The American Spectator

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The Gaul of Some People

7.20.04 @ 12:01AM

WE'LL ALWAYS HAVE PARIS
Re: Jed Babbin's The French Prescription:

Regarding Mr. Babbin's observations on the decline of France:

Yes, we should watch with glee as France self-destructs, except that it is not merely a French phenomenon. All of Western Europe, Russia, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan are in the same boat: Their populations are peaking, and will begin declining seriously over the next 30 years. Their economies too. The reason is that people are not reproducing, and their economies are stagnant or deteriorating. It is all part of the socialism that they insist is so invigorating to the human condition.

Under the narcissism of socialism, the individual's phobias, pleasures, indulgences and neuroses take center stage. He/she is told that it is his/her pleasure and psychic well-being which is central to survival. Promiscuous sex with a focus on recreation and not procreation; rising childless homosexuality; anti-child feminism; and a leftist media drumbeat all converge to convince people that the 'cool' life is that of the swinging sexy single, that children are a bother and an impediment to fun, while socialist economics preach that work is a drag, and that productivity only enriches 'somebody else'.

Fortunately, leftists are going to die out faster because they have the weakest ties to the eternal order of God, work and family. America will survive by dint of immigration and a strong Christian ethic. We should be glad what's happening to France, except that the surviving populations are going to be burdened with the huge costs of caring for the expanding cadre of the elderly. Then the leftist caterwauling will really begin, and they will have nobody but their socialist selves to blame.
-- Steve Nikitas
Pittsfield, Massachusetts

No doubt about it, France would be a better actor on the world stage if it followed Jed Babbin's advice, but it won't because the advice came from an American (worse: it came from that American). So, what to do?

Two options, as I see it: (1) get a Brit -- or a Dutchman or an Italian or somebody other than one of us -- to tell them the same things; or (2) tell them how their not following our advice works ineluctably to our advantage. While option 1 might work (and if so, probably only incrementally), option 2 could impel them to change overnight: they'll fall all over themselves to "thwart" us.

The French are no more uniformly anti-American than Americans are uniformly behind the Bush administration: the problem is their governing elite, the ÉNArques. Recall that while Chirac got something around 7 out of 8 votes cast in the 2002 run-off, he got only about 2 out of 9 in the first round, barely ahead of the next two candidates, the kook Le Pen and the Socialist Jospin. He is widely reviled in France (7 of 9 wanted someone else), but as is said of the weather, everyone complains, but no one does anything about it. (A joke: "What is the difference between an ÉNArque and the TGV?" "When the TGV derails, it stops.")

As for the Charles de Gaulle: France may not be a world power but often serves as a regional arbitrator, especially in francophone Africa. When we go to a trouble spot, we often do so first with a carrier. The French, called upon less often of course, nonetheless feel that they need at least the one, but corruption and featherbedding have driven up the cost. They could certainly have accomplished the same with smaller and cheaper, but national pride would not permit.

When I attended a family wedding over there in May of last year, the question most frequently asked of me was about the boycott of French companies. Even if not directly affected, they are fearful of it. Those most affected will inevitably whine about it in the same way that American celebrities whine when their expressed opinions provoke a backlash from the great unwashed. (One angry consumer is just that; ten million angry consumers, and you're talking some serious interruption of cash flow: Miss Goldberg, call your agent.) Let's hope and pray that their leaders come to their senses on all of the subjects about which Mr. Babbin wrote or are replaced by those already with their wits about them, before the whole damned thing becomes Europe's first Islamic republic.

Sigh.
-- Stephen Foulard
Houston, Texas

Excellent ideas, all, but chances of them following even half of them
approach zero.

Thanks for a great article.
-- Phil Winsor
Bridgewater Corners, Vermont

Sir: I am a veteran of the Vietnam period (1966-70); my father was a 100% disabled veteran of WWII (a paratrooper), disabled for life, helping to save France. France is now an enemy of the United States! They would NEVER consider your cogent suggestions. Muslims will soon take over France. The French are gutless appeasers and wouldn't fight anyone even to save themselves. They are the ultimate cowards of the world! I would be glad to fight for America, as old as I am, but I wouldn't give a penny to save France under any conditions. Thank you.
-- Howard Bixler
Toms River, New Jersey

As a Swiss descendant of Huguenots who had to flee France centuries ago, when the then ruling Catholics had a habit of slaughtering all Protestants they could catch, and living in the Canton of Berne which was robbed of its rich state treasures by Napoleon Bonaparte some time later (enough to finance his Egyptian adventures), I should not have much sympathy for the French. However, nurturing bad feelings for people of different convictions (the way we still see it happen in North Ireland) somehow doesn't seem to make sense. To me and my friends, the French have been a source of great pleasure all the way through, in spite or because of their particular habits, and France has always been one of my favorite holiday destinations. So I say: don't touch my pals.

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