Comments on: More on the riots in France

By: Random Fate » Some thoughts both personal and more general on the riots underway in France

Fri, 11 Nov 2005 19:22:03 +0000

[...] What Galt writes is almost identical to a discussion I had with one of my French colleagues at work today. He and I frequently engage in political discussions; it is the national hobby in France, and it gives me a lot of practice expressing non-technical, abstract ideas in French. Despite being a native (meaning white) Frenchman who loves his country, he freely said that discrimination was practiced by the society in France against those who although born in France were not necessarily regarded as French, nor did they have an even shot at a job. I pointed to empirical evidence of this problem (which includes living in the “wrong” neighborhood) in a post at my weblog, Random Fate, that was noted in The Christian Science Monitor: “Working class suburbs have become ethnic ghettos,” says Marc Cheb Sun, who edits “Respect,” a magazine aimed mostly at young black and North African readers. “That is the origin of the problem.” [...]

By: Random Fate » Q.E.D.

Random Fate » Q.E.D. — Tue, 08 Nov 2005 16:25:41 +0000

[...] Was I name-calling the radical right-wing? [...]

By: The Glittering Eye

The Glittering Eye — Tue, 08 Nov 2005 13:30:43 +0000

Twelfth night of French rioting

After 11 consecutive nights of rioting in France, the French government has leapt lurched crawled into action:
PARIS (AP) - France’s Cabinet authorized curfews under a state-of-emergency law Tuesday in an extraordinary measure to halt the coun…

By: Barb

Barb — Tue, 08 Nov 2005 06:15:34 +0000

I am curious how your co-workers and neighbors view the governments (lack of) response?

And, of course, I’m glad you are safe, although this is a complexity that you didn’t need.

By: Pavlov3

Pavlov3 — Tue, 08 Nov 2005 05:38:55 +0000

It seems that all applicants got interview offers. It is sad that based on race, some got more than others, but the interview is where you can shine. Also, did he try the same experiment after a minority candidate actually sucked it up and got some experience. A previous employer’s endorsement does wonders.
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The rioters I see on TV are well fed, decently educated (by the state) and wear nice clothing.
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It looks like, maybe I am too harsh that they want it all, want it now and want it easy, and they are willing to ruin other people’s property to get their way. They are brats, I have no symphathy, where was the peaceful protest?

By: Ron Beasley

Ron Beasley — Tue, 08 Nov 2005 05:35:30 +0000

Well said Jack. I will be the first to admit that the disgust I feel towars what is happening in the US has made me less moderate sounding and too quick to jump on things that fit my preconcieved ideas. Anger will do that. The right has forced me to move to the left.

By: Teresa

Teresa — Tue, 08 Nov 2005 05:11:35 +0000

I’ve heard A LOT of people confusing correlation and causation… the fact is that most of the rioters are Muslim… this does not mean that being a Muslim is the cause of the riots… It’s such an easy fallacy to fall into and is mostly done when it’s expedient and people want a simple answer.

That being said - I have a question. From what I’ve read - there are many social issues that have brought about this crisis. But the magnitude and spread of the violence I find rather surprising. It makes me wonder - if there are instigators egging things on for their own purposes? People in the background… pushing the right buttons - getting people to the right places all at the same time - that sort of thing.

I only wonder because it seems that the riots - if they were caused by the deaths of those 2 young men - would be more likely to be confined to the area where they came from… maybe spreading to neighboring places… but all in all burning itself out after a few days.

This thing seems to keep getting bigger and spreading - now it’s probably taken on a life of its own - but I do wonder if it was manipulated a bit to get to this point.

By: Dave Schuler

Dave Schuler — Tue, 08 Nov 2005 01:37:08 +0000

Jack, you might be interested in my posts on this subject since November 3. I’ve posted daily on it since then because I thought that much of the blogosphere had the wrong end of the stick: merely hewing closely to the actual things we know about what’s been happening (rather than, perhaps, what some may fear) leads one to the conclusions you are drawing.