The nationwide protests in France – which began as youth-led opposition to overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages and dilapidated building infrastructure – have now become a harbinger for what’s to come if Western economies continue to ignore generational wealth disparities.

The unrest is a result of discontent over the French government’s proposed 54 billion euro ($60 billion) package of cost-cutting and tax measures for the 2027 budget, which includes a salary freeze for civil servants.

While the particular unrest and penchant for dramatic arson may be very French, the generational rage fueling it, at least in part, is as American as can be.

As rising costs of living catalyze already high poverty rates, young people in France fear bearing the brunt of public spending reductions worsened by the U.S.-Israel war on Iran.

Even worse, pensions and governmental social safety nets are in global crisis as the young working class’ earnings are extracted to fund the livelihoods of aging........

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