March 17, 2006
JUST GIVE US OUR CHECKS!:
French protests nothing like those of '68 (JOHN LEICESTER, 3/17/06, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Tear gas. Students clashing with police around the famed Sorbonne university in Paris. Barricades in the capital's streets. Is March 2006 proving to be May 1968 all over again? So far, no. While comparisons between the student protests of then and now are tempting, they are also misleading.Posted by Orrin Judd at March 17, 2006 5:41 PMThe young protesters of '68 wanted to turn French society upside down. "Break the old molds" was one of their many slogans.
Their children want not revolution but status quo: the same access to pensions, jobs, prosperity and generous welfare systems their parents enjoyed. In short, a comfortable European lifestyle that many feel is under grave threat.
The status quo is unsustainable. The resolution of this conflict is going to be awful. Can't see any winners in either generation.
Posted by: jdkelly at March 17, 2006 6:15 PMJust hope the reactors and the Force de Frappe stays out of...
Oh, heck. Just hope they don't act French and go to extremes.
Bother! Look, just pray they get their act together.
Posted by: Mikey at March 17, 2006 6:41 PMThe spirit of '68 repeats itself, but farce and tragedy are reversed.
Posted by: jdkelly at March 17, 2006 7:29 PMTheir children want not revolution but status quo: the same access to pensions, jobs, prosperity and generous welfare systems their parents enjoyed.
As says jdkelly - too late. Even their parents won't receive the full pensions that they were promised.
If the youngsters really want jobs and prosperity, the path is clear: Emigrate.
Posted by: Noam Chomsky at March 17, 2006 8:56 PMI still think the French will expel their their muslims. But looking at these pathetic idiots, I really don't know for sure.
Posted by: Amos at March 17, 2006 9:26 PMThe Afrikaaner transition to black government in South Africa is the nearest historical parallel AFAIK.
Except that Islam has no analogue to Nelson Mandela.
Posted by: Gideon at March 18, 2006 7:45 AMAnd the Afrikaaners were forced to do so by their own religion and belief in the Anglo-American model.
Posted by: oj at March 18, 2006 8:23 AMAnd the fall of the USSR.
Posted by: David Cohen at March 18, 2006 9:13 AMthe white population of s.a. is/was leaving in droves last time i checked. they could go to other countries in the anglosphere; where will the french go once they have lost their own country ? better not be quebec, that's all i can say.
Posted by: toe at March 18, 2006 4:40 PMHaita is about the only one of their success stories left.
Posted by: erp at March 18, 2006 7:14 PMgood one :) and true
Posted by: toe at March 18, 2006 7:31 PM