Banlieue Riots And Dem Econ Policies

This must be a description of the infitada against Israel a few years back, or maybe the latest happenings in Baghdad:

An average of 112 cars a day have been torched across ***** and there have been 15 attacks a day on police and emergency services. Nearly 3,000 police officers have been injured in clashes this year. Officers have been badly injured in four ambushes ***** since September. Some police talk of open war with youths who are bent on more than vandalism. (source)

Nope, it's not Gaza or Sadr City. Hint: All this is happening now, this year, in the home of Zyed and Bouna.

The answer, of course, is France, where last winter's rioting in the Banlieue is continuing at a simmer, and is threatening to blow wide open soon, as the anniversary of the deaths of young teens Zyed and Bouna approaches. Z & B, you recall, were hiding from police in a French ghetto when they were accidentally electrocuted, sparking (forgive me) the riots.

A zillion electrons have sacrifced themselves to the debate over whether the uprising is religious or economic in nature. What a waste. It's both.

The French/Muslim youth see the infitatada fighters and jihadists as their heroes, so there is a religious underpinning to their reaction to a dismal economy. Says the Times of London in the same story quoted above:

Amor Benna, 61, the Tunisian father of Zyed, appealed this week to the young to refrain from violence and use their votes for change. “I don’t want to see cars burning again,” he said from his home on the Chêne Pointu estate. But the unhappiness was understandable, said M Benna, a street cleaner. “The young were born here and they are French. But they have nothing. The real problem is work. If they had any these riots would not have happened.”

France's unemployment rate is 9.3%, NationMaster tells us. In fact, among developed countries, the European (or European wannabe) social democracies have the most unemployed:

#1	Italy	10.3%
#2	Finland	9.5%
#3	France	9.3%
#4	Germany	7.7%
#5	Canada	7.3%

Our rate is 4.6%. France's youth unemployment rate is 21.6%, which isn't doing a lot to keep the kids busy. (Ours is about 9%.)

The Dems, who want to move the US economy towards a European model, need to explain to us why they think it's a good idea to kill the golden goose that is the current US economy in the pursuit of an economic system that is doing so badly, and is bringing about so much social disruption as a result.

Hat-tip: memeoradum
Related Tags: France, Islam, Riots, Muslim, Politics, Democrats