Vacation’s End

Posted on April 17, 2008
Filed Under Europe, France, Human Rights, International, Law, Sarkozy, children, education, politics | 1 Comment

I hope you’ll forgive me for posting about a personal matter but I think there are unnerving currents between two events that crossed paths this past week.

Demonstrating High School students
April 8, 2008

You probably know that since Sarko became President, whatever you may think of him and of the reality or efficiency of his so-called reforms, the government has been trying to impact various aspects of our social and daily lives. Of course, this being the Popular Republic of France as soon as you try to change, move, undo, or improve something all the froggies stand up and fight against the disappearance of the welfare state…

Unfortunately, the previous week, our illustrious Minister of Education (doesn’t it sound so Orwellian?) decided to reduce the number of state agents in charge of our children. Basically, one of every two near retirement age professors won’t be given a new contract. Therefore, all college students decided to protest and demonstrate against this almost fascist decision (you can count on a active participation of our prehistoric tyrannosaurus syndicates to support this movement).

The second event is more personal and deeply concerns me as a father. When the demonstration occured, my daughter (10 years old) was coming back from the south of France where she visited her grand parents. She arrived in Paris, by train, where she and my father in law had to go crosstown to catch the next train home. The took the underground train, the Metro, while the protest march continued above ground. Apparently, everything went well. The demonstrators were only college students making noise, yelling but it was non violent.

My daugther and father in law were going downstairs to wait for a train when suddenly a real crowd of yelling students tried to get onto the arriving tram. A furious crowd of masked and camouflaged people, insulted the travellers, provoking them, destroying everything in their way. Actually, they were trying to escape the pursuing police. Some of them entered the wagon while others where continuing their work of devastation. My father in law tried to protect my daughter from all that violence and shielded her eyes. She was shaking from head to toe and began to cry. He told me that de did it because a group was kicking a man on the ground. Of course, all this only took a few minutes, because the police arrived and began to arrest people.

Frankly, as a father, the story of my daughter’s fear and tears affected me deeply. The needless violence does nothing to explain the students’ protest. Rather the senseless violence, the glee displayed at the destruction, the glee shown at the pain caused others, gains them no sympathy. Rather, it paints all of them with the wide brush of disgust and anger at their kind.

There is always violence of one kind or another going on. Somehow we mostly become inured to the news of it. Nothing touches like hearing first hand of a child’s fear and wiping her tears. A friend sent me this link on the day previous to the above happening. Watch it carefully, translation is not necessary, the language of violence, the hooligans appearing in it, are all the same regardless of whatever language they speak!

Violence amidst a college students’ demonstration.

Samuel

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Comments

One Response to “Vacation’s End”

Barbara from New York, United States on April 18th, 2008 1:36 am

The needless violence does nothing to explain the students’ protest. Rather the senseless violence, the glee displayed at the destruction, the glee shown at the pain caused others, gains them no sympathy. Rather, it paints all of them with the wide brush of disgust and anger at their kind.

Samuel – my children are the same age and just hate violence – they still refuse to watch certain Disney movies as too violent.

What a horrible horrible event!!