of GDP. Both of these debt ratios exceed the limits that France is supposed to recognize as a member of the EU, therefore putting the communal structure of the EU in peril. Emmanuel Macron promised to address this situation when he became president about a decade ago, but he’s not yet been able to raise the nation's retirement age, the most crucial step on the road to fiscal recovery. One thing Macron has succeeded at is cutting taxes for the rich.
The bleak numbers don't tell the entire story of France’s malaise. Liberal observers have long praised the country's many protests (e.g. farmers driving hundreds of tractors down the Champs-Élysées) as a vibrant form of street democracy that holds public officials accountable. But one might see a nation that, once again, is at the mercy of its “gallant” protesters. This time around, protesters have disrupted or closed down hundreds of schools. There have been hundreds of injuries among students, staff, and police officers. Young people have used their social media skills to exacerbate the chaos.
The romanticization of France’s protest culture has hamstrung Macron’s administration and diminished the chances for centrism in his nation. Ingrained in that protest culture is the idea that compromise means defeat. The specter of the "street veto” often forces the French government to water down or abandon legislation. Elected lawmakers, their authority diminished, aren't able to do the sort of long-term planning necessary to deal with the budget crisis. The public has glorified street-level resistance as a civic duty for so long that protesters feel proud of themselves.
The French government has spoiled its people, but today the French are haunted by the fear that the party can’t continue much longer. The youth who are going to take the brunt of it when the reality sinks in have the misfortune of being born too late. Their future will never match their parents’ past when it comes to comfort. The money is no longer available.
If the far right prevails in the election, Marine Le Pen will become the French president. One thing many voters like about the populist candidate is her opposition to the Macron administration’s proposal to raise the retirement age to 64. The significant momentum remaining within French politics to increase spending despite the grave fiscal situation poses a serious threat to the survival of the EU, which is fine with Le Pen. And while France is not facing a Greek-style bailout, the fact that there are whispers about it in Paris is ominous. While the nation still has full access to global capital markets, meaning they can borrow billions to fund public operations, rising interest rates have created a “debt trap” that makes borrowing drastically more expensive than it has been for years.
France is a much more important nation, economically, than Greece, which might suggest that it's too big to fail. But then again, the exorbitant bailout bill might make it too big to save, especially if the retirement age remains at 62. Germany’s own domestic problems are going to make it resistant to bankrolling their neighbor as they once did to Greece.