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November 7, 2005
Confused Americans for Truth - Chirac's Bold Response to Terror: Respect, Understanding, and a Committee to Study Curfews
I'm sure you think my headline is satirical. Sadly, it is not. From today's article on the MSNBC web site, the words of President Chirac.
[France] has not done everything possible for these youths, supported them so they feel understood, heard and respected.
The MSNBC article goes on to say that 1500 additional policemen have been called up from the reserves, and that the cabinet will meet Tuesday to discuss imposing curfews. Yes, they're not imposing curfews, they're going to have a meeting about it.
Next, I owe an apology to all those people I thought were joking when they said France's solution to the riots was going to be giving more money to the rioters. This apology is based on a paragraph in the MSNBC article about Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin.
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.
And the icing on the cake is the following quote from this article in the UK Telegraph
Of the 1,200 people arrested, more than 30 - half of them juveniles - have already been jailed or given youth custody.
So what we have here is a genuine test of the nuanced approach to violence. The French government is talking about being firm while its actual policy is to increase the level of largesse. At no point is there any evidence that some sort of penalty will be assessed for all the property damage. Tthat's catastrophic, because people need to know riots can be stopped by the use of force. Otherwise, there's nothing to stop further rampages when the disaffected want more money.
This is no joke! Consider, for example, the cartoon abovet, which is Step 8 of Hayek's Road to Serfdom. There is already a strong man operating in France: his name is Jean-Marie le Pen, and his party is called the Front National. In the 2002 Presidential elections, he took second place.
le Pen is characterized as "far right", but he is nothing like American conservatives, who would probably be more comfortable with the National Republican Movement a pro-capitalism party that barely registers as a blip on the political landscape.
Right now, some people fear Islamists are taking over Europe, but the unrest in France is being perpetrated by a minority inside another minority-- enough to create chaos, but not enough to govern. The real danger is the destruction of the French economy. The Riot Appeasement Plan for economic growth involves millions of dollars of property damage followed by billions of dollars of government spending, repeated as necessary. Tax increases-- the traditional socialist method for financing such things-- will merely increase unemployment, creating a demand for even more riots. It will not be Islam that drags Europe down, but the fact a shared currency with France will become a suicide pact.
Right now everybody is worried about how the rioters feel, but the real question is how the victims feel. Ultimately, they are the ones who have the votes to determine the direction France will take, and it would be a really bad thing if they decided their best deal was the kindly-looking old man who thinks Hitler wasn't so bad after all.
Respectfully submitted,
Ferdinand T. Cat
# At Mon 9:55 PM | Permalink | Trackback URI | Comments (2) | More Confused Americans for Truth
Trackback Pings
» How Empires End from La Shawn Barber's Corner
Pat Buchanan has written another great one.
Known collectively as the Paris riots, the madness continues to rage out of control in France. In the past few days I’ve heard so many excuses for this barbaric behavior. The “youths” are ... [Read More]
Tracked on November 8, 2005 7:06 AM
» So WHY Is Paris Burning? from euphoricreality.net
An intriguing excerpt from:
FRANCE’S TICKING TIME BOMB
by Amir Taheri
Arab News
November 5, 2005
[…]
The French used to flatter themselves for the success of their policy of “assimilation” which was supposed to turn immigrant... [Read More]
Tracked on November 8, 2005 10:55 AM
» Day 12 - Fwance is [Still] Burning from euphoricreality.net
After twelve days, you’d think those “oppressed, embittered youth” would be getting a little tired of burning cars and launching molotov cocktails at private property. They’ve got an incredible attention span, I’ll give ... [Read More]
Tracked on November 8, 2005 10:57 AM
» Go vote, Virginia! from NIF
Today's dose of NIF - News, Interesting & Funny ... Go vote VA, and it's Kerry-180 Tuesday (+ Open TrackBacks!) [Read More]
Tracked on November 8, 2005 11:55 AM
» France Burning from Rant Fever
I have been astounded at the news from France these last two weeks. I suppose I shouldn't be surprized, though.
France is a nation that, above all, loves social programs. For years they have warehoused immigrant North Africans and Arabs in hu... [Read More]
Tracked on November 9, 2005 11:42 PM
» CARNIVAL OF THE CLUELESS #21 from Right Wing Nut House
Decisions…decisions…
Who will wear the “Cluebat of the Week” laurels?
Certainly there has been enough cluelessness exhibited by Republicans this week as a group of Republican Congressmen decided that the American people don... [Read More]
Tracked on November 13, 2005 10:25 AM
Comments
Posted by: Jack at November 9, 2005 12:45 AM
She wants me to further say "No, I meant that the French are toast, and now will be eaten like breakfast."
Posted by: Chris Leavitt at November 9, 2005 5:06 AM
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