How Come There Are So Many Beggars in the Paris Metro?
I spent this last week vacationing with my wife in Paris. Between visits to historic sites like the Louvre and Versailles, my wife and I noticed something very odd: nobody seemed to be working. The sidewalk cafes were chock full of people sitting around in the middle of the day, watching the world pass them by. It seemed wonderfully relaxing.
Then we entered the Metro – the Parisian subway system. And there we saw the downside of the lax life of the Parisian coffee set. Dozens of beggars roamed the subways, passing out notes asking for a few Euros. Many brought their young children to beg.
This didn’t wash. What happened to France? Just why was this country – a supposed socialist paradise praised by those on the left as the ultimate example of a redistributionist society gone right – so unequal? Why was poverty so evident? Hadn’t the wealth been spread around enough?
I found the answers to my questions in David Limbaugh’s devastating new tome, The Great Destroyer, which together with his last book, Crimes Against Liberty, forms an encyclopedia of Obamaism – the philosophy of anti-American redistributionism that characterizes this administration. Obama wants us to become France. It doesn’t matter that France is hardly paradise. It aspires to paradise. And it’s the thought that counts.
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Did you have your handy dandy no-go zone map with you to avoid getting caught in a shariah zone?
just wondering
Many of the beggars are gypsies from Eastern Europe. That said, the Paris Metro reminds me of the NYC subway back in Dinkins’ day: drunks, fights, and graffiti.
The tourist areas in the center of town are OK–the no-go shariah quarters are in suburbs you have no reason to go to anyway with names like Stalingrad.
I noticed that too – way more graffiti, filth and beggars than some other European cities – even inside the tourist “safe” zone. I was in Zurich during the days of “needle park” (where heroin was tolerated so they could be safe and use clean needles). Surprisingly (?) junkies from all over Europe congregated there to beg/steal for a fix.
Every time one of my progressive friends remarks about how great Europe is compared to the US, I always ask how many times and how long they were in Europe. A one week vacation to tourist spots doesn’t give you the feel for any city or country. Going over lots of times for business – and working with people who live there gives you a better feel for how things really are, and how people really feel about their country and policies.
Beggars can be choosers and if I’m going to beg then I choose Paris. That’s not to say that other cities couldn’t attract my services with better begging benefits and a beggar union. You get what you reward…
There are a great many pickpockets hiding in with the beggars. And as with other European cities, there are no-go zones filled with immigrants. Even armed police will not go into some ghettos in Paris.
Beggars can be choosers and if I’m going to beg then I choose Paris.
In the US, they choose places like Santa Monica and Venice Beach. I’m not kidding.
So, beggars can be choosers, after all? Who woulda thought!
I was there for vacation in 2007. Stayed in the Bastille district. I rode the Metro extensively and saw few beggars then. The ones I did see were younger and were typically found on the sidewalks. Graffiti was more or less confined to the outskirts of Paris and on a few monuments. I guess things have changed since then.
Nobody works in France during the month of August. They are on vacation. On August 1st there were massive traffic jams as the French headed to their vacation spots.
http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2006/11/the-751-no-go-zones-of-france
Original article from 2006, but it has updates attached to within a year ago.
Subotai Bahadur
That’s really sad. I remember going there in 2000 and people would provide entertainment for your money (mimes on the street, violionist on the metro, etc.). I don’t recall seeing anyone just asking for money without providing something in return.