PARIS IS BURNING – AT 5:37 P.M. ET:  This has not gotten anywhere near enough attention.  France is deteriorating.  The current government seems to have support only among the wealthy, educated elite.  (Sound familiar?)  From AP: 

PARIS (AP) — The most violent urban riots in a decade engulfed the French capital on Saturday, as “yellow jacket” protesters torched cars, smashed windows, looted stores, and tagged the Arc de Triomphe in Paris with multi-colored graffiti.

Protesters angry about rising taxes and the high cost of living clashed with riot police, who closed off some of the city’s most popular tourist areas and fired tear gas and water cannons in running street battles with activists dressed in the fluorescent yellow vests of a new protest movement.
It was the third straight weekend of clashes in Paris and the worst urban violence since at least 2005. Hours later, cars still smoldered and law enforcement and protesters continued to face off elsewhere in the capital.

The scene contrasted sharply with protests elsewhere in France, where demonstrations and road blockades Saturday were largely peaceful.

Paris police said at least 92 people, including 20 police officers, were injured in the violent protests in the French capital and 224 others were arrested. Thousands of police were deployed to try to contain the mayhem.

A piece for Gatestone Institute describes what France is facing, under the pompous, thoroughly self-satisfied government of President Macron, who never misses a chance to lecture President Trump:

When Macron was elected in May 2017, he promised to liberate the economy; however no significant measures, were taken. In spite of some cosmetic reforms– such as limits on allowances for unfair dismissal or the slightly increased possibility that small businesses could negotiate short work contracts -- the French labor code, still one of the most rigid in the developed world, expertly blocks job creation. The tax burden (more than 45% of GDP) is the highest in the developed world. Even if some taxes were abolished since Macron became President, many new taxes were created. Public expenditure still accounts for about 57% of GDP (16% above the OECD countries average) and shows no signs of waning.

Macron also promised, when he was elected, to restore security. Lack of security, however, has been exploding; the number of violent assaults and rapes has been steadily on the rise. No-go zones are as widespread as a year ago and fiercely out of control. The influx of unvetted illegal immigrants into the country has sadly turned entire neighborhoods into slums.

And...

The small minority of French people who still support Macron are not affected by these measures. Surveys show that they belong to the wealthy layers of society, that they live in affluent neighborhoods, and almost never use personal vehicles. The situation is painfully different for most other individuals, especially the forgotten middle class.

COMMENT:  And in Germany, the government is a mess, having gambled on immigration policies so reckless that even Hillary Clinton denounced them.

Read the whole Gatestone piece.  It's worth it.  The question that must be asked is whether Western Europe will become a true basket case, and a burden to the United States.  There is even a possibility that Jeremy Corbyn, a true socialist, anti-American nut will become prime minister of Great Britain.  Aside from his casual indulgence in anti-Semitism, Corbyn despises Western values. 

We may be seeing the start of "Europe the irrelevant."  Or, there could be a populist backlash that leads to a new fascism.  In Europe, the worst is always possible. 

December 1, 2018