Newsy News and My Thoughts on France
I really don't want to live in this country and can't wait to go home. The past nine months here have been rather unpleasant. France has changed a lot in the eighteen years I didn't come here, and not for the better.
Sarkozy is, as The Economist put it, France 's Chance. But I don't know if even he can pull off the kind of fundamental change that is needed to turn this country around. It's sad, but true. And, since I do not HAVE to live here, I can, THANK GOD, go home.
I am going to sound terribly prejudiced and even racist (against the French), but I can't help but be shocked, appalled, and entirely discouraged by what I have seen here these past months. The problems are multitude, but, while trying to keep my emotional response to this country out of it, can be outlined as follows:
1. The average French person is relatively uneducated and closed-minded. The people who have been here for generations, appear to be of the belief that life owes them certain things: a job, a home, etc. The jobs aside, even people who have never worked a day in their lives believe they are entitled to government subsidies for housing, food, etc. In addition to having a minimum wage, the unemployed are provided a sort of living wage, even if they make no effort whatsoever to get a job. France has been having economic problems for as long as I can remember. When we were in Pau in 1977, I remember people already complaining about the economic situation. The right wing blames the left, and vice versa. Besides the French people's illusions of entitlement, so much money is spent on welfare, without actually helping people or encouraging them to work that it is pitiful.
Crime is rampant. All over the place. To the extent that people will ride up on motorcycles in rush hour traffic, smash out your window, and steal whatever is on your car's seat. Women don't carry purses with zipper compartments for fear of them being opened on the subway or the street. The same goes for backpacks. Okay, they carrying them, backwards, and hugged tightly to the chest.
A nation ruled by law and order is beyond comprehension here. France is, basically, in a constant state of seige. It's "us vs. them," "good vs. bad," "black vs. white." If irritated or upset, instead of seeking change in a proactive, productive manner, people prefer rioting. And their hatred of the police is worse than their hatred of each other. There are some places where Fabrice, as a motorcycle cop whose responsibilities include escorting ambulances to hospitals, and his colleagues are not allowed to go. The time it would take to escort an ambulance out of the projects, the cops would be showered with rocks, molotov cocktails, etc. So the government has decided it is better to send the ambulances in, alone. The cops meet up with them in safer neighborhoods and take the escort on from there.
2. French school children are required to decide what they want to do professionally speaking when they are 16 or 17 years old. They are then educated accordingly, and stuck in the paths that their teenage selves choose, for the rest of their professional lives. Diplomas are required to work as accountants or teachers or doctors, of course, but also to be a waitress or a cashier or a janitor. The educational and professional development "system," if you can call it that, is inefficient and archaic, at best.
3. Immigration is a problem here. Much, MUCH more so than in the US . Much more so, even, than in CA. The interesting thing is that the problem is not so much the immigrants but the French. In addition to knowing that they are entitled to everything they believe they are entitled to, they also believe that all immigrants are illegals, that immigrants are the reason for the country's economic problems, that immigrants commit all of the crimes, steal all of the jobs, and waste the government's money. Now, granted, some of the government's money is spent stupidly to pay for many, many immigrants to stay home without having to work, have access to free healthcare, etc. You see, immigrants have the same rights as the French in this realm. And, once one member of a family is here legally, that person can bring in his or her family members, and they, too, can stay, legally, not work, go to school, etc.
I am all for universal healthcare, or something along the lines of MinnesotaCare, a state-subsidized health insurance program via which the un- or under-employed are able to obtain appropriate healthcare in exchange for the payment of a premium, the amount of which is determined according to household income.
I believe in social justice, in helping immigrants and homeless people, etc. But, I do not believe in giving and giving and giving, without ever getting anything in return. The welfare-to-work programs in the US are not such a bad thing.
The "native" French will go on and on about the government and the immigrants, the Arabs and the blacks, the Jews and the Eastern Europeans. It is all somebody else's fault. So they rant and rave and piss and moan and complain and complain and complain. Those of them that bother, work. And, at the end of the work day, they go home, close the shutters tight, turn on the television, and complain about how awful things are.
In other words, it is far, far easier to lock ones self away from the culture's problems, literally, complain about how terrible it is, and do absolutely nothing to improve things.
4. The country is dirty. The cities are dirty. People and their homes are clean. Workplaces are dirty. It's part of the hiding away at home and pretending that the entire world's problems are someone else's fault, I think. People litter without a care. They dump their garbage along the roadsides. They basically don't give a damn about their country or their communities. The lack of community involvement, therefore, logically, engenders a lack of commitment or investment into local communities. That same investment is even more lacking at regional or national levels. If people are not involved or invested, they have no pride in where they live, and therefore, do nothing to maintain it or clean it or keep it safe. And then, you see, the attitude is, "if 'they' aren't going to do something about it, then why should I?"
