France in Gridlock

Are these protesters indicative of a larger crisis in French society?

As long queues form in front of gas stations all across France and increasing numbers of protesters amass, President Nicolas Sarkozy remains staunchly defendant of raising France’s retirement age from 60 to 62. Citing the faltering the economy, Sarkozy has stated that the change is necessary to cut the expenditures going to French pensioners. As nations all over Europe have already raised their respective retirement age, it seems inevitable that it would occur too in France.

On the other hand, the protesters in France’s major cities, numbering from 1 million to 3 million depending on the source, certainly do not seem to think that the 60-year retirement policy must be updated. As cars in Paris suburbs are set on fire and windows smashed and shops looted in Lyon, ordinary French citizens from teachers to airport workers have taken to the streets protesting not only the retirement age controversy, but what they perceive as the general failure of French government to address the needs of the poor.

At France’s 12 oil refineries, the workers have gone on strike, cutting the flow of vital fuels to their distributors nationwide and severely affecting gas stations. According to the French energy minister, 4,000 out of 13,000 stations were “awaiting supplies,” whatever that means. 12 stations in Northern France were taken over by authorities to assure that emergency services had adequate fuel supplies. As increasing numbers of gas stations run out of fuel, citizens crowd the remaining supplied stations to try to stock up before even more run dry.

Other transport in France is also affected, with large numbers of flights being canceled and trains being jam-packed due to significant numbers of workers striking in those sectors.

In a Paris suburb, students who threw stones at police officers were responded to by tear gas. Education around France has been affected due to pupils, teachers, or both protesting and disrupting normal operation.

As the cracks begin to reappear in French society, President Sarkozy’s approval rating has plummeted to an all-time low of 30%. Sarkozy seems defiant in his push to raise the retirement age in order to cut governmental spending, but at what cost?

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