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The narcissistic fall of France Is the country really on the brink of civil war?

Protesters in Paris. (Photo by Etienne De Malglaive/Getty Images)

Protesters in Paris. (Photo by Etienne De Malglaive/Getty Images)


December 31, 2021   5 mins

“I look on every side and all I see is darkness.”

I use that quote from Pascal (Pensées, 229) because I am not setting out to assert positive truths nor to defend opinions. I see a situation which — as Pascal writes in his next sentence — “offers nothing but cause for doubt and anxiety”.

In asking me to give an opinion on the now celebrated “Letter of the Generals,” UnHerd‘s Will Lloyd rightly notes: “What seems most extraordinary about the furore that followed is that so few people questioned the premise of the letter — that France is on the point of collapse.”

This is indeed surprising. Why France? Why France rather than any other European country when the others seem to be in a more or less similar situation and sometimes worse off?

I might as well admit from the beginning that I have no solution to this mystery (even though I know France well and I am a Frenchman). I will try to avoid straying into confused notions of the “psychology of nations” kind; but it will be difficult.

From the point of view of Islamist terrorism, it is true that, for a time, France was especially targeted by Isis, the latter believing (not without reason) that France had attacked them by intervening in Syria and Iraq. But those days are behind us, and if one considers the last decades, we see that Great Britain, Spain, Belgium and, to a lesser extent, Germany have also suffered murderous terrorist attacks. What would be difficult, in fact, is to find a country in the world that has been spared Islamist violence.

Are crime and violence, whether or not linked to drugs, really wreaking more havoc in France than in other European countries? I have no idea, but it would surprise me a little; if this were the case, French journalists would not have failed to emphasise it.

There is in France a vague and widespread ambiance of self-flagellation — something that hangs in the air like a gas. Anyone visiting France and watching television cannot help being struck by the obsession of its presenters, journalists, economists, sociologists and assorted specialists: they spend the greater part of their time on air comparing France to other European countries, invariably, with the goal of belittling France.

In general, it is sufficient to point to Germany; but sometimes Germany does not have such a good record so they refer to Scandinavia, the Netherlands and, more rarely, Britain. Whatever the subject may be, it is of course always possible to discover a country that is superior to us; but such an extreme delight in masochism is surprising.

This is just a detail. By far a more important subject, since it is not only a symptom of decline but decline itself — decline in its very essence — is of course demography. Recently, politicians and commentators were disturbed to learn that the “synthetic index of fertility” (that is, the number of children per woman) has fallen in France to 1.8.1

Such a figure would be a dream come true for the countries of Southern Europe: for Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Greece, where the rate is 1.3.2 It is worse still in Asia, in parts of the world that are as technologically advanced as they are far away but generally admired. The rate in Singapore and Taiwan is 1.2.

South Korea is only 1.1. This country risks losing a tenth of its population by 2050; if that continues it will only have one chance of survival: to annex North Korea, which is at 1.9. I’m joking, but only just.

With a rate of 1.4, the Japanese are almost muddling through, which is surprising, since the most amusing news on declining birth-rates typically comes from Japan. These news items are so crazy that I hesitate to repeat them (but the improbable is sometimes true):

  • Old men are apparently so numerous in Japan that they can no longer be housed, so they have to find a way of breaking the law to find lodgings in prison.
  • The Japanese government is reported to have to broadcast pornographic videos in primetime on public television, in order to stimulate the sexual appetites of Japanese couples. After all, screwing does end up producing a few children.

In France, it is clear that we have not quite sunk to his level, at least not entirely. The truth is that French obsession with the idea of decline is far from new. Jean-Jacques Rousseau asserts somewhere (or is it Voltaire? I’m too lazy to check; these authors are tedious to read. Anyway, it is one of the two), that sooner or later — “the thing is certain”: we will be enslaved by the Chinese.

France sometimes reminds me of one of those hypochondriac old men who never stops complaining about their health; the kind who are constantly saying that this time they really do have one foot in the grave. People usually respond sarcastically: “You watch, he’ll end up burying all of us.”

The United States of America seems, on the other hand, to have erected optimism into a principle of existence. One can doubt the soundness of this attitude. When Joe Biden claims that “America is once again ready to lead the world” (here again, I am too lazy to find the exact quotation; Biden is even more tedious than Voltaire), I immediately interpret this as:

  • America will not be long in embarking on a new war;
  • As always, she will wind up conducting herself like a piece of shit;
  • She will waste a lot of money, while reinforcing up the near-universal loathing of which she is the target; this will allow China to strengthen its position.

No, we are not really dealing with a “French suicide” — to evoke the title of Eric Zemmour’s book — but a Western suicide or rather a suicide of modernity, since Asian countries are not spared. What is specifically, authentically French is the awareness of this suicide. But if we consent to set aside for a moment the particular case of France (and really it would be wise to do so), the conclusion becomes crystal clear: the inevitable consequence of what we call progress (at all levels, economic, political, scientific, technological) is self-destruction.

