On Fri, 11 Nov 2005 10:02:23 -0800 (PST) Thomas Seay
<entheogens at yahoo.com> writes:
>
> Since the topic of rhizomes has appeared here
> recently, I thought it might be interesting to think
> about the current riots in France and compare them to
> riots that have happened in the US.
>
> One thing that occurs to me- correct me if you think
> that I am wrong- is that when riots have occured in
> recent times in the US, they have not spread in a
> significant way the way they did in France. I
> remember after the LA riots there were some actions in
> San Francisco (maybe in other places,too...I dont
> recall) but certainly no where near the intensity of
> Los Angeles and they certainly did not persist for as
> long as they have in France.
>
> I dont think this phenomenon can be attributed to the
> fact that there is a stronger Left in France. In
> fact, the organized Left (even the far-Left) seems to
> have had little or no influence on the recent rioting.
> The actors in the French rioters are fresh on the
> political scene.
>
> Is it that the level of frustration is higher? Is it
> that the US system has been dealing with this longer
> and is more sophisticated in co-opting, funneling such
> anger?
Certainly one major difference between the French riots and those in the USA is the difference in the death tolls. I am only aware of one fatality that has been attributed to the French riots whereas the death tolls in American riots are typically far greater. The death toll in the LA riots was certainly much greater. While the French cops are said to have a reputation for brutality, which is undoubtedly deserved, it seems that American cops are much more trigger happy than their French counterparts. Most of the violence in France seems to have been directed against property rather than against persons. I suspect that these differences are due at least in part to the fact that France does have a relatively strong organized Left whereas the US does not.
>
> You know there was the saying during the period of
> bourgeois revolutions in Europe that "when Paris
> sneezes, Europe catches cold". It would appear that
> this continues to be true in some respects, but why is
> it no longer the case in the US? Struggles here,
> despite the existence of time and distance erasing
> technologies, seem to remain so localized.
>
> -Thomas
>
>
> <<We are at such a point in mankind's evolution where changed
> conditions invalidate all our policies that have been so successful
> even in the recent past, and that presumably have constituted the
> ideal response to a presumably unchanging and unchangeable human
> condition. No wonder we are stupefied and confused-but our mistake
> is the same which many cultures have made before us, namely to force
> a rigid model upon a fluid reality.
>
> Erich Jantsch - "Design for Evolution: Self-Organization and
> Planning in the Life of Human Systems"
>
>
>
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