What the hell is going on in Paris?

[rowrrbazzle]

“Effects of L.A. Riots Reach Across the Ocean”, San Francisco Chronicle, Jun 21, 1992 (emphasis added):

… the consensus of French pundits is that something on the scale of the Los Angeles riots could not happen here, mainly because France is a more humane, less racist place with a much stronger commitment to social welfare programs.

Jean Daniel, editor of the weekly Le Nouvel Observateur magazine, bible of the intellectual left, wrote an essay on the Los Angeles events titled “Is It Possible in France?” …

But, Daniel concluded that France’s biggest advantage in avoiding racial and class tensions is its extensive social programs, which essentially guarantee free education and health care for life as well as generous allowances for the unemployed. “France can take comfort in the major, incontestable fact that its social laws are a thousand times more protective than in New York or Los Angeles,” commented Daniel.