By refusing all forms of immigration, Asian countries have opted for a simple suicide, without complications or disturbances. The countries of Southern Europe are in the same situation, although one wonders if they have consciously chosen it. Migrants do land in Italy, in Spain and in Greece — but they only pass through, without helping to sort out the demographic balance, although the women of these countries are often highly desirable. No, the migrants are drawn irresistibly to the biggest and fattest cheeses, the countries of Northern Europe.

I should mention in passing the Leftist/progressivist/humanist opinion: we are not dealing with a suicide but with a regeneration. Ethnic composition is, admittedly, being modified, but in the essentials everything else remains unchanged: our republic (or rather in Europe, mostly our monarchy) our culture, our values, our “Rule of Law,” all that stuff. I sometimes hear this opinion being defended (though more and more rarely).

The 45% of French people who believe, on the other hand, in impending civil war help to show (and it is almost sweet) that France remains a nation of braggarts.

It takes two to wage war. Are the French going to take up arms to defend their religion? They haven’t had any religion for quite some time; and in any case, their former religion is the sort where you offer your throat to the butcher’s blade.

Would it then be a war to defend their culture, their way of life, their system of values? What exactly are we talking about? And supposing it does exist, is it worth fighting for? Does our “civilisation” really still have something to be proud of?

Europe seems to me to be at a crossroads. Reading Pascal helps me a lot: but, like him, I see “nothing but cause for doubt and anxiety”.

Translated by Dr Louis Betty

© Michel Houellebecq c/o Agence Intertalent [email protected]

This piece was originally published in June. 

FOOTNOTES
  1. The United States and Russia are both at 1.8; China is at 1.7.
  2. These figures from 2019 come from an informational bulletin, Population et sociétés, published by the Institut National d’Études Démographiques; their data come in turn from a report published by the UN’s population division. This bulletin also engages in projections of countries’ populations by 2050. They are probably banking on a certain percentage of immigration, which would explain the differences with what follows from fertility rates. As such, the population of the United States increases significantly (that of France as well, though much less), whereas that of Russia and China decrease slowly; in 2050, the most populated country in the world should be, by a wide margin, India.

Michel Houellebecq is a French author of novels, poems and essays. His latest book is Serotonin. 


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Dapple Grey
Dapple Grey
2 years ago

‘they spend the greater part of their time on air comparing France to other European countries, invariably, with the goal of belittling France’
Same in UK.

Jean Nutley
Jean Nutley
2 years ago
Reply to  Dapple Grey

Absolutely right. news programmes no longer just broadcast facts, we are offered every Tom, d**k or Harriet’s opinion, and they are usually nothing more than media hype. Whatever it is, they are agin it.

David Morley
David Morley
2 years ago
Reply to  Dapple Grey

Which is the main point. We’re all indulging in the same masochism. And when it comes to beating ourselves up, any comparator will do. Even if they are doing the same thing in reverse.

Colin Elliott
Colin Elliott
2 years ago
Reply to  Dapple Grey

Yes, and as in the article, usually Germany, often Scandinavian, and, rarely, France.

Dustshoe Richinrut
Dustshoe Richinrut
2 years ago

I suppose in the 1950s the young ladies of Paris were all dressed prettily or stylishly like Audrey Hepburn going to outdoor dances in Roman Holiday. Romance had been in the air. Nowadays everybody is in training gear, jogging pants, as if folk need to be events-ready, as if to fight off the flab that goes with a tech-ridden, food-saturated society. The springy trainers are not conducive to a sauntering walk. A sense of wonder, of culture and of romance have declined. The very young don’t have those things evident to move them. To mimic. Maybe television and now ridiculously tiny tyrannical screens are to blame. There is little genuine cheer. People are scared to be romantic in the open. Everybody’s taught to be tough now. Though everybody yaps or moans if their phone goes missing like it’s the end of the world. It nearly is though. Crikey.

Bob Taylor
Bob Taylor
2 years ago

“A sense of wonder, of culture and of romance have declined.”

Disappeared.

Last edited 2 years ago by Bob Taylor
Julie Blinde
Julie Blinde
2 years ago

Superb article and translation.
I must read more of Houellebecq ‘s stuff

Drahcir Nevarc
Drahcir Nevarc
2 years ago
Reply to  Julie Blinde

I speak decidedly subfluent French, but ok enough for me to read him in the original. I think my favourite of his is Serotonine, although Soumission was also excellent.

Julie Blinde
Julie Blinde
2 years ago
Reply to  Drahcir Nevarc

Tks. Will read them both

G A
G A
2 years ago
Reply to  Julie Blinde

Read al of his stuff. The only one that’s even slightly less good than brilliant is The Possibility of an Island. Although it’s still very good.

Worth reading them in order of publication too, because the evolution of his characters’ darkness is really something to behold.

David Batlle
David Batlle
2 years ago

With a fall of Christianity in the west, you no longer have anything worth defending, apparently. That’s not me talking, this is patently obvious in the decisions of our politicians and the behavior of our citizens. “Science”, which you claim has replaced your outdated religious faith, is apparently not enough of a unifying principle to hold our civilization together.

