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The Lessons of Paris and the Violence of Hope The Lessons of Paris and the Violence of Hope
(32 minutes later)
PARIS — To be a Francophile is a life sentence. It’s not exactly a badge of honor, not a burden either, but a slightly illicit gift of ever-renewed pleasures.PARIS — To be a Francophile is a life sentence. It’s not exactly a badge of honor, not a burden either, but a slightly illicit gift of ever-renewed pleasures.
How I love French realism, the shrug and the “Bof” that say this too will pass, even the Orange Man in the White House. It is not only in matters of the heart that the French are shockproof.How I love French realism, the shrug and the “Bof” that say this too will pass, even the Orange Man in the White House. It is not only in matters of the heart that the French are shockproof.
Paris has been important to me. It’s where I came of age, escaping the damp clutches of Oxford to teach in a lycée beside the prison in the southern suburb of Fresnes. (Aaah, the whiff of garlic, sauvignon blanc and Gitanes on the early morning Métro.) It’s where I started in journalism 42 years ago. It’s where I was freed by another language to reinvent myself and discovered that, despite appearances, I was an outsider. It’s where I began to see that writing was not a choice but a need.Paris has been important to me. It’s where I came of age, escaping the damp clutches of Oxford to teach in a lycée beside the prison in the southern suburb of Fresnes. (Aaah, the whiff of garlic, sauvignon blanc and Gitanes on the early morning Métro.) It’s where I started in journalism 42 years ago. It’s where I was freed by another language to reinvent myself and discovered that, despite appearances, I was an outsider. It’s where I began to see that writing was not a choice but a need.
It’s where I lived and loved and wandered and had two of my four children. It’s where I returned from covering the Bosnian War — the 100,000 dead, the 2.2 million displaced — and understood the moral abdication of the bystander and the moral imperative of engagement and decency, that word dear to Camus. It’s where I felt the bond forged in the blood of France and the United States, and grasped the vigilance needed to safeguard the institutions that transformed and protected this Europe: NATO and the European Union. It’s where I grappled with history and memory and understood, even before the Balkans, how distinct they are — and how vulnerable is the civilization Paris embodies.It’s where I lived and loved and wandered and had two of my four children. It’s where I returned from covering the Bosnian War — the 100,000 dead, the 2.2 million displaced — and understood the moral abdication of the bystander and the moral imperative of engagement and decency, that word dear to Camus. It’s where I felt the bond forged in the blood of France and the United States, and grasped the vigilance needed to safeguard the institutions that transformed and protected this Europe: NATO and the European Union. It’s where I grappled with history and memory and understood, even before the Balkans, how distinct they are — and how vulnerable is the civilization Paris embodies.
Style, as Flaubert observed, is “the discharge from a deeper wound.” What stands between civilization and barbarism is the idea that nobody is above the law. There’s a reason the American president’s oath is to the Constitution, not to the people (Das Volk), who may become a mob.Style, as Flaubert observed, is “the discharge from a deeper wound.” What stands between civilization and barbarism is the idea that nobody is above the law. There’s a reason the American president’s oath is to the Constitution, not to the people (Das Volk), who may become a mob.
The rightist wave rises still. But 2019 is also the year that the European Parliament election ceased to be a sideshow. Many Europeans, I feel here, have awoken to the need to preserve the great miracle of the second half of the 20th century — that aspiration of the bloodied, that bastion of law, that European Union.The rightist wave rises still. But 2019 is also the year that the European Parliament election ceased to be a sideshow. Many Europeans, I feel here, have awoken to the need to preserve the great miracle of the second half of the 20th century — that aspiration of the bloodied, that bastion of law, that European Union.
For a long time, over the course of my life, I watched liberty and democracy spread. The fall of the Berlin Wall and the wars of Yugoslavia’s destruction were pivot points. They cemented, for me, the link between America and freedom, America and peace. Alone among nations, the United States could make me an insider overnight. That is why New York is my home.For a long time, over the course of my life, I watched liberty and democracy spread. The fall of the Berlin Wall and the wars of Yugoslavia’s destruction were pivot points. They cemented, for me, the link between America and freedom, America and peace. Alone among nations, the United States could make me an insider overnight. That is why New York is my home.
