As the Democrats push more spending in their new budget, Republicans in the House are having yet another debate about raising the debt ceiling. The topic of the national debt tends to elicit shrugs and yawns from most Americans, but maintaining current spending levels carries enormous consequences for everyone. If anyone doubts this, they need only to look at France to see what awaits them in the near future.
Although most of the news on France has centered around President Emmanuel Macron’s recent visit to China, there is something much more consequential happening back in his home country. For weeks now, millions of Frenchmen have protested Macron’s decision to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. Hundreds of them have been injured or arrested, with some clashes escalating into riots. Many unions have struck in solidarity. Even for the French, for whom protesting and striking is something of a national pastime, the situation is dire.
There are a few ways to interpret this. For most conservatives, this is yet another opportunity to deride the French who seem allergic to hard work — just seven years ago protests erupted after Macron considered adding a few hours to the legally mandated 35-hour week. It doesn’t seem to occur to the French that retiring so early and living decades longer at the government’s expense is simply unsustainable. Moreover, this problem is exacerbated by a low birthrate that will result in a dwindling number of workers supporting an increasing number of retirees.
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