Paris is burning. This time, it’s not the Nazis; it’s the French people themselves, who are protesting Macron’s plan to reform the French pension system by pushing back retirement from age 62 to age 64. Macron further inflamed the situation (yes, pun intended) when he appeared on French TV to explain why his plan mattered. When the appearance began, he wore a very expensive watch; by the time it ended, the watch had disappeared. The French were not amused.

France is currently embroiled in one of its periodic huge protests, where the French people take to the streets, as they’ve done periodically since the French Revolution. Because of the ritual regularity with which they protest, it’s not always easy to figure out when the people are bravely protesting genuine attacks on national identity, security, and moral principles, and when they’re focusing solely on specifically French work-related issues. However, it’s clear that the most recent protest is work-related, which is why it hasn’t gotten a lot of coverage in America.

France has a pension system that’s long been the envy of American workers. There’s a state system (i.e., their Social Security) for everyone, a compulsory wages system for those who work, and a voluntary private pension for those who really plan on enjoying their retirement…which currently begins at 62. It’s long been a famously generous system and, currently, almost 15 million people are living off their pensions.

Image: Macron’s vanishing watch. Twitter screen grab.

However, what the French people don’t want to acknowledge is that the times are changing. Three big changes have affected European’s cradle-to-grave care. The first concerns America. With the end of the Cold War, America is no longer a major contributor to Europe’s economy (and that’s even though America, now that Trump is gone, once again funds NATO). Suddenly, Europe’s much-vaunted “soft socialism” isn’t so wonderful anymore.

Second, people are living longer. Pension funds were set up for an age when people reliably died soon after they retired. They weren’t intended to support people for decades.

Third, France has a large immigrant population—roughly 10% of the population. Of those, around 32% are Europeans who have relocated to France, while approximately 41% come from Africa (mostly Algerians). I wasn’t able to find welfare statistics for French immigrants, but the largest concentrations of immigrants are in the banlieues around Paris, where the unemployment rate is 20.7% (compared to a national average of 8.6%), and the poverty rate is 26.5% (compared to a national average of 6%). You can guess that a lot of taxpayer money goes there.

All these factors mean France has less money than before, and the government must cut spending. President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64, however, has sparked protests across France. And that brings us to President Macron’s vanishing watch:

Social media users were outraged by a recent clip of French President Emmanuel Macron appearing to hide a luxury wristwatch during an interview, as pension-related protests in France intensify.

Macron appeared to take off his watch under a table during a TF1/France 2 interview. Twitter users speculated that the president removed his watch to appear less wealthy.

The Élysée Palace made a statement to French newspaper L'Independant dismissing the rumors, saying that Macron wanted to avoid hitting the watch on the table.

"The President does not take off his watch for the sake of hiding it but because he had just banged it loudly against the table," the translated statement said. "The noise is clearly audible just seconds before the start of the video shared on social media."

Initial social media posts valued the watch at € 80,000:

Macron while asking for sacrifices from the French people realizes he is wearing a € 80,000 watch and like a magician makes it disappear under the table. Unworthy. pic.twitter.com/zRiQWFAR1M

— RadioGenova (@RadioGenova) March 24, 2023

In fact, the watch’s actual value is around € 2,400 or $2,900—which is still significantly more than the average person can spend on a watch, which is the problem. People don’t like seeing a manifestly wealthy person announce that, for the good of the country, other people are going to get less money. That’s one of the reasons for the French Revolution, which saw a monarchy and aristocracy spending like mad, even as they tried to control government spending on the public.

By removing his watch, Macron reminded the people of the economic chasm between themselves and the wealthy minority who control their lives. During perilous economic times, it’s the wise politician who hides his wealth.