French Riots and Press Mob
Letter to the Editor Of the NYT
By Michael


It strikes me that the coverage of the French riots by the NYT, as well as the French press, is distracting because of the strenuous and elaborate intellectual efforts that are being offered to persuade readers that there are more profound and existential reason for the causes of this lawlessness.

The "old world" has an underclass, which is only a big surprise because the French are reluctant to accepted this reality, because it in turn challenges the cherished ideal of "Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. "

Why can't we be honest and simply describe the troublemakers as bored, disaffected youth who are simply behaving like the vandalizing thugs? Certainly, these riots have their historical roots in years of misguided French emigration and assimilation policy. Nobody suggest that these riots have been handled competently by the French government.

But, we don't have to dignify the actions of these teenagers, as most reporters and analysts are doing, by manufacturing complex political subtleties which almost romanticizes these hoodlums and imply that they are almost legitimate players in some greater struggle, or rebellious actors in a grand drama which is part of some greater cause. This is aimless, raw, mob behavior.

Describe the reality as it exists. We are tired of being mobbed by the press. Don't insult readers by suggesting some greater invisible intellectual motivations or justifications.