Vive La France - or perhaps not!

We are in the grip of strike action here. which has been goimg on for a while, but it has suddenly escalated.  Now we are faced with a major fuel shortage which will affect the ability of flights to re-fuel at airports.  So my family, who are due to fly to the UK on Friday, assuming they have enough petrol to get to the airport, face cancelled flights. 

Now, whilst we all find this extremely tiresome, I find myself having some sympathy with the action.  As I understand it everybody here retires at 60 with a state pension.  The government is proposing raising the retirement age to 62, but if workers retire at that age they get no money for 5 years, if they want to retire with a full state pension they have to work until they are 67, to me this seems unfair and it certainly represents a massive change for the French.  Even people I know who are Sarcozy supporters are indignant. 

On the other hand, I can see his point and this is where the dichotomy which is France is truly illuminated.  Sarcozy, like all political leaders in W. Europe, is faced with the increasing cost of a population that is living longer, but a population that resists change with all its might.  This stems from a revolution culture - there is a huge emphasis on the citizen and his/her rights and anything which threatens this is fiercely resisted.  Hence we have a President desperately trying to progress and citizens diametrically opposed to that. Donc, impasse!