The French are revolting.......

I have to confess to being completely baffled by the economy. We have the return of the soixante huitaires in France fighting on the streets of Paris so that they can continue to retire at 60 when for many of the mob that event is 40 years away, and strikes abounding over very modest financial reform proposals. Sarko is proposing to raise the retirement age to 62. Quelle fromage! Since 60 was introduced the life expectancy has risen by 12 years. Do the maths. The French are revolting, the Belgians are striking (one commentator remarked that nobody likes Belgium, not even the Belgians), the Eurostar is cancelled and France is running out of aviation fuel. Not all bad, then.

Meanwhile, across Le Manche the phlegmatic Rosbifs are facing an economic and social revolution with aplomb – at least do far. The Armed Forces face a cut of 8% in the middle of a war whilst the biggest money waster of all, foreign aid, is ring-fenced. Dave has decided to scrap our only fleet carrier, HMS Ark Royal. There will be no replacement for 10 years. The last Ark was scrapped just before the Falklands were invaded, sending a clear signal to the Argies. Truly ‘those who forget history will be doomed to repeat it’. Maybe the Brits are not phlegmatic; just plain stupid. And when Dave’s spokesman on TV news was asked whether the Yanks would think that the defence cuts meant we were poor relations, the reply was ‘Well, so we are!’ Politicians telling the truth – where will it all end?

And it reminds me of Miles Kington’s great French pun. The French Navy decided it needed a stirring motto, so they came up with ‘To the water; it is time!’, trans. ‘A l’eau, c’est l’heure!’

We have Jaguar announcing, at the same time, that it intends to double output from what it was before the crunch. We see that contrary to popular impression, the UK is, in fact, only 12th in the league table of indebted nations (the US is 9th; Japan is top, worse than Greece, but still the world’s 3rd biggest economy). The Big Mac index shows that the USD and the GB£ at their correct exchange rates. We must be suffering from economic schizophrenia, but then it is well-known that if you ask two economists you get three opinions.

Elections always seem to bring out the loony-toons, but the US mid-terms have not only produced a larger than usual crop but some of them actually seem to have a chance of getting elected. One, an unemployed veteran, has no manifesto except to reduce unemployment by one, yet he is an official party candidate. Another has seriously alleged that two districts are already living under Sharia. Of course, you only have to mention ‘Sharia’ and you immediately conjure up a vision of public beheadings (which in these degenerate times would probably fill the Houston Astradome),floggings and amputations.

The fact is that Sharia is already here in the West. If two people wish to settle a personal or commercial dispute under Islamic law, they are free to do so. In the Anglosphere we have a tradition of arbitration which allows, inter alia, religion-based disputes to be handled outside the formal legal system. This permits Jews, Catholics and Muslims a way of settling disputes that is simple, cheap and principled.

There are already many places in the UK where Muslim arbitration tribunals offer dispute resolution under Sharia. Obviously, the law of the land has supremacy and some decisions would not be either recognised or enforceable – e.g. marriage without a civil ceremony to legalise it and divorce without court sanction. And by the way, a fatwa is not a call to bump off unbelievers; it is a religious opinion by a scholar. And another thing. The chattering classes have been frothing at the mouth because a Muslim expressed the opinion that rape is not possible in marriage. Until a few years ago this was so in English law also. But from my experience in Muslim countries  the treatment of women is unspeakable, sure, but also madness because the talents of half the population are left unused and undeveloped. In Pakistan, over 80% of women are uneducated. What a waste! No surprise that the country has shown little progress since the Raj.