-
New Home for Science on the Web
May 8, 2013 | 3 comments
-
Is Penmanship Sexist?
May 2, 2013 | 17 comments
-
Professing Ignorance
May 1, 2013 | 9 comments
-
Iraq Anniversary Wrap-Up
March 22, 2013 | 9 comments
-
Rand Paul Wins CPAC Straw Poll
March 16, 2013 | 3 comments
The Spectacle Blog
Theodore Dalrymple, blogging over at the Salisbury Review, suggests the French have discovered a novel approach to aggregate demand management: the ritual burning of new and used automobiles. Automobile manufacturers, insurance companies, emergency workers—who doesn’t stand to benefit? Besides, as the good doctor observes, “unlike most forms of government stimulus,” setting other people’s cars aflame “is great fun.”
Of course, we in the United States are well ahead of the French (and Dr. Dalrymple’s British audience) in this regard: Remember Cash for Clunkers back in 2009? Unfortunately, that wasn’t as much fun as what the French have been up to. (Ah, well: I suppose automotive destruction, like wine, cinema, and philosophical novels, are done better in gay Paris.)
View all comments (11) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by Matthew Walther
http://spectator.org/blog/2013/01/10/let-them-burn-cars
Follow us:
ADVERTISEMENT
SPONSORED LINKS
FLASHBACK TO: 1995
-
Pope Culture
A man of faith in a godless age is hitting Americans where it hurts.
-
Why the GOP Does Not, Like, Totally Suck
Mr. and Mrs. American Spectator Reader, let P.J. O’Rourke talk sense to your kids.
-
Dames at Sea
-
In the Absence of Guns
In Britain, defending your property can get you life.
-
The Metaphysical Martini
-
Counting the Costs of Clintonism
The debacle of this president’s administration is both a cause and a symptom of the decline of American values. Unless Congress impeaches him, that decline will go on unchecked. An eminent jurist surveys the damage and assesses the chances for the recovery of our culture.
-
Chuck McHagel
It won’t take long for conservatives to scratch this presidential wannabe off their 2008 scorecard.
-
The Legacy of Old John and Mother Fresh-Roasted
-
It’s the Best Time of the Year
The American Christmas, like the songs that celebrate it, makes room for everybody under the rainbow. Is that why so many people seem to be hostile to it?
-
The Bush Crack-Up
Was the President done in by the economy, or by the politics of the economy?
Clip of the Day
ADVERTISEMENT
Occam's Tool| 1.10.13 @ 11:34AM
The question, my dear Matt, is what are the names of those Frenchmen who burn cars. My guess is that they are NOT named Jean or Alphonse.
mike 3/505| 1.10.13 @ 12:18PM
One benefit of Cash for Clunkers....It got a lot of Obama Stickers off the road.
Pecos Pete| 1.10.13 @ 12:35PM
We, in the USA, just need to wait for awhile until there are lots of cars burning in places like Chicago and similar; i.e., urban areas. Buildings too. The King O freaks will be out in force.
Mike G| 1.10.13 @ 12:48PM
Maybe we need a preemptive strike. An executive order prohibiting the use of fire would fit the bill.
Pecos Pete| 1.10.13 @ 2:45PM
Ban fire. I like it.
JD| 1.10.13 @ 2:19PM
As the author of the link says, burning cars has the same "stimulus" benefits as government spending.
Unlike the author (and most certainly Paul Krugman), I do not believe that either is a good thing.
Bob K| 1.10.13 @ 7:28PM
I thought that this was done routinely in France on Election days.
Occam's Tool| 1.10.13 @ 7:31PM
A hint: They are predominantly named after the Leader of the Stooges, although they do not share his religion.
Hint Two: Cheesehead Jack greatly admires them.
Frog in Uniform | 1.10.13 @ 7:33PM
I should say that in Frogland, those car burnings have become a serious problem. And it is quite unique in Europe. Spectacular as it is, this criminal activity is merely the thermometer that reveals the acute disease afflicting the Frog society. As Monsieur O.T. hinted at, those responsible fo the burnings have no relationship whatsoever with the Frog culture and traditions, they hardly know more than 300 words of Frog language, most of it expressed in "verlan" or reversed mode like: "laisse beton=laisse tomber" or mixed with goat molester slang. That, along with the overpresent graffiti and the ritual stoning of cops, firemen and postmen, is a way to draw boundaries between "tecis" (cités= muslim neighborhoods) and the civilized parts of cities. It's a way to show they don't fear us (except one on one, of course), that they know they'll find social workers, judges and politicians who sympathize with the way they express their feelings of "exclusion" in a society where they don't belong and they don't want to belong while claiming they are the Frogs of the Future and they're here to stay and we better get used to it.
Frog in Uniform | 1.10.13 @ 7:46PM
continued:
When I started working with the Unit about 10 years ago, we had about 400 "cités sensibles" or "sensitive neighborhoods" (newspeak for muslim dumps where the police shouldn't show up) now they number around 2,500 and the new boss of Gendarmerie and Police, Manuel Valls, wants to do something about it. Now the cités sensibles have become ZUS or Zones Urbaines Sensibles... When politicians have a problem they can't solve, they rename it. So unless someone grabs the power, someone with cojones, who won't be afraid of the freemasonry, the media and the European Circus, someone who doesn't think islam and civilization can mix and doesn't want to force that evil cult down our throats, and sends us along with our very best Airborne and Marine commandos in the cités with a very simple mission (No paperwork. Do NOT arrest anybody) there will be no end to this problem.
Paul McGrath| 1.10.13 @ 11:06PM
Thank you Mr. Frog for your correspondence. I still want to visit Paris, perhaps as much as anything I've ever wanted to do, but everything in the world makes me sad right now.
Is it too late?