Fun times in France
Contrary to even my expectations, the riots in Paris have reached their tenth day. Last night (like each night before it) was the worst, with 1295 vehicles burned and 312 arrests throughout the country. As I understand it, even Normandy is being hit by these riots. Thirty-two cars were burned inside the city limits of Paris itself, with four burnings near the Place de la République, former site of the Bastille. French police also managed to shut down a bomb-making factory in the suburbs while some youths crashed a car into a McDonald's. Rioters are also shooting at police and civilians with the guns they couldn't possibly get.
And what is top of the news pages? Why, a tornado in Indiana! Foolish of you to ask. I spoke with my esteemedcolleaguee Dr. Fujiyama on the subject, and he said that European news has more or less buried the issue. Before the mighty tornado, they focused on the abortive Free Trade meeting, which was derailed thanks to the good offices of Hugo "Fidelito" Chavez.
I'll readily admit that I'm a pessimist when it comes to Europe, yet even I continue to be shocked by the scale of these riots. I thought that the French government could overcome its bureaucratic inertia and deal with this. They have yet to do so in a serious way. By Tuesday morning, if the riots continue, they will have lasted longer than the Watts and '92 LA riots combined.
Speaking of delicious irony, I'm reading a Harvard Institute of Economic Research paper from September 2001 entitled "Why doesn't the US have a European-style welfare state?". Their answer? Listen to this-
...differences appear to be the result of racialheterogeneityy in the US and American political institutions. Racial animosity in the US makes redistribution to the poor, who are disproportionately black, unappealing to many voters. American political institutions limited the growth of a socialist party, and more generally limited the political power of the poor.
Translation? We don't have a welfare state because Americans hate black people. Apparently the only reasons to oppose the welfare state are racism and being an evil rich capitalist. Perhaps this failure to engage in self-criticism is why leftist policies are so prone to spectacular failure. As we've seen lately, the welfare state has as much of a poverty problem as we do, if not more so. Unemployment in the Paris ghettos is much higher than the rest of the country (where it's still outrageously high). Perhaps the Paris riots will inspire the political left to take a long, hard look at the failure of their policies as exemplified in Europe. Or, in a more likely scenario, they'll come up with increasingly juvenile insults to fling at their opponents and ignore the problem.
And what is top of the news pages? Why, a tornado in Indiana! Foolish of you to ask. I spoke with my esteemedcolleaguee Dr. Fujiyama on the subject, and he said that European news has more or less buried the issue. Before the mighty tornado, they focused on the abortive Free Trade meeting, which was derailed thanks to the good offices of Hugo "Fidelito" Chavez.
I'll readily admit that I'm a pessimist when it comes to Europe, yet even I continue to be shocked by the scale of these riots. I thought that the French government could overcome its bureaucratic inertia and deal with this. They have yet to do so in a serious way. By Tuesday morning, if the riots continue, they will have lasted longer than the Watts and '92 LA riots combined.
Speaking of delicious irony, I'm reading a Harvard Institute of Economic Research paper from September 2001 entitled "Why doesn't the US have a European-style welfare state?". Their answer? Listen to this-
...differences appear to be the result of racialheterogeneityy in the US and American political institutions. Racial animosity in the US makes redistribution to the poor, who are disproportionately black, unappealing to many voters. American political institutions limited the growth of a socialist party, and more generally limited the political power of the poor.
Translation? We don't have a welfare state because Americans hate black people. Apparently the only reasons to oppose the welfare state are racism and being an evil rich capitalist. Perhaps this failure to engage in self-criticism is why leftist policies are so prone to spectacular failure. As we've seen lately, the welfare state has as much of a poverty problem as we do, if not more so. Unemployment in the Paris ghettos is much higher than the rest of the country (where it's still outrageously high). Perhaps the Paris riots will inspire the political left to take a long, hard look at the failure of their policies as exemplified in Europe. Or, in a more likely scenario, they'll come up with increasingly juvenile insults to fling at their opponents and ignore the problem.
posted by The Admiral at 10:05 AM
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