Thoughts on Paris

[munk]

N2S frequently scares me.
He's done it again. A lot of insight that is not easily dismissed.




munk

 

[SASSAS]

N2S frequently scares me.
He's done it again. A lot of insight that is not easily dismissed.
munk

Not dismissed, because this would be a rotten community if we dismissed each others posts, but it can be debated.

The recent rioting in France raises a number of concerns:

Agreed

1) The rapid spread of the riot indicates widespread dissatisfaction with the country's political processes. We have had numerous riots in the US; but, usually, beyond the immediate point of ignition, the protest quickly becomes political and civil, rather then criminal.

As the rioting was primarily by a single segment of society, Muslim immigrants of North African and Black African descent, it doesn't signify a widespread dissatisfaction, just that one segment of society feels under-represented. With a population of 60 million people in an area that would make it one-third smaller by area than Texas with triple the population, the density and demographics help account for additional areas rioting, particularly since the
immigrants have a common cultural identity and face the same issues.

I would challenge your contention that riots of this nature, fueled by immigrants feeling economically oppressed, are rapidly resolved and become non-violent. Anyone familiar with the history of the coal and steel industries understands that violent protest has a long and deadly history in the U.S. Rapid resolution is in large part the result of military deployment against U.S. citizens.

2) The slow and dittering response by the authorities reveals a very weak and divided leadership. Chirac in particular was almost negligent in his response.

It would have been nice to see an earlier response from Chirac, but initially, this was a small scale internal problem.

While there wasn't an immediate application of overwhelming force, two weeks into the riots people had already been convicted and sentenced. The fact that they didn't kill protesting French citizens goes a long way toward explaining the death toll of one.

Initial responses from the interior minister were credited with inflaming the riots, so an immediate and opposite or similar response from Chirac may have been taken improperly. What was probably originally perceived as a limited event steamrolled , possibly because of the initial handling, leaving Chirac in a difficult position.

The acknowledgement of Chirac of the underlying issues during the event was a great show if strength to me. It would have been easy political capital to throw on a military jacket for a nice photo op and send in troops forcing a confrontation. It looks decisive if nothing else regardless of the results.

3) The coordinated effort by the French press to supress the news and images of the event brings into question the independence of the press, and the reality of a free press within France. Where was the media in the days leading up to these incidents; how did they miss the growing level of frustration within these neighborhoods? Clearly, whatever social or economic
inbalances exists, are serious enough to have merited a thorough public airing and discussion.

As I wasn't reading the French press during the period leading up to this, I can't can't really comment on what kind of job they were doing. I would say that there is a difference between reporting on rioting and sensationalizing rioting. The social imbalances however are well known and had been discussed, not only in France, but in all of Europe.

Reporting only the number of cars and not location was done to dampen what had become a contest between youths of different localities to see who could burn the most cars... It was starting to be treated as a game by the youths and they were enjoying the attention.

4) Similarly, the use of the term "dissaffected youth", when the terms muslim, or immigrant youth, would have been more accurate, raise the issue of dishonesty. How can you even begin to address the problem if you are unable or unwilling to adequately chracterize and define it?

It's intended to avoid being inflammatory. It also avoids lumping in law abiding muslim youth or immigrants with those breaking the law. When dealing with a sensitive issue, it's the proper thing to do. When you speak publicly about such things, it's important to avoid giving headline phrases that are inflammatory. People who get their news primarily from the television are going to repeatedly get the headline without much explanation. Even people who
read the newspaper rarely read much more than the headline and lead paragraph. With repetition, muslim youth or immigrant youth gets repeated in a negative fashion over and over.

I was left with the impression that French political system is dying. That the next generation of French leaders, these very youths, has lost such faith in the entire political mechanism that they see criminal action and perhaps civil war as the only effective means to influence public policy. It is not enough to address some of the immediate material needs; the real question is how do you pursuade these people to work within the normal channels for
setting public policy.
n2s

I didn't get that impression. These youths aren't likely to be the next generation of French leaders. Muslims on the whole are only 6.89% of the country's population.

At a time when the nation as a whole had a ~10% unemployment rate, addressing the specific needs of minorities and immigrants who were in worse shape wasn't something that was being pushed to the forefront. But it wasn't wholly ignored.

The complexities of integrating immigrants into a unified culture such as those in France, Germany, Belgium, etc. are more difficult than those faced in an "immigrant nation" such as the U.S., Canada or Australia. This is a competitive advantage for the U.S., Canada and Australia, so it's something that not only France, but the European Union needs to address in order to stay competitive.

The French Prime Minister has gone on record with plans to address the problems:

"Villepin said he wanted to speed up a $35.5 billion urban redevelopment plan, triple the number of merit scholarships for talented students and offer jobs, training or internships to disadvantaged young people."

"We must offer them hope and a future," he said.

Interestingly enough, the opposition party criticized him and said his plans were vague...

Some of the factors involved are really interesting. In the U.S. some people place a lot of blame for delinquency on single parenthood and fathers not taking responsibility for their children. One of the issues mentioned by some of the French is enforcing the ban on polygamy, which they say results in inadequate male supervision in the household...