ethics
11-08-2002, 05:55 PM
Liberté, egalité, et fraternité appear to have been replaced by insécurité, violences urbaines, et incivilitiés:
Reported crime in France has risen from 600,000 annually in 1959 to 4 million today, while the population has grown by less than 20 percent (and many think today's crime number is an underestimate by at least a half). In 2000, one crime was reported for every sixth inhabitant of Paris, and the rate has increased by at least 10 percent a year for the last five years. Reported cases of arson in France have increased 2,500 percent in seven years, from 1,168 in 1993 to 29,192 in 2000; robbery with violence rose by 15.8 percent between 1999 and 2000, and 44.5 percent since 1996 (itself no golden age).
These chilling statistics underscore a rising crime rate in France which Theodore Dalrymple <a href="http://www.city-journal.org/html/12_4_the_barbarians.html">attributes to an immigrant population</a> which is increasing both in number and restiveness.
The large majority of the 6-7 million North and West African immigrants have been shunted into living in public housing projects that surround the major cities of France. These housing projects, or cités, have become societies unto themselves, rife with unemployment and violence, and distinctly hostile to greater French society.
It's no wonder France would rather bash another country instead of looking inwards and tackle their problems within.
Reported crime in France has risen from 600,000 annually in 1959 to 4 million today, while the population has grown by less than 20 percent (and many think today's crime number is an underestimate by at least a half). In 2000, one crime was reported for every sixth inhabitant of Paris, and the rate has increased by at least 10 percent a year for the last five years. Reported cases of arson in France have increased 2,500 percent in seven years, from 1,168 in 1993 to 29,192 in 2000; robbery with violence rose by 15.8 percent between 1999 and 2000, and 44.5 percent since 1996 (itself no golden age).
These chilling statistics underscore a rising crime rate in France which Theodore Dalrymple <a href="http://www.city-journal.org/html/12_4_the_barbarians.html">attributes to an immigrant population</a> which is increasing both in number and restiveness.
The large majority of the 6-7 million North and West African immigrants have been shunted into living in public housing projects that surround the major cities of France. These housing projects, or cités, have become societies unto themselves, rife with unemployment and violence, and distinctly hostile to greater French society.
It's no wonder France would rather bash another country instead of looking inwards and tackle their problems within.