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What’s Cooking in France?
Thanks to the participation in comments from Vash ( who some of you may remember from former posts), an article was given for suggested reading.
WHY IS FRANCE BURNING? The rebellion of a lost generation.
I read it, but while the author – who has his liberal/left credentials, so no one is confused- enumerates the failure of secular France to uphold its promises, is this at all an answer of the root cause of trouble in the EU paradise? Because while France is burning, the Netherlands is fermenting and something has gone a bit rotten in Denmark …all within their Muslim communities.
It begs for comparisons: on the basis of countries that welcome immigrants, whether and how immigrants are assimilated into the larger culture, and whether the whole system of social welfare is sustainable or beneficial in the long run.
Not what the Left hopes from such articles.
Number one on the list is the topic of racism. What is the single most effective way to break the barriers of racial prejudice? The Doug Ireland article still advocates top-down government promised and imposed remedies. But does this work? It seems to not be viable in France, where the contentions are based on the differential between the glorious picture and the rude reality.
The question is not asked- it is never asked by the Left- on why the reality becomes so rude… who pays and for how long? When is there to be an expected acceptance of the Civitas which built and maintains the civil order and benefits? Those go unaddressed by the Liberal accusers. It is easier to focus only on the harsh and reactionary posturing of leaders trying to get control of the situation.
To briefly look at that:
“A team report in today’s French daily, Liberation …, interviews ghetto youths, and asks them to explain the reasons for their anger. And, the paper reports, “All, or almost all, cite ‘Sarko’….a 22-year old student says, ‘Sarkozy owes us his excuses for what he said.”
This is before or after the initiation of the riots? If after, how can it be blamed on the commentary of the Interior Minister? Although I agree it further inflames, something was already ignited. Red Herring for the masses.
If religion has nothing at all to do with the problems of Muslims in France, why mention this,
“the integrationist movement of “jeunes beurs” created around that march petered out in frustration and despair as the dream of integration failed. In recent years, its place has been taken by Islamist fundamentalists operating through local mosques — the mediatic symbol of this retreat into a separatist, communitarian-religious politics is the slick demagogue Tariq Ramadan”
?
“separatist, communitarian-religious politics” sounds alot like what other European countries are experiencing amongst the largely Islamic immigrants. Is this solely an economic problem or is it a culture problem, which is saturated with specific religious doctrines? Perhaps an indicator is hidden in this piece of information:
Both apartments and schools are over-crowded (birth control is taboo in the Muslim culture the immigrants brought with them and transmitted to their children, and even for their male grandchildren of today –who’ve adopted hip-hop culture and created their own French-language rap music of extraordinary vitality (which often embodies stinging social and political content) — condoms are a no-no because of Arab machismo, contributing to rising AIDS rates in the ghettos.
When speaking of social problems, we are not just dependent upon education or tax-raised financial paternalistic programs for rectifying the wrongs of society. They are not sufficient to the task. It is the bedrock belief that people working together, as groups promote that, that gives the dynamic to the outcomes of the society.
I have said this before. The Civitas will work in a specific direction. You must look at the definitions of it and the whether a society is moving within it or moving somewhere else. Then hone in on just what is changing the Civitas in a way that must be judged for human value. Does it continue to promote the wellbeing of the citizens? Or does it not?
I submit that the religion of Islam, in its true form- as stated in the Quran, works against toleration, works against the freedoms and equality in the governmental forms of the West. It is inimical to the same. It breaks down the Civitas that holds together the Democratic forms of government. Something has to give… the religion or the form of government.
The culture Islam produces cultivates a sense of the superiority of remaining outside Western community. Of gaining from it, but not having any stake in building it.
And I wonder at the blindness of Muslims to bitterly complain about being left outside social acceptance when they have been bold to exert anti-Semitic and anti-native actions, from cemetary desecrations to assualts.
It comes back around. There are real remedies, some of which are raising the general consensus on the dignity of all human lives, determined individual promotion of racial acceptance, and encouraging social responsibility ( this includes charity and support for the law). It isn’t that easy, as in a band-aid approach, but we have seen the history records of Wilberforce, of Ghandi, Martin Luther King…and his name sake, Martin Luther… to see that over time there can be change for the better.
Rioting, burning and vandalization are symptomatic, but how we treat those symptoms and how much we understand the root cause will predict the outcomes, for France, and perhaps, for us.