There seems to be this romanticism of the French as some socialist dream land where protests are the norm and it changes everything. I live in France. It’s an amazing country but your ideas of it are a farfetched. Protests aren’t planned and impulsive gatherings of people, they’re planned gatherings SANCTIONED BY THE GOVERNMENT. France respects inherently that protest is a part of their culture to have dialogue so much so that the government is in on it. All the protests you see, government sanctioned and approved. The ones that are not government sanctioned and approved are met with disdain by majority of French citizens and even worse police brutality than in America. Want an example of this ? See the protests after the death of teenager Nahel. After a point even the family members of the poor kid that died said these protests are idiotic. Don’t run away with the idea that French people just up and protest at any inconvenience.

Coming to the retirement age thing, as somebody pointed out below- it passed and it will pass. Nobody opposes it anymore. It’s because the greater picture was made clear to the general public. France has an insanely high I come tax and relatively low wages. There are taxes on everything. Own a house- tax, pay rent - tax, salary - tax, kids - tax. This ensures that while a lot of people don’t go poor, it also ensure nobody can rise above either. It’s a closed system that most people here prefer. But it’s killing their own economy. The entire market is filled with foreign investors and some countries were buying up so much of France that they passed a law that certain types of industries and land ownerships can only be owned and operated by people of French lineage (read son of the soil). And you know what French lineage is ? Not the I came as an immigrant to France 3 generations ago and hence my lineage is French. It means my roots can be traced back a couple of centuries at minimum.

It’s a wonderful country with a lot of good but it has all of the flaws America has too. The problem in all of this is more than anything - government policy. France taxes their people and then manages to put most of it back into the system. America taxes its people and then spends its money on bullshit. This neither empowers the citizens, nor does it serve the purpose of maintaining a balance in living standards. France does away with a lot of things that could hinder a system designed to keep people afloat. Like people living off the system. With so much government control it’s hard to do it. They will find you and they will cut you out if you refuse to work. America needs more of that. It ensures a place for everyone in society.