Paris's North African population is very quiet right now

[Recursion]

Last edited Sat Dec 8, 2018, 04:46 PM - Edit history (1)

I follow a few French-Algerian blogs (we're moving there in a few months and I like to get to know immigrant communities wherever I live) and from what I can tell everybody there is just keeping their heads down. The 18th and 19th Arrondissements, and the northern suburbs, where most of the Algerian and West African origin population live, are still tense but peaceful.

This is an important thing to keep in mind: these demonstrations are not France's poor "rising up", any more than 1789 was (but in both cases people have political agendas to make it seem like it is). These are white rural and exurban French people who dislike public money going outside of their ethnic community. This is a cynical attempt to replace the French idea of patriotisme with a right-wing ethnic nationalism. This isn't about gas taxes (even with the tax increase gas is still cheaper than it was when Macron took office); this is an attempt to end pluralism and democracy.

[bobbieinok]

1. Thanks for this info. It should be more widely known--RW antipluralism again!!

[Caliman73]

2. The major difference between left wing and right wing populism, no?

Left wing populism is typically geared toward more inclusion. Decentralization of power and wider distribution of the fruits of labor. Right wing populism is almost always about exclusion of "the other" and distribution of goods to the dominant (see White) group.

[AJT]

3. Thanks Russia...it has a heavy hand in stirring up the nationalist pot.