Watching the intensity of the youth protests and riots in France, it’s impossible not to reflect on the massive cultural gulf between the U.S. and continental Europe. These young people are rioting against a law that would almost certainly help more of them get a job. They are rioting to stay unemployed. And the main complaint from some French observers is that some of them are not violent in the correct, traditional French way:
"In France, we always imagine violence to be political because of our revolutions, but this isn’t the case," said Sebastian Roch√©, a political scientist who specializes in delinquency in the suburbs. "The casseurs are people who are apart from the political protests. Their movement is apolitical. It is about banal violence ‚Äî thefts, muggings, aggression."
Ugh. This violence, it is so … apolitical, so banal. Where did the good old political violence go? It’s important to remember that excessive welfare states do not only impede economic growth and freedom, they also change people’s minds and souls – from independence to dependency, from self-help to resentment, from pride in work to rioting to perpetuate unemployment.
(Photo: Jerome Sessini, Time.)
The Dish 