Anne Leverdier is a senior at the University of Oregon. She is a French citizen and has lived in the United States for four years. Her family still resides in France.
This month, the San Francisco Giants won their first World Series title since 1954. Fans released years of frustration by celebrating and, unfortunately, riots broke out on the San Francisco streets. People were dragged out of their cars and were brutally beat up by an angry mob. Six people were arrested.
Scenes like these are not common in the U.S., but in France, my native country, riots like these almost seem like a daily occurrence.
Striking, rioting and protesting are not as exciting as they seem. Because of our tendency to assemble frequently, French citizens are portrayed in the international media as lazy and overly outspoken, though many of us work hard every day without complaining and never take part in riots.
People who do take part in violent protests often target and hurt the wrong people.
In 2005, riots occurred in France after the death of two teenagers. They were electrocuted while climbing an electric fence to escape from the police. Young adults saw this as an act of racism rather than an accident. Consequently, there were thousands of arrests and thousands of cars set on fire — paralyzing a whole community and affecting people who had nothing to do with the issue.
If people are angry at the police, burning stranger’s cars probably won’t solve their problem.
Strikes in France seem to be a trend. We strike for just about everything and French students across the country get involved regardless of the issue.
Growing up in France, I admit that these rallies seemed exciting because they often led to an excused day from school, but I now realize that striking paralyzes France, keeps students away from education, prevents people from working and misrepresents the country.
Comments posted to a New York Times article praised French citizens for their ability to speak up. However, when thousands of the people striking and rioting are high school students, pushed by instructors and excited about the idea of not having to go to class, I start to question the praising.
I have not witnessed any student protests in Oregon, but in 2009, protests arose in California after the regents decided to increase college tuition by 32 percent. As a college student, I believe that protesting against a tuition increase is legitimate. However, it seems to me that student-led protests are not widespread throughout the country. U.S. youth seem obedient and calm, with an occasional sports-inspired riot.
The same cannot be said about France: this September, between one and two million French people were involved in the retirement reform strikes, which may have damaged the economy of the entire country. People protested against Nicolas Sarkozy’s proposed law of pushing the retirement age from 60 to 62. The retirement age was lowered to 60 under Francois Mitterrand in the 1980s. The retirement law passed this October, leading to a second wave of major strikes all over the country, with millions of angry citizens.
Even with a retirement age of 62, the French retire three years earlier than other European countries. I found it amusing to see so many students striking about the retirement reform when they did not even start to save for their own retirement.
French society is encouraging young adults to complain about working when they are not in the workforce yet.
I think strikes occur so often because they are seen as trendy by the youth and unionization of workers is more widespread than it is in the United States, allowing for regular and organized strikes. Complaints and angry yelling seem to unite the French even when the consequences can be disastrous. But not all French citizens complain. Millions of us are actually negatively impacted by strikes.
I grew up in a city called Vaureal located 30 minutes outside of Paris, and when the frequent transportation strikes occurred there or anywhere else in the country, cities became dysfunctional and people who relied on public transportation couldn’t get to work or school.
Even French teachers strike, and when they do, schools are closed and children have nowhere to go, causing parents to take time off in order to take care of their kids.
Strikes not only penalize those who just want to work every day, but also hurt the French people’s reputations.
I wish people could see my country the way I do and realize that despite the ongoing strikes and never-ending protests, French people are not all unwilling and lazy. In fact, most of them are competent, talented and hard-working individuals.
I wish France could be known for its wonderful people instead of for its people’s historical ability to strike and protest.
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