We Americans take no delight in the situation France finds itself in...If they stopped for a minute and took a look in the mirror they might have seen this coming, but for the French ruling class arrogance is a right. So convinced of their superiority over the dim bulbs running America they openly delighted in the misery caused by the recent acts of God visited upon President Bush and America. There were those who said that America was being paid back for it's arrogance. Well, today France burns.
Is the world shocked? Is the world thinking any less of France and the European social model because of these violent riots? I seem to remember the NYT and other left leaning media outlets delight in reprinting clips from newspapers all over the world that were expressing shock at the social mayhem caused by a catastrophic hurricane in New Orleans. Guilty as charged, yes the social fabric became unraveled in New Orleans when the infrastructure was ripped apart by a massive storm. But in France the social fabric is unraveling due to man-made actions - there is a difference.
What would seem an obvious conclusion to you and me is being varnished over by the mainstream media. Even on some of the most reliable blogs I am seeing the desire to blame this on economic reasons and a down playing of any Islamo-facist coordination. I remain skeptical.
Still, the reason America takes no delight in the events in France, home of uber America-hater Jacques Chirac, is two-fold: one, we are a compassionate people and do not partake in schadenfreude, and two, it can happen here.
(You may have noticed I have employed a little German here when talking about the French, it was intended...)
Perhaps Europe isn't as inclusive and enlightened as many have claimed. Maybe America has been just a little better at integrating many cultures into one. Yet, over the past thirty years we have moved away from the melting pot model and have taken a hard left down the road to Muticultural City, passing Diversityville along the way. I have heard that there are neighborhoods in Multicultural City that post signs that say "Americans need not apply". How sad is that?
CW
1 comment:
You read my mind!
A lot of bloggers and good conservative writers are, indeed, blaming this on economics. I simply cannot agree; France has one of the kindest welfare states imaginable, and the unemployed do not suffer (in fact, the employed barely work-some have over 20 weeks vacation!) Unemployment being the cause of civil unrest is a fallacy anyway; the poorest communities in America are some of the most peaceful. I remember reading that the poorest county in America is in Texas, and it also has the lowest crime rate.
I`m going to have to link this up at birdblog, and continue my commentary (which is growing too long).
Absolutely great post!
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