Off the Top of My Head

French Unrest and the State of Protesting

It seems not a day goes by that we don’t hear about violence in France these days. It began with rioting in the suburbs when the angst built up after growing unemployment and what those rioting call “police harrasment”. These started after an incident where police were chasing some suspects of a break in at a construction site and their subsequent electrocution when fleeing police. Those arguing the other side claim that they ran from police, not because they were involved in any criminal activity, but because they knew they would be questioned endlessly about things they knew nothing about, or basically harrased.

Now it seems, and even shortly after the incident, that the spark that started it has long been forgotten. Few people took to the streets specifically in protest to those killed but instead some did to show their disgust with their treatment over all. The larger majority however is part of a much larger trend which is repeated all over the world on a regular basis. Most riots these days are fueled by those that are looking to profit or just have a thirst for violence and are looking for any excuse to fulfill it. There are serious issues in France yet those that forget those issues in the persuit of thug violence do no justice to any cause. In fact they further damage the cause and lead the country down a road which is very dark indeed. Many of these thugs attacked innocent women in the street stealing their bags and punching and kicking them in the process. What point can that possibly prove? Those that may have initially sympathized are further pushed away and support for the original cause, respect and support, is lost in an instant.

Now add to this mix, the protests over the French government possibly putting new employment law into affect that would affect younger workers. In an effort to actually tackle the rising unemployment factor (a huge driving force in the initial riots), more riots have been caused as now a different group wants to be heard. In this case, there is even more misunderstanding amongst protestors as they don’t even realize that this type of change in employment law has been shown to increase employment. I could argue its virtues in Frances economy (remember, they are no longer an independant country but are part of the bigger European Union), but once again as in the original example, the cause no longer matters. The violence won’t stop, or at least I hope not, sound economic policy in a country that desperately needs it. It will only serve to alienate that group of workers from the rest of French society and when lawmakers realize that divide, being the vote hungry people they are, will only pass more reform.

Like the Dublin Riots not so long ago, there is a small group which believes in the cause enough to peacefully protest, but there is a much larger group that thrives on violence and division and until a society stands up to those people, mob rule will always be the way. I believe in protesting and have been a part of many peaceful protests which have changed things, but never through random violence.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 29th, 2006 at 9:43 am and is filed under Society. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.