There are three constants in life: death, taxes, and France getting engulfed in riots.
Similar to our distant ancestors in 1792, we can only watch from across the pond as young people in France take to the streets in response to major government negligence, and others follow suit in order to sow destruction wherever they go. Typically, these ordeals end with the whole of the nation tending to its wounds while the most extreme leader rises to the top, causing exponentially more damage than the rioters intended.
The riots allegedly began, naturally, as “mostly peaceful” protests over underfunded and overcrowded schools, teacher shortages, and deteriorating facilities. I’m sure this, like many of the worst things, began with good intentions. At the very least, the whole show did confront a major problem in France.
France is broke. It has no money. The nation averages an annual deficit above 5% of GDP. Total debt is 120% of its GDP. Ten-year bond yields have exceeded 5%, the highest in over 20 years. French leaders keep spending more and more on welfare and government programs and wonder why there’s no money left. France’s government can’t even perform basic financial functions, like passing a budget.
The simple protests have ballooned into a chaotic insurrection. Unfortunately for fans of Les Misérables, nothing heroic or meaningful is happening at this barricade.
The insurrection turned into mass riots encompassing all of France, with malcontents burning down everything in their path. Businesses were looted, cars and buses were destroyed, and dozens of schools across the country are lying in a pile of rubble, the same schools that these “protesters” originally set out to save. SWAT Units are fighting a war. Firefighters are being burned. Dozens of teachers have been viciously assaulted, likely for attempting to protect the schools and livelihoods they hold dear. The devastation here made the height of the BLM riots look like child’s play in comparison.
Many observing the riots have made a significant mental note. These French rioters aren’t actually French. The majority of the thugs appear to be from Algeria or Morocco. These people are in France due to insanely loose immigration laws between the North African nations and their former colonizer. Now the opposite is true. North Africa has effectively colonized France, and in a violently morbid way, this is their coming-out party.
The fire has only grown thanks to the socialist party La France Insoumise (“France Unbowed”), and its leader, Jean-Luc Mélenchon. If this is the French Revolution, LFI are the Jacobins. The massive violence is all part of the plan for the far-left party, as adherents have weaponized the riots to goad the populace toward the extreme socialist cause. Communists and Muslims have united to destroy France.
While the resolution of this nationwide dumpster fire remains to be seen, it can serve as another lesson to the United States of America. France has always been our crash dummy in that sense, the older brother that provides a great example of what not to do. In the past, people thought forsaking religion meant forsaking morality, which would devolve into chaos.
In the present, it means a couple of things for us. Controlling government spending is crucial going forward, and using it to help our people, as opposed to the invading masses, is the best way to allocate it. Protests grow out of hand when you lose the message to the mob mentality, and the people controlling them probably know that. Nobody wants war in America, so hopefully war in France will prompt us to walk the other way.
