Are The Riots in France a problem that stands alone, or is it a symptom of a greater problem... as the world becomes more apprehensive and concerned - Eric Renderking Fisk details the cause and what little we have to look forward to...

Ren's Rants

November 10th, 2005

"France Is a Riot!"
It's hard to get excited about the next period film or jazz album that I've been trying to review when there's so much more pressing issues to write about. In fact, there's too much to write about, and none of it is uplifting. We're in for more exciting yet very dangerous times. I'm concerned that this is just the prequel to what we will be experiencing in time to come...

Lets Wait and See what happens…
This might not seem appropriate after the multiple bombings last night in Jordan… but in fact I think that those three hotel bombings make this rant even more urgent.

There are Politicians here in the United States who like to look to France for “wisdom” and as an example of what to do in a time of crisis. I can only hope that after 12 nights of rioting in France and elsewhere in Europe that these politicians turn away from France as a perfect example and start turning pages in the history books for guidance.

There is chaos and mayhem in THE STREETS OF THEIR OWN COUNTRY… and the French officials wait 12 days before making a statement that their might be a problem and that after many millions of dollars of damage has been done… that maybe… just maybe… it’s time to call in the police and get these rioters under control. (News reports say that because of new curfews, the violence diminished radically last night…)


When there is an immediate threat of terrorism, what’s the French’s possession: “Let’s wait and see what develops.” When there’s real chaos and real violence in the streets, what’s the French’s possession: “Let’s wait and see what develops.” Just like when there was a new Chancellor in their neighboring country, Germany, was making talk about undoing the injustice of the Treaty of Versailles and steamrollering other countries Germany “rightfully owned,” – The French attitude could be characterized for a time as: “Let’s wait and see what develops.”

[An over simplification: Hitler violates the Treaty on March 16th, 1935 and it wasn’t until Sept 3, 1939 when Britain, France and New Zealand declare war on Germany. In that time, Nazi’s occupied the Rhineland, then the Sudetenland, then annex Czechoslovakia, invade Poland and have already begun exterminating the Jewish population in concentration camps. To be fair, The United States was slow to get involved and did little more then send supplies to the allies in Europe…]

It’s disturbing that John Kerry and John Edwards from the DNC who ran for The White House, Ted Kennedy, Hillary Clinton et al. believe that we should “Take A Page” from The French Rule book and adopt a “Wait And See” attitude when it comes to taking action. It’s disturbing when people who make genuinely stupid comments like “Maybe the French are the only ones with any sense" in regards to fighting the war on Terrorism and against Islamic fascists.

In the years to come, because of France’s inaction - we might see pictures of a mushroom cloud over Paris and the images of the twisted wreckage of the Eiffel Tower will dominate the news media for weeks after that… and even after there’s proof of who did it and where they came from – what will be the French’s possession: “Let’s wait and see what develops?”

With the riots in France night after night, for 12 nights - and the delayed reaction, they’ve proven once again that inaction isn’t the answer and pacifism only works when both sides are dedicated to peace. The answer isn’t “let them get this out of their system,” but stopping them from what they’re doing while they’re committing crime (or before they do, if possible) and then getting to the root of the problem after so that it doesn’t happen again. France proved once again that not doing anything in times of danger makes matters worse.

Can it happen here?
In a forum where I posted some of this text before, someone asked me if we would start to see riots occur here in The United States. The short answer: We're past due.

We're at a breaking point right now... there has been a lot of anger here in this country. Remember when Prince turned his name into a symbol? He was known as "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince…" Some of us are now living in “The Country Formerly Known as The ‘United’ States of America.”

You have people who feel disenfranchised by the politicians, the courts, the media... You have the MinuteMen on the Am/Mex boarder and we're about one shooting away from a war with Mexico.

Bush isn't doing anything to make things better with his ridiculous "Worker Program for 'Undocumented Immigrants'." After the next terror attack and word gets out that the terrorists came across the Canadian or Mexican boarder (or through the loop-holes in Immigration Laws,) I don't give Dubya much of a chance for being on this Earth for much longer because there will be people angry because he didn’t do enough at home. The stage is already being set for the outrage that’s to come after the next terror attack since there are people believing in Michael Moore's “9/11” fantasy about how “Bush Let September 11th happen…”.  After the next attack there will be an outcry because too much was being done in Iraq and not enough was done here at home.

The future rioters could very easily be angry mourners suffering with the loss of loved ones, or angry yet innocent Islamic immigrants who will feel unjustly persecuted.

I think we can "look forward" to a return of the same riots that this country experienced during the 1960's and what France is "enjoying" now.

Australia is next as their parliament is trying to pass Anti-Terrorism laws and have been trying to do so for the past month or so because they know they’re next on Al-Qaeda’s Hit list. Earlier this week the police broke up a Terror Cell that was in the process of making bombs and getting ready to set that plan in motion.

There are civil liberty groups Down Under who are trying to prevent those laws from being passed… that fight is a disaster waiting to happen. If one group is trying to prevent terrorism by passing laws and regulations while another group is fighting to keep those from being passed, and terrorism does strike – the feeling of helplessness will be overwhelming to some people who might resort to violence, similar to what would happen if there were to be another terror attack here in The United States.

The only thing worse then a terror attack would be knowing that people tried to prevent it and were prevented from doing so. Such rage could manifest into riots.

Conclusions
I’m not ready to say that society and civilization is falling apart, but I can see some of the seams starting to wear and the edges fray. The glue to put these failing parts of the western world back together isn’t just more rules and regulations – and the last thing I would condone would be institute a police state.

As we struggle in The War On Terror, as our society is becoming more divided with each breaking news story about alleged corruption and the embers of class envy are stroked with the winds of record breaking profits reported by gas companies and the calamity of Katrina’s wake is still fresh in our minds with more natural disasters on the rise; I believe that there is a greater sense of urgency in the world. There’s some palatable tension in the air. And it’s growing

These and other factors lead me to believe that we’re in for greater chaos in the months and years to come. I have no doubt that as we all feel more and more insecure and as our grasp of control slipping a way from us, that many people here and through out the rest of the world will resort to violence, many weaker minded people will succumb to the mass hysteria and follow the mob mentality.

And as I’ve illustrated, the answer can’t be found in taking the “French” course of action by sticking our heads in the sand and pretend the problem will go away and commit to action only after it’s too late. Not doing anything is going to lead to more suffering and horrors just as easily as over-reacting and recklessly passing new laws and regulations that do little more then restrict and punish law-abiding citizens instead of preventing crime. Restrictive laws make us into the villains the terrorists want to portray us as.

We have to address the issues of the day and take a serious look at the causes of these riots and go from there. Appeasement and inaction aren’t solutions – in fact that they are the cause of many of these problems and disasters.

We can’t treat the disease of society and the cancer of civilization by addressing just the symptoms, we have attack the tumors of violence and ignorance that are the cause. Sadly, we won't seek a diagnosis until we wake up from our catatonic state or when society come too close to becoming a fatal victim of it's own inaction.

I'm afraid the worst is yet to come... we have only more politicizing and name calling to look forward to while real work to fix these problems remain undone.
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More articles from Ren can be found here: The Rant Archive