Jonathan Story
Jonathan Story
2 years ago
Reply to  David Batlle

Its only the progressives who believe in “the science”: they haven’t changed since Darwin.

alan Osband
alan Osband
2 years ago
Reply to  David Batlle

He also says their former religion was anyway one where you ‘offer your throat to the butcher’s blade’
Perhaps Welby is an old time Christian after all . In fact didn’t people call Tamburlaine ‘the scourge of god ‘ sent to punish the Christians ( bit like Justin’s barrister mate who used to run Christian holiday camps for public school boys involving flagellation )

Cheryl Jones
Cheryl Jones
2 years ago
Reply to  David Batlle

I’m an atheist and I have an abiding pride in the Enlightenment, in science, in the awe-inspiring discoveries of Hubble, as well as a deep feeling of connection to my land, my culture, my history, my people and to the planet. To art, music and literature. This idea that without God there can be no unity, or belief in human and natural, rather than supernatural things, I find it weird frankly.

Colin Elliott
Colin Elliott
2 years ago
Reply to  Cheryl Jones

No atheist has yet explained the existence of the universe, or better still, its creation, and what happened before that.

alan Osband
alan Osband
2 years ago
Reply to  Colin Elliott

How do theists explain the existence of God?

alan Osband
alan Osband
2 years ago
Reply to  Cheryl Jones

You could see the culture of your ancestors , art ,literature , buildings etc as being closely connected to religion though , which for most of history it was

I am an atheist too but when looking at some kinds of art it makes sense to think oneself into the sensibility of the artist and his original audience .

Conversely it would be better if vicars and bishops were happy to see themselves as ‘cultural Christians’ preserving certain traditions by officiating at weddings and funerals and keeping the liturgy going in services for people who are interested , instead of mining religious texts selectively for stuff that justifies their political bent towards multiculturalism ,identity politics and BLM .

David Batlle
David Batlle
2 years ago
Reply to  alan Osband

Bravo ^^^

David Batlle
David Batlle
2 years ago
Reply to  Cheryl Jones

Yes, you can say that, but the proof is in the pudding. Secular societies have so far shown little inclination to survive. We are dying by demography.

Last edited 2 years ago by David Batlle
Cheryl Jones
Cheryl Jones
2 years ago

Personally I think a reduction in human population would be a good thing. And Greta would be pleased I’m sure if there were a lot fewer people available to consume all the stuff that uses all that dirty old fossil fuel.

Bob Taylor
Bob Taylor
2 years ago
Reply to  Cheryl Jones

Why don’t you set the example, then?

Warren T
Warren T
2 years ago
Reply to  Cheryl Jones

That will take place again someday, as it has several times before over eons of time, and most certainly won’t occur again due to anything humans did over the last 100 years.

Colin Elliott
Colin Elliott
2 years ago

Good article, with just enough subtle humour.

Alan Hawkes
Alan Hawkes
2 years ago

“… here is in France a vague and widespread ambiance of self-flagellation…” We have that here in spite of Brexit. Perhaps we should have negotiated a right to ditch historical guilt.

Will Cummings
Will Cummings
2 years ago

“Cheese is worth defending. If it’s really good cheese.” It’s true in both French and English, but it sounds better in French, more inspiring somehow, if one gets the accent and emphasis just right.

Douglas H
Douglas H
2 years ago

Micky, if you can’t be bothered to look up your quotes, but you use them anyway, then I can’t be bothered to take you seriously.

Julie Blinde
Julie Blinde
2 years ago
Reply to  Douglas H

I am guessing, but I doubt that Micky cares either way

Nicholas Rynn
Nicholas Rynn
2 years ago
Reply to  Douglas H

You bothered enough to read the article, which I suspect was all Micky wanted you to do.

Mike K
Mike K
2 years ago
Reply to  Douglas H

I think he’s taking a delicious swipe at academic narcissism while at the same time legitimately ridiculing its pretensions. Clever and subversive. Wish the entire article was of that quality, mind.

David Morley
David Morley
2 years ago

Anyway, it is one of the two), that sooner or later — “the thing is certain”: we will be enslaved by the Chinese.

I think it was Voltaire – but I’m also too lazy to check.
Celine was even more specific, imagining the Chinese tunnelling all the way to France.

Bob Taylor
Bob Taylor
2 years ago

No, narcissism is a plague spreading throughout the world.

Zorro Tomorrow
Zorro Tomorrow
2 years ago

‘If there was a problem French journalists would have reported it.’ Yeah right. Is this writer some naive teenager? The French people want the same as everyone, that the globalists, the politicians, the woke, the religious, the self flagellators (who after all get off on it) would just foxtrot oscar and leave us to get on with it.

Ray Andrews
Ray Andrews
1 year ago

“and in any case, their former religion is the sort where you offer your throat to the butcher’s blade.”
Yes, and very synergisticaly the new religion teaches that to serve Allah properly one takes up the butcher’s blade to cut the throat of all infidels. That the latter are willing is very convenient.