Surprise at Surprise

I'm surprised at the surprise of many around France's no vote on the European Union.

I was even less surprised when the racist LePen and his fascists party made it to second place in that legendary French presidential election long ago. Having non-political cousins in France I had the opportunity to talk to them about 5 years ago. Based on those conversations nothing of this surprised me.

French people are particularly concerned about immigration. It was the number one sleeper issue that the French populace, especially older French people, have a problem with. It was also the prime concern for many French heading into that referendum. Fearmongering that the EU would expand immigration may have been the killer bullet that brought the NO side to victory.

A great deal of the problems the French have stems around the fact that they have a huge welfare state. Welfare states tend to be a magnet for those that would abuse it. In the case of France, although the majority of immigrants may be good natured and hard working, there is a large vocal minority which literally scares the French people.

Immigrants are plastered as the prime suspects of crimes all the time on the news. French people in urban areas get nervous going around in certain Cartiers that through French laws have become ghettos for the worst types of characters whether they are immigrants or not. In the end most appear foreign that live in those areas, so the conclusion most French come to is that it's the immigrants causing the trouble.

And it's a hard perception to brush off. The last time I was in France I can remember a similar situation where it literally felt like I was in Baghdad while going through one Cartier. It was hard not to want to walk faster when the people there would start utter threats at you like "Saddam will kill you." This was a year before 9/11 mind you.

I know better since my mother is an immigrant here to Canada that stereotyping doesn't help. But it's definitely an issue there that their are many immigrants that have come to France to take advantage of its large welfare state, and aren't the most friendliest of people.

LePen took advantage of those fears. What the French government should be looking at is the policies that have lead to France receiving an influx of immigrants that aren't the same type of immigrant that would come if France didn't have that huge welfare state. Also the laws that lead to immigrants getting stuffed into Cartiers has created a huge problem in urban areas.

It's the French government and it's own penchant for tinkering that has left a bitter taste of anti-immigrant sentiment in the French. It's also sown the seeds of this defeat.