Commentary: Settlement of social dilemma in France requires systemic change

Settlement of the social dilemma in France resulting from the government's controversial efforts to reform the labor law requires systemic change to iron out social contradictions in the interest of public well-being and social stability.

The youth-led "Nuit Debout," or "Up all Night" gatherings in protest of the French government's proposed labor law reforms, have triggered a growing violent clashes between demonstrators and police in serious disruption of the public order across the nation.

The extensive turmoil has once again caught France in a quandary of social governance -- a fresh move of reform always invites street protests, which in turn weaken the government's determination and eventually kill the possibility of a better society.

Under the pressure of growing social unrest, French Prime Minister Manual Valls took a step backward earlier this month, promising to further amend the reform bill. But this would make the so-called labor law reform not have much to expect.

Actually, most people in France, including those taking to the street with banners in hands, are well aware of the urgency of a policy change, which includes improvement of the employment mechanism and reduction of labor costs -- both essential to the country's economic growth.

According to a recent survey conducted by the French newspaper Le Parisien, over half of the respondents welcomed a labor law reform. But when it was about to turn into reality, over 70 percent of the French people refused to accept it.

The reason could be simple -- a string of new policies from the proposed reform, such as extending working hours and enhancing the employers' rights of labor management, would probably hurt the benefits of the majority of the French population.

Although a high level of social welfare has long overburdened the French government financially and hampered economic development, no one is willing to give up a slice of personal interest for the general good of society.

The current dilemma of France has reminded many of similar situations in the Western world over the past few years, such as the "Occupy Wall Street" movement in 2011 when tens of thousands of Americans took to the street to protest social injustice and financial monopolies.

However, none of such movements had a happy ending or achieved desirable results for any parties. They just exposed the systemic failure haunting many Western countries, where communication channels between different layers of society have been largely blocked, making it rather difficult to build consensus on how to address social problems with peaceful means.

For both the French government and people, the only way out from the current dilemma seems to be concrete action and a rational compromise between both sides. But in the end, the political and economic systems need to be fixed to make the people feel truly represented and served by their government. Endi