5. The president could have, conceivably, done something to change things. Had he wanted to. Had the population allowed him to. But the Constitution itself is flawed in that it does not allow for the promulgation of any law that the Constitutional Council deems unconstitutional. It's rather the Catch 22, doncha' know.
So it's a hell of a lot easier for everybody to keep complaining, for nobody to do anything, to go home, close your shutters, and pretend that the country is not caught in an irreversible process of self-destruction.
I could go on, and on, and on.
I wish I knew Sarkozy. I have ideas for fixing things. But I am sure that my ideas are "tainted" by the American system. A system that has many faults, I know, but that is more logical, more efficient, and more productive than the ad hoc socio-cultural processes that exist here. And the American system is my only real frame of reference.
I honestly do not believe that France can be saved. I am not the only one. I truly think that it will take a sort of revolution, or civil war, or some other form of violent upheaval to get France to look at itself in the mirror and try to make a difference.
I have not wanted to be here since at least July. Fabrice is disheartened with anti-cop sentiment, and even more so, with anti-cop violence. But he wants to stay a cop and he likes the US .
The green card process usually takes a long time. But it doesn't take nearly as long if the American member of the marriage is living abroad. And it does not take nearly as long if the alien member of the marriage exercises certain professions. Law enforcement is included in the said professions.
So, I applied for a green card for Fabrice on November 30. The process generally takes about two years if done from the United States , and at least 9 months if done here. And, you can't start the process at all until the American spouse has been in France for six months. And working. Not studying. Not staying home. So I could not file the petition until November 16. Like I said, I did it n November 30, and Fabrice had his green card in the mail on January 14. It took six weeks. Six weeks!!! We were prepared for it to take a lot longer. Like it usually does. Even the personnel at the embassy, people who came to recognize us because so little time transpired between each of the steps of the process, said that they had never seen any spousal green card application be processed so quickly.
Every once in a while, even the most unlucky person in the world has good things happen!
Fabrice needed to immigrate within six months of January 14, or start the process over. The Social Security Administration said it can take up to three weeks to issue an SSN and card, so he went last week to get that process underway. Fabrice has to work until the last week of February. Then they owe him four months' overtime. So he is going on leave of absence on July 1. We are leaving by the end of the month, and that way he will be able to work when we get to the US and he will still be paid, here, for a few months.
Sarkozy is, as The Economist put it, France 's Chance. But I don't know if even he can pull off the kind of fundamental change that is needed to turn this country around. It's sad, but true. And, since I do not HAVE to live here, I can, THANK GOD, go home.
I am going to sound terribly prejudiced and even racist (against the French), but I can't help but be shocked, appalled, and entirely discouraged by what I have seen here these past months. The problems are multitude, but, while trying to keep my emotional response to this country out of it, can be outlined as follows:
1. The average French person is relatively uneducated and closed-minded. The people who have been here for generations, appear to be of the belief that life owes them certain things: a job, a home, etc. The jobs aside, even people who have never worked a day in their lives believe they are entitled to government subsidies for housing, food, etc. In addition to having a minimum wage, the unemployed are provided a sort of living wage, even if they make no effort whatsoever to get a job. France has been having economic problems for as long as I can remember. When we were in Pau in 1977, I remember people already complaining about the economic situation. The right wing blames the left, and vice versa. Besides the French people's illusions of entitlement, so much money is spent on welfare, without actually helping people or encouraging them to work that it is pitiful.
Crime is rampant. All over the place. To the extent that people will ride up on motorcycles in rush hour traffic, smash out your window, and steal whatever is on your car's seat. Women don't carry purses with zipper compartments for fear of them being opened on the subway or the street. The same goes for backpacks. Okay, they carrying them, backwards, and hugged tightly to the chest.
A nation ruled by law and order is beyond comprehension here. France is, basically, in a constant state of seige. It's "us vs. them," "good vs. bad," "black vs. white." If irritated or upset, instead of seeking change in a proactive, productive manner, people prefer rioting. And their hatred of the police is worse than their hatred of each other. There are some places where Fabrice, as a motorcycle cop whose responsibilities include escorting ambulances to hospitals, and his colleagues are not allowed to go. The time it would take to escort an ambulance out of the projects, the cops would be showered with rocks, molotov cocktails, etc. So the government has decided it is better to send the ambulances in, alone. The cops meet up with them in safer neighborhoods and take the escort on from there.
2. French school children are required to decide what they want to do professionally speaking when they are 16 or 17 years old. They are then educated accordingly, and stuck in the paths that their teenage selves choose, for the rest of their professional lives. Diplomas are required to work as accountants or teachers or doctors, of course, but also to be a waitress or a cashier or a janitor. The educational and professional development "system," if you can call it that, is inefficient and archaic, at best.
