France Today, California Tomorrow?

Joel Kotkin, writing today in the Wall Street Journal (registration req'd), is among those in the camp that believe that most of the problems going on in France today are the result of the stilted French socialist economy:

The French political response to the continuing riots has focused most on the need for more multicultural "understanding" of, and public spending on, the disenchanted mass in the country's grim banlieues (suburbs). What has been largely ignored has been the role of France's economic system in contributing to the current crisis. State-directed capitalism may seem ideal for such American admirers such as Jeremy Rifkin, author of "The European Dream," and others on the left. Yet it is precisely this highly structured and increasingly infracted economic system that has so limited opportunities for immigrants and their children. In a country where short workweeks and early retirement are sacred, there is little emphasis on creating new jobs and even less on grass-roots entrepreneurial activity.

Since the '70s, America has created 57 million new jobs, compared with just four million in Europe (with most of those jobs in government). In France and much of Western Europe, the economic system is weighted toward the already employed (the overwhelming majority native-born whites) and the growing mass of retirees. Those ensconced in state and corporate employment enjoy short weeks, early and well-funded retirement and first dibs on the public purse. So although the retirement of large numbers of workers should be opening up new job opportunities, unemployment among the young has been rising: In France, joblessness among workers in their 20s exceeds 20%, twice the overall national rate. In immigrant banlieues, where the population is much younger, average unemployment reaches 40%, and higher among the young.

To make matters worse, the elaborate French welfare state--government spending accounts for roughly half of GDP compared with 36% in the U.S.--also forces high tax burdens on younger workers lucky enough to have a job, largely to pay for an escalating number of pensioners and benefit recipients. In this system, the incentives are to take it easy, live well and then retire. The bloat of privileged aging blocks out opportunity for the young.

If the problem were simply due to immigrants failing to assimilate into society, or a new intifada, you would expect to see similar problems in other parts of the world. So far it trouble hasn't caught on in other places.

However, there is a group right here in California who is hoping for similar rioting and destruction in the Southwestern U.S.:

While many Americans are watching the chaos unfold following 12 nights of mayhem by largely Muslim immigrants in the streets of France, a leader of the separatist Aztlan movement in the U.S. says it's only a matter of time before worse unrest hits the streets of America.

"Can a similar insurrection occur in the USA?" asks Ernesto Cienfuegos of La Voz de Aztlan.

Yes, he concludes.

"Today, here in Los Angeles, we are already seeing ominous signs of an impending social explosion that will make the French rebellion by Muslim and immigrant youths seem 'tame' by comparison," he writes. "All the ingredients are present including a hostile and racist police as in France. In fact, we came close to having major riots on three separate occasions just this year alone."

Aztlan activists, who see themselves as "America's Palestinians," want to carve out of most of the southwestern United States an independent, Spanish-speaking nation known as the Republica del Norte.

According to earlier reports in La Voz de Aztlan, the leaders of this movement are meeting continuously with extremists from the Islamic world.

"There are great similarities between the political and economic condition of the Palestinians in occupied Palestine and that of La Raza in the southwest United States," explained one 2001 editorial in La Voz de Aztlan.

Oh yeah, there's lots of similarities. Unless there's a complete abdication of authority and responsibility on the part of our government, Aztlan will never happen. The Palestinians may end up with their own state, but the promoters of Aztlan will be disappointed.

If they want a Spanish speaking nation in this part of the world, they've got one. It's called Mexico. And, of course, there's always Los Angeles.