France on Fire

I love France. I have been there several times. My wife is French. Her family lives in France. There is something very special about France, and I particularly love Paris. I say these things to preface my following remarks about the situation in that country.

The outbreak of violence in France is horrible, disgusting, criminal...and predictable. France has long claimed to be the land of "liberty, equality, fraternity" and human rights. That all looks good on the surface. But how many who have visited Paris have gone beyond the tourist attractions? How many have looked at the social powderkeg that has existed for years?

There are thousands and thousands of immigrants in France. They largely come from northern Africa and the Middle East. The majority are quite poor. Unemployment for that group sits at around 25%. I have seen families of 10 or more people living in a one room apartment, and many of them are there illegally. Some squat in condemned buildings. Others live in the most run-down and filthy places that one can imagine. To make a long story short, these immigrants are desperate. Does that make the rampages that are going on right now acceptable? Absolutely not. First of all, the electrocution of the young boys was not the fault of the French police force. These kids got nervous when they saw the policemen and they ran. They ran straight into an electric substation. Brilliant. It's a tragedy, for sure. But it is no excuse for the riots that are taking place.

If you want to look at the people who are causing the riots, look to the second-generation immigrants who have French citizenship. These are young people. They are organized. They were just looking for an excuse to cause trouble. Why? Perhaps they are aligned with radical Muslim groups. These groups have been active in France for years, especially groups from Algeria. Perhaps they are just bored and looking for trouble. Perhaps they are looking for ways to loot. In any case, they have made themselves criminals. They are attacking innocent people and destroying property at random. Criminals.

Let me tell you a story. My sister-in-law has friends in a very poor part of her town in France. It is a suburb of Paris. As she enters the main lobby, there are young men dealing drugs, and 4 and 5 year olds out playing in the street...at 10 p.m. No parents nearby. No supervision. You wonder why these young people are out of control? Look to the parents. Yes, the same type of parents that are accusing the Police and the government of killing their kids at that power station. You know what folks? Take responsibility for your own kids and quit blaming everyone else for your poor efforts. Sure, there are kids whose parents do everything right and they still revolt. But in the case of these two kids, quit blaming the cops! Quit burning the cities as if that will help.

What is going to happen next? Are the French legislators going to say, "There, there" and throw more taxes at the problem? Probably. But I guarantee that the first thing that's going to happen is that the army is going to be called out to stifle these riots. And if the army doesn't work...watch out. The French still have a group called the Foreign Legion. These Legionnaires are not the nicest folks in the world, and they would have no qualms about doing some damage to the rioters.

Before the French government will try to help these immigrants, the violence will need to stop. But before any plans will work, parents need to take responsibility for their children, and the children need to take responsibility for their own actions. In fact, if everyone took responsibility for their own actions, we wouldn't have some of the problems that we do today. Simple, isn't it? And it's a wish that won't come true with humans being the way that they are: imperfect and selfish.