Rioting is part of the political furniture in France. It's just what they do. But beyond the core of these latest riots — ostensibly over education policy, albeit expressed through the looting of stores, the ransacking of businesses and proud displays of the Palestinian flag — there's a deeper warning for not only France, but for the West: Eventually, you will run out of money.

For decades, France has offered the rest of the Western world a masterclass in political cowardice, demonstrating what happens when governments respond to public outrage and mass riots by throwing taxpayer money at the problem while contributing further to the problem's underlying causes.

The formula is practically a cliche at this point: The government proposes some sort of reform, the people riot, and politicians panic and fold. Just a few years ago, President Emmanuel Macron made the mistake of suggesting a fuel tax increase, until backing off and promising more spending when riots broke out. Everyone celebrates the newfound compromise ... until the next time.

But those expressing their outrage — even those who are not stealing designer handbags — are ignoring that France is built on increasingly shaky sand, and no one is willing to do anything about it. Apparently, no one cares that France's public debt is skyrocketing and that its budget deficit keeps adding to the load, thanks to a ridiculous welfare state, an expensive pension program and endless public spending commitments that appear every time the French start rioting.

However, it would be a mistake to focus solely on the ineptitude of politicians alone, since there is also no measurable appetite among the French people for meaningful reform that will prevent the country from looming economic collapse. What we are seeing now is the inevitable result of a political culture in which every difficult decision is postponed and every dissatisfied voter appeased while economic reality is buried under more and more and more borrowed cash.

But sooner or later, the check arrives.

France's predicament should terrify the rest of the West, and particularly Americans, whose politicians have also mastered the art of buying short-term political stability with long-term economic instability, spending their way out of every problem while selling our future to the lowest bidder.

Government debt (let alone consumer debt) in the United States is so spectacularly out of control that there are few items on the federal budget that can compete with our national interest payments. And yet both sides of the political aisle do nothing but promise more for "free," leaving the problem to the Americans of tomorrow.

Except we are the Americans of tomorrow! Debt isn't some abstract concept that exists only in some dystopian fiction. It's something we are building our entire economy upon, rolling the dice on the past strength and prowess of the American economy. Yes, our economy is far stronger than France, but that just means we have further to fall as we make the same mistakes and face the same results.

And no amount of rioting will be enough when that day comes.

Ian Haworth is a syndicated columnist. You can find his work on Substack and follow him on X (@ighaworth). To find out more about Ian Haworth and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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