Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Learning opportunity for France

It looks as though the riots in Paris are continuing, but are beginning to settle down. I'm still amazed at just how messed up things have gotten, and how wide spread (7 other countries have had related incidents) it has become. But the thing that really surprises me is just how little attention it seems to be getting in the rest of the world. It barely rates a mention on the two main Australian new websites (news.com.au and the Australian). CNN doesnt seem to think it should be on the front page of their site, nor do reuters.

This is something big. It is more important than the trial of some model foolish enough to have drugs in a foreign country with harsher drug laws than our own. It's more significant than some guy going through Princess Mary's trash for photos. This is 12 days of rioting in one of the worlds major cities, that has spread throughout the country and the continent.

The fact that this much violence has erupted shows that there were problems that needed addressing that weren't. And while that may explain the violence, it doesn't condone it. I would advocate as rapid a resolution as possible to the actual violence, followed by a serious look at the causes and fixing them.

I hope that the French people and the French government are sensible in the aftermath. This should not be used to make a more authoritarian government. The American goverment used the aftermath of September 11 to strengthen the goverments powers at the expense of the rights of the people. France I hope will be wiser, and will learn from this.

Anyway, heres hoping it finishes soon and France comes out a better country for it afterwards. While this is not a good thing, if nothing comes of it, it will just be a waste, and probably only a prequal.

End Post
writing time: 3 hours 4 minutes (including heading down to the shops, having dinner and watching some tv)

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