French lessons

Those of you who read the news (and if not, what are you doing reading this blog?) may have read about the unbelievably huge protests rocking France. The protests are (mostly) against a French law that would make it possible for companies to fire employees under the age of 26 who have been employed for less than two years. This seems innocuous enough, and in fact it's a small change from previous laws. So why are the protests so huge - including one out of every 30 people in the nation?

This article in Slate may have the answer. Minor changes in employment law aren't the only thing on France's mind these days. The more general foe is "uncertainty" - uncertainty about jobs, the economy, social cohesion, and France's place in the world. This is the same uncertainty behind France's rejection of the EU constitution and, partly, the massive riots that shook France last fall.

France isn't what it used to be. Cushy labor protections and fat pension systems, which worked just fine when the economy was booming, are now an albatross around the French economy's neck in the new competitive world. In the international arena, low defense spending and stagnant population growth have reduced this nuclear nation to a medium-sized regional power. The EU, which was once the France and Germany club, is slipping out of French control with the addition of Eastern Europe.

So what lessons can we Americans learn from France's protests? Here's how I read the writing on the wall:

1. We can't let it happen here.
Like their French counterparts, U.S. workers had a cushy deal for a long time. Now, facing competition from China and India and with our own aging population, we may find ourselves having to work harder than our parents did. A lot of people aren't going to like that. In France, people are fighting to save their dying worker-protection system, but in the U.S., people will probably fight for protectionism instead. We need to watch out for anti-immigrant and anti-free trade "populism" that could put us in the same economic boat as France.

2. Western Europe should not be our only ally.
No matter what Donald Rumsfeld says, Western Europe still shares our values more than any other region in the world. That includes France. But, with Germany following close behind France's footsteps, the Western European nations are looking like a shell of their former titanic selves. The most important example is nuclear proliferation, where the combined might of Western Europe has done nothing to deter Iran from its nuclear ambitions. We must continue to maintain alliances with France and its neighbors, but other alliances - especially in Asia - are essential for our future security. (upshot: stop trying to scuttle the India nuclear deal...)

Basically, the status quo will never stay with us for long. Uncertainty is an essential element of opportunity. No risk, no reward. I'm confident that France will eventually decide it has nothing to lose, embrace greater uncertainty, and grit its teeth and get down to the business of self-improvement. But on our side of the pond, we would do well to remember what they've forgotten. Long live the new French labor law, and long live uncertainty.

READING GUIDE

1. Corruption Systems Engineer Jack Abramoff (doesn't that sound so much more prestigious than "bagman"?) has been sentenced to 6 years in prison, the minimum sentence under his plea agreement. Good for him. Hopefully he'll have some time to read a good book. In the meantime, I hope he'll help us catch the real lords of darkness, especially Senior Vice-President in Charge of Evil Tom DeLay (who somehow expects us to believe that the anti-corruption charges leveled against him are part of a "war on Christianity"...as if the Bible ever guaranteed the right to take bribes...)

2. Afghan Christian convert Abdur Rahman, who was facing the death sentence for apostasy (converting away from Islam), saw his charges dropped and now gets to live in Italy. While that's good for him - I'm sure Italy is a more fun place to live than Afghanistan - the original law remains in place. This U.S. ally maintains the death penalty fro anyone who converts away from Islam. Is this the kind of democracy we supposedly went to war to promote?