Paris-Las Vegas

I have just returned from a conference in Las Vegas.
The setting is beautiful, the mountains encasing the desert were still covered with snow. I spent my time in the MGM Grand, a city in the city with dozens of shows, excellent restaurants and thousands of what used to be called one-armed bandits. The entire city is full of casinos , with black jack tables, roulettes and other kenos. I did not have as much luck as last time.
What struck me this year in Vegas was the high number of students on spring break. American students, who study hard, because their studies cost them a lot, but also play hard when on a break. Las Vegas was full of students, beer in hand, gambling , gawking at the neon lights or lined up for tickets to hear Billy Joel. A lot of them were sunburned, most were laughing or at least were wearing large smiles.
Contrast this with the faces of French students, as ou see them on French TV news. They are in the streets, wrapped up in palestinian mufflers, rioting against the police because a new law is changing employment rules. All you see is rage, despair, fear and illusion.
Are American students immature and vacuuous or optimistic and confident? Are their French counterparts politically savvy, and more intellectually aware or belated children of the eternal nanny state with separation anxiety?
I find it interesting that the students whose studies are paid by the taxpayer and are about to start a life in a country with some of the highest social protection on earth are despairing, while their American colleagues, saddled with huge student loan debts and a job market without any safety net are partying!