Violence in France: powder keg Paris

France sends horrible images to the world, in which social media forms an ominous sounding board. The eruption of violence on black Saturday is not something that can be recorded under the usual strike culture à la française. The extent of looting and devastation has reached a new level for the Fifth Republic, not to mention arsons like those in Limoges City Hall. Kilometers away from approved demonstrations, shops were emptied and destroyed. Innocent entrepreneurs fear for their existence. Since Saturday, what was at the beginning of this wave of protests threatens to fade into the background: the basically justified advocacy of students for better education. Also the understandable discussion about the cost of living, which has let many French unpack their yellow vests again, is lost sight of the massive violence. Politically, it will now be about preventing chaos in the still more than six months until the presidential elections. Financially, however, the resources of the French State are very limited. The disastrous cash situation prevents aid packages from being put together as in previous crises. Neither can a few additional billions be conjured up for the education sector nor state fuel and electricity price brakes. The French government can not help but see citizens and companies with the – as in Germany to more than three percent – Inflation rate largely left to their fate. It is increasingly clear how devastating the years of delayed reforms are – for which the parties on the left and right of the centre bear equal responsibility. Government spending has never really been tailored to efficiency, the rise in social spending has never really been slowed down. The result is a budgetary misery that deprives politics of room for manoeuvre and an anti-growth and anti-employment tax burden. France’s economy is stagnating, unemployment is rising, the distribution struggles are increasing. None of this justifies violence, but everything is cause for concern for Germany’s largest neighbours.