Nov 6, 2005

France's "Generous" Welfare State Implodes

by Liberty and Power

Many conservatives are blaming Islam for the riots in France. This explanation from a newspaper report today, in my view, comes much closer to the mark:

So far, though, there has been no religious dimension given to the riots. Those taking part have spoken more of protesting the misery of their lives in the fringe towns, where unemployment of over 20% is the norm.

The riots appear to be an entirely logical byproduct of the growth of the French welfare/regulatory state.

The government of France fosters a culture that belittles hard work and entrepreneurship, packs people into defacto segregated public housing, destroys potential jobs through labor market regulations, and then"maintains" members of this underclass as wards of the state.

Why should anyone be surprised when this leads to idleness, alientation, resentment, desperation, and, finally, riots?

More Comments:

Anthony Gregory - 11/6/2005

Also see this CS Monitor piece. It discusses welfare-state ghettos: “In these 751 zones that the government has designated for special programs, unemployment stands at 19.6 percent - double the national average - and at more than 30 percent among 21- to 29- year-olds, according to official figures. Incomes are 75 percent below the average."

And the police state: "Nowhere is that gap clearer, say young men in Clichy-sous-Bois and adults who work with them, than in the behavior of the police. ‘They check our papers everywhere, all the time, for no reason,' complains one youth in Clichy who did not want to be identified. 'And the checks are getting rougher and rougher.’”