虽然法国人动辄闹事似乎已成了一种“国民消遣”，但此次发生的骚乱却有所不同。法国正面临几十年来最为严重的危机，街头的混乱或许仅仅是个开始。
It’s easy to scoff at French rioting as its national past time, but what’s unfolding now is different. France is approaching its most serious crisis in decades, and the disorder in the streets may be only the start.
表面上看，近几天的暴力骚乱只是学生们因学校经费不足而发起的抗议。若真有人信此说辞，那我们还有塞纳河上的桥可以卖给他。正如多米尼克·格林在《华尔街日报》的“言论自由”专栏中所报道的那样，此次骚乱实则由左翼政客们暗中煽动。
Ostensibly the destructive rioting of the past few days is a student protest against underfunded schools. If you believe that, we have a pont over the Seine to sell you. The riots have been encouraged by politicians on the left, as Dominic Green recently reported on the Journal’s Free Expression newsletter.
“不屈法国”党领袖让-吕克·梅朗雄的工会盟友们煽动了这场抗议活动，使其迅速演变为暴力骚乱。梅朗雄此人堪称带有法国口音的伯尼·桑德斯，他也亲自前往骚乱现场。这一切看起来像是左翼势力为明年总统大选而进行的实力展示，届时梅朗雄也将作为候选人参选。
Labor-union comrades of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of La France Insoumise (“Indomitable France”), stoked the protests that quickly became riots. Mr. Mélenchon—think Bernie Sanders with a Gallic accent—visited the barricades. It feels like a display of left-wing muscle-flexing before next year’s presidential election, in which Mr. Mélenchon will be a candidate.
然而，这些暴力行为掩盖了法国公共财政所面临的严峻危机。由于国家财政捉襟见肘，法国根本拿不出更多资金来改善教育状况。
The violence obscures the related crisis engulfing public finances. France doesn’t have more money to spend on schools because it doesn’t have more money to spend on anything.