Vive le France

During the war in Iraq "France" became synonomous with "wimp" due to the French government's refusal to participate in the war.  Remember "freedom fries?"  It's  hard to reconcile the notion of a nation of wimps with the widespread strikes and protests against the French President's proposal to raise the minimum retirement age from 60 to 62.  We should be so wimpy.

Since September 7, when President Sarkozy announced plans to raise the retirement age, millions have taken to the streets in protest against the measure.  Trade unions organized the protests, and strikes shut down key industries in transportation, gas, trash, and other services.  Unions estimate the number of people involved in the general strike at 3.5 million, with govenment estimates at 1.2 million.  In a country of 62 million, those are huge numbers.  And, according to some polls, more than 70% of French citizens support the strikers.

Compare that to our own situation.  The age at which a person can receive a full retirement benefit from Social Security has gone from 65 to 66, and increases by two months a year until 2022, when the retirement age will be 67.  There were no protests, or even a political price to be paid for raising the retirement age.  And now the next potential Republican leader of the House is endorsing raising the age to 70.  Again, no political price to pay.

I'll save my thoughts on the wisdom of raising the retirement age for Social Security for another day.  Suffice to say that I am opposed.  All the talk of the system's insolvency is overstated, and is really a proxy for eliminating the system altogether.  A quick summary of some of the reasons why it will not "go broke" can be found here. The point here is that on an issue that affects nearly every working American, there is surprisingly little opposition, and certainly no calls for marching in the street, when politicians propose gutting or making social security harder to get.

Despite the French public's protests, it is predicted that President Sarkozy will get his way and the French will have to wait until they turn 62 to retire.  However, with large majorities opposed to the proposal, Sarkozy is expected to lose big in the political arena.  The strikers may not have mobilized such that the policy will be changed, but they certainly rallied the public.

The only thing more difficult than getting workers to unite and strike in this country is getting the public behind the strike.  When SEPTA workers shut down trains in Philadelphia a few years ago, the public was on the side of management, not the workers.  Of course, it is difficult to get the public behind you when the benefits you are trying to preserve are benefits the public doesn't have.  But with social security, when normal retirement age is raised to 70 (which I expect it will), everyone under 70 loses out. Just don't expect a general strike, or even a political firestorm.