I lived enough of the American century to feel it in my bones. That movie, however, has ended. History is not an argument leading to a logical conclusion, any more than human nature is a thing of black and white. History is flux and our natures conflicted. The specters of nationalism and xenophobia have stirred. It’s time to recall that the quest for homogeneous societies led the 20th century to its most unspeakable horrors.I lived enough of the American century to feel it in my bones. That movie, however, has ended. History is not an argument leading to a logical conclusion, any more than human nature is a thing of black and white. History is flux and our natures conflicted. The specters of nationalism and xenophobia have stirred. It’s time to recall that the quest for homogeneous societies led the 20th century to its most unspeakable horrors.
The unimaginable can happen. In April, flames engulfed Notre-Dame. Democracy is fragile, like that toppled spire. The Jews of Germany have been advised not to wear kipas in public, to which the response of every member of the German government should be to don a yarmulke.The unimaginable can happen. In April, flames engulfed Notre-Dame. Democracy is fragile, like that toppled spire. The Jews of Germany have been advised not to wear kipas in public, to which the response of every member of the German government should be to don a yarmulke.
President Trump beckons us into the abyss of the hateful. The arc of his mind bends toward injustice. I wish I did not have to say this. I am a naturalized American with an outsized belief in my country’s capacity for good — the blemished beneficence of American power.President Trump beckons us into the abyss of the hateful. The arc of his mind bends toward injustice. I wish I did not have to say this. I am a naturalized American with an outsized belief in my country’s capacity for good — the blemished beneficence of American power.
Today, however, patriotism demands the defense of the Constitution, the rule of law, truth, freedom, human rights and the planet itself against the ravages issuing from the Trump White House. Every day the American idea is sullied. Every day the distinction between truth and falsehood is undermined. I hear talk of fact-based journalism. What a ridiculous tautology!Today, however, patriotism demands the defense of the Constitution, the rule of law, truth, freedom, human rights and the planet itself against the ravages issuing from the Trump White House. Every day the American idea is sullied. Every day the distinction between truth and falsehood is undermined. I hear talk of fact-based journalism. What a ridiculous tautology!
Looking ahead to 2020, I feel uneasy. Americans are decent people. Trump authorized the forced separation of thousands of children from their parents. On that basis, the result of the presidential election should be a foregone conclusion.Looking ahead to 2020, I feel uneasy. Americans are decent people. Trump authorized the forced separation of thousands of children from their parents. On that basis, the result of the presidential election should be a foregone conclusion.
But the old politics are dead. The post-1945 world is gone. The post-Cold War world is gone. Donald Trump is the most formidable exponent of this era without a name. The incumbent always has an advantage. With a strong economy, that advantage is redoubled.But the old politics are dead. The post-1945 world is gone. The post-Cold War world is gone. Donald Trump is the most formidable exponent of this era without a name. The incumbent always has an advantage. With a strong economy, that advantage is redoubled.
Pax Americana had a good run. It was eroding before Trump; he applied the coup de grâce. In this unquiet transition, Paris reassures me. It is a repository of our fantasies, a redoubt of hope, a source of courage.Pax Americana had a good run. It was eroding before Trump; he applied the coup de grâce. In this unquiet transition, Paris reassures me. It is a repository of our fantasies, a redoubt of hope, a source of courage.
Courage is needed today. It is a time to fight without relenting for the idea of Paris against the rise of nationalist bigotry.Courage is needed today. It is a time to fight without relenting for the idea of Paris against the rise of nationalist bigotry.
When I was young man in Paris, I learned by heart Guillaume Apollinaire’s poem, “Le Pont Mirabeau.” I recall standing on the bridge and murmuring one line in particular — “Comme la vie est lente, et comme l’Espérance est violente” — “How slow life is, and how violent hope.” When I was a young man in Paris, I learned by heart Guillaume Apollinaire’s poem, “Le Pont Mirabeau.” I recall standing on the bridge and murmuring one line in particular — “Comme la vie est lente, et comme l’Espérance est violente” — “How slow life is, and how violent hope.”
Some things just sound better in French.Some things just sound better in French.
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