“This is what happens when nations let wealth and power accumulate in the hands of a few,” says prospective 2028 presidential candidate and socialist Rep. Ro Khanna (R-CA) about the mass rioting and social unrest unfolding in France.
As with most issues, Khanna has it backward. It’s Democratic economic and social ideas that have destabilized France.
France, after all, is home to socialized medicine, high minimum wages, powerful unions, some of the most generous worker protections in the world, big government spending, and a massive welfare state.
France’s Gini index, the standard measure of income inequality, is just under 32, around the European Union average. Of course, income inequality, the hobbyhorse of the American left, is completely irrelevant in and of itself. France, for instance, ranks in the mid-50s worldwide in income inequality, between the stable and wealthy Western democracy of Japan and the destitute Asian tyranny of Myanmar.
Rioters did not set fire to the majestic 19th-century Limoges town hall because they’re angry about France’s ranking in global income parity. The riots were triggered in large part by the French government’s alleged “austerity” plans.
France spends an inordinate percentage of its budget on welfare and social protection programs — a larger percentage than virtually any nation on Earth. Since 1995, social and welfare spending has risen from 53% to nearly 59% of the country’s budget. It will never be enough for rioters.
Because such a significant percentage of its budget is dedicated to keeping the welfare state operational, any reforms aimed at reducing spending or debt will be greeted with immediate social turmoil.
France’s public debt is approaching 120% of gross domestic product, and it is projected to rise to around 122% soon. The government recently proposed reducing the budget deficit from an expected 5.4% of gross domestic product in 2026 to 5% in 2027.
In other words, young French people are destroying their cities over a proposed deficit reduction of 0.4 percentage points of gross domestic product.
To pay for this system, France has among the highest tax rates in the developed world. Employer social security contributions average around 45% of gross salary, while employee contributions add another 22% to 25%. The tax on consumer goods is 20%.
That is a heavy burden for productive members of French society. But over 50% of French households don’t pay any income tax. Despite benefiting from the system, they are untethered from the responsibilities of governing.
Other nations with generous social welfare programs, such as Denmark, also have high levels of social cohesion, and virtually every household pays some income tax.
“We spend too much money, and we strip people of responsibility …” President Emmanuel Macron said back in 2018. “[We spend] an insane amount we spend on minimal welfare payments, but people are still poor. Those born poor, stay poor. Those who become poor, stay poor. We have to do something to get people out of this situation.”
France has one of the highest unemployment rates in Europe and one of the lowest retirement ages. Youth unemployment is over 21%. It’s 9% in the United States, and we rightly consider it a problem.
Unemployment among Muslim youth is far higher. And over 34% of France’s young people have immigrant parents or grandparents, most from Muslim-majority countries. Over 15% of the population in the Paris metropolitan area is Muslim. Despite the media’s best efforts to convince us otherwise, plenty of the violence appears connected to Muslim immigrants and the nihilistic Palestinianism that Khanna champions.
Riots will radicalize politics. Many French people detest anarchy, which might bode well for right-wing opposition leader Marine Le Pen in the next election. Should she succeed, that, too, will almost surely lead to more social unrest.
A RED-GREEN WARNING FROM FRANCE
It’s true that the French have never needed much to riot. There was major social unrest in France every year from 2005 through 2009, then in 2018 and 2019, in 2023, in 2025, and again this year. Many of those riots have been driven by reliance on the government or by Muslims living in the Paris suburbs.
The more you hook people on state dependency, the less likely they are to break free of their situation. The more unassimilated people and illiberal ideas you import into your country, the less social cohesion you will get. France is the future Khanna imagines for us.