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| Europe | ||||
| Schadenfreude Special in France | ||||
| 2005-07-12 | ||||
| The French are trying to find reasons to be cheerful. They are being urged to consider all the good things France has going for it in order to dispel the pessimism which has pervaded the country. The loss of the 2012 Olympic games to London and the rejection of the European constitution provided two sharp blows to French morale, and high unemployment, a stagnating economy and dissatisfaction with political leaders, particularly President Jacques Chirac, have done nothing to lighten the gloom. Now Le Parisien newspaper has produced a three-part series to put a sourire (smile) back on French faces. "There are reasons to hope, more numerous than one would imagine," the paper declared. "While the French are
Then there are its provincial cities, which help to attract 77 million tourists every year - more than anywhere else in the world "and boosting the economy by €35bn annually". The depression in France has not been helped by the relative success and prosperity of its traditional rival, Britain. Yesterday, the likely future presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy rubbed salt into national wounds and managed a dig at President Chirac by telling members of the UMP governing party that Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair were his heroes. "In the 1970s it [Britain] was finished and no longer counted on the international scene. Who could have guessed that in 30 years Great Britain would become a beacon in the world?"
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| Posted by:Steve White |
| #10 In the 17-19th centuries Europeans emmigrated to North America in large numbers, and once there, outbred (& out-survived) the natives by large numbers. They also out-gunned the natives, and as a result they took over total control of the continent. Now Muslims are emmigrating to Europe in large numbers, and once there are outbreeding the natives by large numbers. If the natives do not exhibit much stronger will than they have so far, and use their fundamentally superior firepower, they will in short order relinquish total control of the continent to the Muslims. So Europeans (and soon, Americans), ask yourselves NOW, do you want your children to end up like the American Indians (or worse)? |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2005-07-12 22:03 |
| #9 Native French birthrate is 1.3-1.4 children/woman, in line with other continental Euro countries. The muslim birthrate is about 4.0. 33% of all children born in France today are muslim. In 10 years, it will be 50%. France will become a muslim and North African/Arab dominated nation with consequences for the rest of Europe. Here is a 1997 article, before the post 9/2001 handwringing, looking at French demographics: Islam in France Perhaps more important than exact numbers is the spectacular rate of growth since World War II. Muslims in France in 1945 numbered some 100,000 souls; fifty years later, the population has increased by thirty or forty times.8 It continues to grow at a rapid clip, through further immigration (illegal but until now poorly suppressed), natural increase (immigrant Muslim families retain a comparatively high birthrate), or conversion (either as the result of intermarriage or out of a personal religious quest). If birthrate figures cannot be precisely computed, enough data exists to make educated estimates. Algerian women in France in 1981 had a fertility rate of 4.4 births per woman; in 1990, it had declined to 3.5 births. (Comparable figures for Moroccan women in France are 5.8 and 3.5; for Tunisian women, 5.1 and 4.2.) While declining, the birthrate of immigrant Muslims remains three to four times higher than that of non-Muslim French, which is estimated at 1.3 percent. There is no specific reason to believe that the Muslim rate will eventually parallel the non-Muslim one. It is noteworthy that while in 1981 Tunisian women in France had a slightly lower birthrate than their counterparts in Tunisia (5.1 against 5.2), nine years later it had grown higher (4.2 against 3.4). The reasons for this growth are not clear, but they could include the higher welfare payments in France or the relative ease of family planning, including the choice for a large family, in democratic France compared to semi-authoritarian Tunisia.9 In all, the 1992 fertility rate in France was 1.8 births per woman, a figure slightly above those of Germany (1.3), Italy (1.3), and Spain (1.2) but well beneath that of the United States (2.1).10 France's demographic advantage over other European Union countries is due largely to its larger percentage of Muslims and their higher birthrate. The birthrate of Muslims being three to four times higher than that of non-Muslims, the proportion of children, teenagers, and young adults in urban France is not 5-11 percent but a very impressive 33 percent or so. I remember reading in the early 1980's, and thought even more interesting, that the Soviet Union had a Central Asian republics birth rate 5 times the Euro and Far Eastern republics birthrate. That meant the USSR would have become muslim majority in the first half of the 21st century. A highly unstable situation. Even after the breakup, Russia still has a 15% muslim minority, higher than any Euro country. Many like the Tatars, are only nominally muslim, while others are being radicalized. Though I don't know the growth rate, I can guess it is a lot higher than the crashed Russian ethnic population figures. |
| Posted by: ed 2005-07-12 19:27 |
| #8 Tu3031: Once you factor out the immigrants, they have the lowest birth rate in Europe. BA: I think they count anyone who passes through France as a tourist. For example a Belgian family that drives through France on the way to Spain without spending the night there are considered tourists (sort of like driving NY to Phillie and being called a tourist of NJ) Al |
| Posted by: Frozen Al 2005-07-12 18:16 |
| #7 Then there are its provincial cities, which help to attract 77 million tourists every year - more than anywhere else in the world "and boosting the economy by €35bn annually". Yeah, too bad many of those "tourists" are now roosting in their midst. And somehow, I don't believe at all that France has the most tourism in the world, unless you count all those Algerians, Saudis, North Africans, etc. that are coming home to roost. |
| Posted by: BA 2005-07-12 10:35 |
| #6 The French have France going for it. Ima think we should maybe steal it. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-07-12 10:33 |
| #5 They are being urged to consider all the good things France has going for it.. Nowadays, that can't be much. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-07-12 09:37 |
| #4 ...that the country has the highest birthrate in the EU with 1.88 children per woman Could I see the demographic on that maybe? Might be another reason for the Froggies to get depressed when they see who's having the kids. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2005-07-12 08:42 |
| #3 In part it is a cultural thing: to be a proper member of the intelligencia one must be able to elucidate everything wrong with the current situation. It gives reason to throw up one's hands and go brood fetchingly over a glass of wine at one's favorite cafe'. This doesn't obviate the fact that there is a great deal wrong with France, and has been for centuries, but much could have been fixed long ago if an intelligently furrowed brow weren't thought to be such a babe magnet. ;-) |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-07-12 06:48 |
| #2 I'll be willing to reconsider my opinion of the French if they have the uncommon good sense to elect the libertarian hottie Sabine Herold to a suitably high office... |
| Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) 2005-07-12 00:59 |
| #1 Circling the drain.......Thanks fer the memories. |
| Posted by: macofromoc 2005-07-12 00:21 |