In a little exploration to finally find out exactly what del.ico.us and technorati.com are all about (the former is a mobile web bookmarking and link tagging site, ie. access your bookmarks from any computer with a web browser; the latter is a blog tracker that keeps running tabs on the "blogosphere"), I clicked on "Paris Riots" and read a highly linked blog. It belongs to a Mark Daniels and though not revolutionary, it was well written and to the point. It made me think a bit, and after crafting a post for his blog, I realized that I had enough to say that I might as well post here.


One of things that has been surprisingly absent from the news coverage of the rioting in France has been the impact of French welfare and immigration policies.

My understanding is somewhat limited, but from what I know, it is easy for Muslims to emigrate to France and gain citizenship (and other Western European nations, eg. Germany) relative to the US. Additionally, there are programs in place to pay welfare/unemployment even to all the new immigrants . I think these things clearly have encouraged an even higher rate of flow of foreign nationals into France than otherwise would have occurred, while at the same time drawing on the economy and diluting an already impoverished job market.

IMVHO, one of the things that has benefitted the US more than is often noted has been our policy of limiting legal immigration (ignoring illegal immigration for the moment). This is further differentiated by a demonstrated penchant for student and skilled professional visas. Proffesionals and students are much more likely to be forcibly involved in heterogeneus cultures, be that via University life or the white collar workplace. The result is that a Muslim immigrant is more likely to integrate into American society as an Islamic American and less likely to be just a Muslim. I think most people would agree with me that it is better for the US when immigrants integrate with US society as opposed to becoming isolated as seems to be the case in Paris.

In addition to targeting students and professionals, I think that it could be valuable to mandate English as the primary and required language for citizenship. Language strongly contributes to culture, and the more different two people are, the easier it is to distance oneself and remove their humanity. Violence and crime are more easily justified against someone who is not like you.

As a final note, I really do believe that it is important to limit illegal immigration to some degree (fully curtailing it would have a devastating economic impact, but that's a discussion for a different day). I just wanted to keep that one from biting me in the ass ;-)