3. Immigration is a problem here. Much, MUCH more so than in the US . Much more so, even, than in CA. The interesting thing is that the problem is not so much the immigrants but the French. In addition to knowing that they are entitled to everything they believe they are entitled to, they also believe that all immigrants are illegals, that immigrants are the reason for the country's economic problems, that immigrants commit all of the crimes, steal all of the jobs, and waste the government's money. Now, granted, some of the government's money is spent stupidly to pay for many, many immigrants to stay home without having to work, have access to free healthcare, etc. You see, immigrants have the same rights as the French in this realm. And, once one member of a family is here legally, that person can bring in his or her family members, and they, too, can stay, legally, not work, go to school, etc.
I am all for universal healthcare, or something along the lines of MinnesotaCare, a state-subsidized health insurance program via which the un- or under-employed are able to obtain appropriate healthcare in exchange for the payment of a premium, the amount of which is determined according to household income.
I believe in social justice, in helping immigrants and homeless people, etc. But, I do not believe in giving and giving and giving, without ever getting anything in return. The welfare-to-work programs in the US are not such a bad thing.
The "native" French will go on and on about the government and the immigrants, the Arabs and the blacks, the Jews and the Eastern Europeans. It is all somebody else's fault. So they rant and rave and piss and moan and complain and complain and complain. Those of them that bother, work. And, at the end of the work day, they go home, close the shutters tight, turn on the television, and complain about how awful things are.
In other words, it is far, far easier to lock ones self away from the culture's problems, literally, complain about how terrible it is, and do absolutely nothing to improve things.
4. The country is dirty. The cities are dirty. People and their homes are clean. Workplaces are dirty. It's part of the hiding away at home and pretending that the entire world's problems are someone else's fault, I think. People litter without a care. They dump their garbage along the roadsides. They basically don't give a damn about their country or their communities. The lack of community involvement, therefore, logically, engenders a lack of commitment or investment into local communities. That same investment is even more lacking at regional or national levels. If people are not involved or invested, they have no pride in where they live, and therefore, do nothing to maintain it or clean it or keep it safe. And then, you see, the attitude is, "if 'they' aren't going to do something about it, then why should I?"
5. The president could have, conceivably, done something to change things. Had he wanted to. Had the population allowed him to. But the Constitution itself is flawed in that it does not allow for the promulgation of any law that the Constitutional Council deems unconstitutional. It's rather the Catch 22, doncha' know.
So it's a hell of a lot easier for everybody to keep complaining, for nobody to do anything, to go home, close your shutters, and pretend that the country is not caught in an irreversible process of self-destruction.
I could go on, and on, and on.
I wish I knew Sarkozy. I have ideas for fixing things. But I am sure that my ideas are "tainted" by the American system. A system that has many faults, I know, but that is more logical, more efficient, and more productive than the ad hoc socio-cultural processes that exist here. And the American system is my only real frame of reference.
I honestly do not believe that France can be saved. I am not the only one. I truly think that it will take a sort of revolution, or civil war, or some other form of violent upheaval to get France to look at itself in the mirror and try to make a difference.
I have not wanted to be here since at least July. Fabrice is disheartened with anti-cop sentiment, and even more so, with anti-cop violence. But he wants to stay a cop and he likes the US .
The green card process usually takes a long time. But it doesn't take nearly as long if the American member of the marriage is living abroad. And it does not take nearly as long if the alien member of the marriage exercises certain professions. Law enforcement is included in the said professions.
So, I applied for a green card for Fabrice on November 30. The process generally takes about two years if done from the United States , and at least 9 months if done here. And, you can't start the process at all until the American spouse has been in France for six months. And working. Not studying. Not staying home. So I could not file the petition until November 16. Like I said, I did it n November 30, and Fabrice had his green card in the mail on January 14. It took six weeks. Six weeks!!! We were prepared for it to take a lot longer. Like it usually does. Even the personnel at the embassy, people who came to recognize us because so little time transpired between each of the steps of the process, said that they had never seen any spousal green card application be processed so quickly.
Every once in a while, even the most unlucky person in the world has good things happen!
Fabrice needed to immigrate within six months of January 14, or start the process over. The Social Security Administration said it can take up to three weeks to issue an SSN and card, so he went last week to get that process underway. Fabrice has to work until the last week of February. Then they owe him four months' overtime. So he is going on leave of absence on July 1. We are leaving by the end of the month, and that way he will be able to work when we get to the US and he will still be paid, here, for a few months.
posted by Nana @ 04:37
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