I’ve been following the US media response to the now 12 days of rioting in Paris very closely. France, who has been belittled so often in our media, now seems to be falling apart (as is most certainly not the case, but so little news comes out of France to the US that it seems that way). News stories offer several explanations for the rioting, including the failure to culturally integrate immigrant Muslims, poor housing in the cities, and very high unemployment among the young (as much as 40% of young Muslims are unemployed). As with any rioting, however, once they began they have surely continued out of sheer momentum. What began as “just” arson has turned into outright violence, one reported murder, and a growing list of atrocious acts. Now, on the 12th day of the riots, can newspapers confidently claim that France’s imperfect social order is to blame, or mostly the cruelty inherent in human nature?
Islamic fundamentalism, no more dangerous at its core than the Christian variety, has prevented the integration of Muslims into French society as much as anything else. It is not fundamentalism that causes the violence, but rather causes such as listlessness, unemployment, and discrimination (both perceived and real). Undoubtedly, Chirac’s administration has handled the situation with utter incompetence, as he has handled much of his foreign affairs. He has allowed the views of his political elite, often funded by French industry, to override international justice time and time again. And finally, the riots continue because now their sheer violence attracts the darker sides of human nature as a moth the flame. That is why rioting can not be allowed to proceed out of control, for like a forest fire, it provides the means for its own propagation. American responses to rioting, like those I’ve seen here at MSU following basketball games, have often been criticized as overly harsh or violent, but civil order must be maintained because even in America the line between civilization and sheer barbarism is dangerously thin.
The lessons of history teach us much about ourselves. We are foolish to think our modern Western societies incapable of the horrific acts seen only 60 years ago. American forces and agents have used torture to achieve their ends, often succumbing to their darker desires. We all saw the photos from Abu Ghraib; would those troops’ high school friends have recognized the cruel light in their eyes in those sickening photos? Of course, in this “War on Terrorism” the other side has committed atrocities almost unspeakable in nature. The crucial difference between the crimes committed by Americans, and the gruesome spectacle of the terrorist’s beheadings, is that of larger acceptance within society. It is the civilizing influence of others (including God) that stays each of our hands when hatred or anger would cause greater harm. The precise reverse is true as well. Deep down man is bestial, and those guilty of succumbing to it must be removed from society. Let us all hope that when the French troops finally get control of the situation any who committed murders or destroyed the livelihood of others see the harshest sentences allowed under French law.
