“这就是当国家让财富和权力积聚在少数人手中时会发生的事，”有意角逐2028年总统大选的众议员罗·卡纳（Ro Khanna）针对法国发生的大规模骚乱和社会动荡说道。
“This is what happens when nations let wealth and power accumulate in the hands of a few,” says prospective 2028 presidential candidate Rep. Ro Khanna about the mass rioting and social unrest unfolding in France.
和大多数问题一样，这位来自加州的极左派搞反了：他所属的民主党所珍视的经济和社会理念，才是导致法国动荡不安的原因。
As with most issues, the far-left Californian has it backward: The economic and social ideas dear to his own Democratic Party are what have destabilized France.
毕竟，法国拥有社会化医疗、高最低工资、强大的工会、世界上最慷慨的工人保护措施之一、巨额政府开支和庞大的福利国家。
France, after all, is home to socialized medicine, high minimum wages, powerful unions, some of the most generous worker protections in the world, big government spending and a massive welfare state.
法国的基尼指数——衡量收入不平等的标准指标——略低于32，处于欧盟平均水平左右。
France’s Gini index, the standard measure of income inequality, is just under 32, around the European Union average.
当然，收入不平等本身——美国左派的心头好——完全无关紧要；按这一指标衡量，法国在全球排名处于中游，介于稳定富裕的西方民主国家日本和贫困的亚洲暴政缅甸之间。
Of course income inequality, the hobbyhorse of the American left, is completely irrelevant in and of itself; France ranks right in the middle worldwide by that measure, between the stable and wealthy Western democracy of Japan and the destitute Asian tyranny of Myanmar.
暴徒之所以纵火焚烧那座雄伟的19世纪利摩日市政厅，并非因为他们对法国在全球收入平价排名中的位次感到愤怒。他们在很大程度上是被法国政府所谓的“紧缩”计划触发的。
Rioters didn’t set fire to the majestic 19th-century Limoges town hall because they’re angry about France’s ranking in global income parity. They were triggered in large part by the French government’s alleged “austerity” plans.
法国将其预算中不成比例的巨额资金用于福利和社会保障项目——这一比例高于地球上几乎任何国家。
France spends an inordinate amount of its budget on welfare and social protection programs — a larger percentage than virtually any nation on Earth.
自1995年以来，社会和福利开支已从占国家预算的53%上升至近59%。对暴徒来说，这永远不够。
Since 1995, social and welfare spending has risen from 53% to nearly 59% of the country’s budget. It will never be enough for rioters.
正因为其预算中如此大的比例用于维持福利国家的运转，任何旨在削减开支或债务的改革都会立即引发社会动荡。
Because such a significant percentage of its budget is dedicated to keeping the welfare state operational, any reforms aimed at reducing spending or debt will be greeted with immediate social turmoil.
法国的公共债务逼近国内生产总值（GDP）的120%，预计很快将升至122%左右。
France’s public debt is approaching 120% of gross domestic product, and is projected to rise to around 122% soon.
政府最近提议将预算赤字从2026年预期的GDP的5.4%降至2027年的5%。
The government recently proposed reducing the budget deficit from an expected 5.4% of GDP in 2026 to 5% in 2027.
换言之，法国年轻人正因一项拟议的、相当于国内生产总值（GDP）0.4个百分点的赤字削减而毁坏他们的城市。为维持这一制度，法国拥有发达世界中最高的税率之一。
In other words, young French people are destroying their cities over a proposed deficit reduction of 0.4 percentage points of GDP. To pay for this system, France has among the highest tax rates in the developed world.
雇主社会保障缴费平均约占税前工资的45%，而雇员缴费再增加22%至25%。消费品税率为20%。这对法国社会的生产性成员而言是沉重负担。
Employer social security contributions average around 45% of gross salary, while employee contributions add another 22% to 25%. The tax on consumer goods is 20%. That’s a heavy burden for productive members of French society.
但超过50%的法国家庭无需缴纳任何所得税：尽管享受着制度红利，他们却摆脱了为其买单的责任。
But over 50% of French households don’t pay any income tax: Despite benefiting from the system, they are untethered from the responsibilities of paying for it.
其他拥有慷慨社会福利计划的国家，如丹麦，也拥有高度的社会凝聚力，且几乎每个家庭都缴纳一定的所得税。
Other nations with generous social welfare programs, such as Denmark, also have high levels of social cohesion, and virtually every household pays some income tax.
“我们花钱太多，剥夺了人们的责任感，”总统埃马纽埃尔·马克龙早在2018年就曾表示。
“We spend too much money, and we strip people of responsibility,” President Emmanuel Macron said back in 2018.
“我们在微薄的福利金上花费了疯狂的巨额资金，但人们依然贫穷……我们必须采取行动让人们摆脱这种困境。”法国拥有欧洲最高的失业率之一和最低的退休年龄之一。
“An insane amount we spend on minimal welfare payments, but people are still poor . . . We have to do something to get people out of this situation.”France has one of the highest unemployment rates in Europe and one of the lowest retirement ages.
青年失业率超过21%；美国为9%，我们理所当然地将其视为一个问题。
Youth unemployment is over 21%; it’s 9% in the United States, and we rightly consider it a problem.
穆斯林青年的失业率要高得多——且法国超过34%的年轻人拥有移民父母或祖父母，其中大多数来自穆斯林占多数的国家。巴黎大都会区超过15%的人口是穆斯林。
Unemployment among Muslim youth is far higher — and over 34% of France’s young people have immigrant parents or grandparents, most from Muslim-majority countries. Over 15% of the population in the Paris metropolitan area is Muslim.
尽管媒体竭力让我们相信并非如此，但近期的暴力事件似乎有大量与穆斯林移民以及卡纳所倡导的虚无主义“巴勒斯坦主义”有关。骚乱将使政治激进化。
And despite the media’s best efforts to convince us otherwise, plenty of the recent violence appears to be connected to Muslim immigrants and the nihilistic Palestinianism that Khanna champions. Riots will radicalize politics.
许多法国人厌恶无政府状态，这可能有利于右翼反对派领袖玛丽娜·勒庞在下届大选中获胜——但即便她成功，也几乎必然导致更多社会动荡。的确，法国人从来不需要太多借口就去暴动。
Many French people detest anarchy, which might bode well for right-wing opposition leader Marine Le Pen in the next election — but should she succeed, that too will almost surely lead to more social unrest. It’s true that the French have never needed much excuse to riot.
法国在2005年至2009年每年都发生重大社会动荡，随后又在2018年、2019年、2023年、2025年以及今年再次爆发。
France saw major social unrest every year from 2005 through 2009, then in 2018 and 2019, in 2023, in 2025 and again this year.
许多骚乱是由对政府救济金的依赖，或是居住在巴黎郊区的穆斯林引发的。人们对国家福利的依赖越深，就越难摆脱这种依赖。
Many of those riots have been driven by reliance on government handouts or by Muslims living in the Paris suburbs. The more you hook people on state dependency, the less likely they are to break free of it.
一个国家输入的未同化人群和非自由主义思想越多，获得的社会凝聚力就越少。法国就是罗·康纳为我们设想的未来。
The more unassimilated people and illiberal ideas you import into your country, the less social cohesion you’ll get. France is the future Ro Khanna imagines for us.