It’s more than that- raising the age of the pension (and the extraordinary measures taken to pass it) are just a symptom of a greater problem: the people in office at virtually all levels of French government take the state of the country and its people for granted.

The same things affecting most other developed countries are affecting France. It’s harder for young people to start a family, the quality of life for all people feels as if it is being eroded from all sides In piecemeal ways, and the political system is failing to address these fundamental difficulties- often preferring technical solutions that do nothing to address the long term issue- while politicians themselves increasingly become difficult to differentiate from the wealthy elite.

Most importantly, people are sick of the lack of accountability- you can be incompetent and destructive while in elected office and the worst thing that can befall you is that you will lose the election, no matter how many lives are ruined by your actions. Sound familiar?

Raising the age of the pension is emblematic of the sclerotic mindset of a political class that believes the nation can bear any amount of burdens and continue to exist and prosper. The vast majority of the political class takes the health of the country for granted, doing absolutely nothing to address the underlying demographic problems or to make necessary investments in the economy to remain relevant- especially if it would be inconvenient for the interests of the very wealthy by making them pay taxes.

France (and many other developed countries) need measures to simultaneously crack down on tax evasion in the short term, prioritize positive demographic stability of the country in the long term, and to dramatically increase economic productivity on an individual basis to bridge the gap between the two periods. If you talk to French politicians, they’re likely to be solely interested in making sure their government provided vehicles have a secured parking garage that is nearby their offices.