Don't get me wrong, I make "It's wrong to be French" jokes too, but I find it truly shameful that the government of France has allowed the whole country to be pulled down screaming into barbarism and riot. No, the USA isn't always wonderful at handling riots, but this is nationwide. Some 1000 (yeah that is a one and three zeroes after) cars were torched
last night alone. Gladly, there have only been one or two fatalities so far, but that number will likely not remain that low.
The problem is that this is not one isolated incident. The police reported some 9000 (yup, nine and 3 zeroes, these numbers are unreal) police cars that had been stoned this year alone, and that is prior to the riots. We have stories of women getting set on fire because they are improperly dressed. Death threats reported in elementary level schools. Unreal.
Throughout it all, the media (until recently) has danced around the fact that the rioters are almost exclusively young Muslim men from largely Arabic/north-African ethnic communities. (In this case, I am using "Muslim" to denote membership in a cultural group, not adherence to religion) I would personally think that bit of info was a tad important, no? When nation-wide riots go on for
12 days, and the riots are 90%+ composed of members of one ethnocultural group, maybe it is time to critically examine that subculture in your nation?
In France's case, it is a matter of reaping what they've sown. France has rather liberal immigration laws, and is well known for allowing a lot of immigration. France's social supports are also rather liberal. This produces a synergy in which you have large numbers of immigrants coming in-country and being handed the basic necessities of life (shelter, food, etc). They have little incentive to integrate into French culture at all, and have cultural seperatism tacitly suggested by French legal structure and native attitudes of xenophobia. Why get a job when your needs are taken care of, and the locals don't want to employ you anyway?
Then they have children.
The children grow up in France, probably bilingual, but maintaining their parents' culture and beliefs, and similarly unintegrated. They know not the conditions they're parents may have escaped. All they know is a France that pens them in, disdains them (even though the feeling is likely mutual), and they are also taken care of cradle-to-grave. What is a young man left to do? Frankly, it is a recipe for unrest, and France is reeling under that unrest right now.
I'm not trying to make excuses for the rioters. Frankly, I'm in line with Sarkozy, they're thugs. I am just trying to lay the background down for the current events wreaking havoc in France. It is a horrific mess, and is showing one of the world's great nations to be run by utter incompetents. I honestly feel sorry for the citizens of France, though they did bring this on themselves, but my pity does not run deep. If anything, I feel for the street sweepers, police officers, and fire fighters.
I wonder what impact this will have on the probable race between Sarkozy and deVillepin?
(It is also germane to note that these riots have spread into Belgium and Germany as well. Who knows how far and fast it will spread there. We may yet see Europe, as a whole, aflame.)
