If France's population of immigrant origin -- mostly Arab, some black -- is today quite large (more than 10% of the total population), it is because there was a government and industrial policy during the post-World War II boom years of reconstruction and economic expansion which the French call "les trentes glorieuses" -- the 30 glorious years -- to recruit from France's foreign colonies laborers and factory and menial workers for jobs which there were no Frenchmen to fill. These immigrant workers were desperately needed to allow the French economy to expand due to the shortage of male manpower caused by two World Wars, which killed many Frenchmen, and slashed the native French birth-rates too. Moreover, these immigrant workers were considered passive and unlikely to strike (unlike the highly political French working class and its Communist-led unions.) This government-and-industry-sponsored influx of Arab workers (many of whom saved up to bring their families to France from North Africa) was reinforced following Algerian independence by the Harkis.
This sounds very familiar. US also recruits foreign labors periodically. They are very important and productive work force, but they are often treated as second class citizens. Furthermore, the recruitment does not have any long term plan, so it often leads to creation of ghetto. All these create number of social problems in time.
Resorting to violence is not the best and greatest, but I often feel that having a couple of protests here and there, having riots here and there, is not necessarily a terrible thing. It's an indication that people understand problems in the society and they are expressing their concern.
When you don't see any protest or riot, the state often has so much power and has total control over its people like dictatorship ...
Yeah but the French immigrants have been treated like dirt for so long. How much do you take.
Well they can take a lot more than a lot of Canadians especially Unions workers in CB. Construction workers have burned down buildings because they were only allowed 4 breaks in a day.
However I think that what is happening in France has a very strong chance of happening in other places in the world. The way that governements generally handle the poor and homeless is to put them in a situation that they can't get out of. A good example of that in Canada is not the immigrants but the Native Americans. We simply put them on reservations and tell them to be good. Every once in a while they will put up a fuss but the government simply throws some money at them to keep them quiet. However they still have a much higher suicide rate, unemployment rate and a lower life expectancy than the reast of Canada.
But you are not going to see them rioting because the reserves are in rural areas
Joined: Feb 17, 2005 Posts: 290 Location: drunk in a ditch
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Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 10:57 am Post subject:
capebretoner wrote:
El-Diablo wrote:
Yeah but the French immigrants have been treated like dirt for so long. How much do you take.
Well they can take a lot more than a lot of Canadians especially Unions workers in CB. Construction workers have burned down buildings because they were only allowed 4 breaks in a day.
However I think that what is happening in France has a very strong chance of happening in other places in the world. The way that governements generally handle the poor and homeless is to put them in a situation that they can't get out of. A good example of that in Canada is not the immigrants but the Native Americans. We simply put them on reservations and tell them to be good. Every once in a while they will put up a fuss but the government simply throws some money at them to keep them quiet. However they still have a much higher suicide rate, unemployment rate and a lower life expectancy than the reast of Canada.
But you are not going to see them rioting because the reserves are in rural areas
The frigging crybabies of Cape Breton island cannot be compared to millions of people or are forced to live in poverty and as second class citizens. This was something a long time comming, France imports in immigrants but after that they are treated poorly.
Oh and another night of rioting and car burning, insurance companys must be shitting bricks.
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