In the horror movie franchise "The Purge" for one night every year all crime is legal, and all law enforcement and emergency services are unavailable.
This leads to an annual bacchanal of unbridled violence and chaos.
Over the past week, France has experienced its own real-world version of "The Purge."
Or, as they may call it, Le Purge.
The French are of course rather fond of rioting, breaking into it from time to time as the mood strikes them. But this time felt different. As even by French standards, it was particularly destructive and violent.
With French police unions even likening it to a Civil War.
Like a virus, the riots spread beyond France’s borders to the wider Western world, making appearances in other European countries like Belgium and Switzerland. And while yet to reach America’s shores, it is only a matter time until this wave, or another one does.
For like the French, America is no stranger to riots these days.
Indeed, over the last few years, they have become something of a national pastime, with "Summers of Love" an almost annual occasion.
Though lately much of the Western world feels like one giant powder keg waiting to explode in these riotous conflagrations at any moment.
Indulgence and laxity undoubtedly have played their part.
Western societies have become all too soft and generally permissive of rampant violence and criminality, which has only begotten more.
This is especially true when it comes to mass riots.
During which rioters are afforded the opportunity for some destructive sport and lucrative looting without much in the way of consequences.
The riots, much like the fictional "Purge," giving them a free pass.
Indeed, when one looks closely enough there are many similarities between the fictional "Purge" and those of our real-world riots.
In the movies, the "Purge" is promoted as a form of refreshing the spirit for the populace.
An annual bloodletting, so that for the rest of the year society can live in a semblance of peace, despite the many ills it daily faces.
Likewise, many see our real-world riots as providing an outlet and release for certain depressed segments of the populace.
As Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake infamously said in 2015 during the riots then engulfing her city, the rioters needed "space to destroy."
Some U.S. cities have extended this further, with drugs and crimes now permanently decriminalized so that those inclined can engage in a bit of purging year-round.
The fictional "Purge" is also lauded as essential to societal progress, even part of one’s civic duty.
Similarly, our real-world riots too are frequently praised by the media and politicians as peaceful protests.
The burning down of buildings and businesses turned into noble, even heroic acts committed by righteous people standing on "the right side of history."
Of course, in the movies this is all merely a ruse, as the "Purge" is ultimately discovered to be just a means for the governing elites to exert control over the masses.
Again, we see resemblances in this with our real-world versions.
Our elites, like those in the "Purge," also watch the riots from a distance, in the safety and comfort of their walled enclaves.
And while the rioters burn down their own neighborhoods, they do not come after the elites themselves.
All the while, it is our governing elites through their self-serving and self-enriching policies that are responsible for the circumstances and underlying causes giving rise to the riots in the first place.
This includes the unfettered globalization and free trade that has decimated local businesses and industries, and the open borders and mass immigration that has so severely disrupted national, social, and cultural cohesion, while also suppressing wages.
Through their policies and ideologies, elites have also supplied ample tinder for civil strife by dividing people by race, identity, class, and everything else.
As they purposefully balkanize and fragment once strong and united societies in favor of ones more easily exploited and ruled over.
But the people of the West, like those in the "Purge," are finally waking up to what is happening.
In France, the latest riots may at last be the straw that broke the camel’s back.
As the French people are demanding an end to the systematic destruction of their society and culture.
They want law and order restored, their borders secured, and their country returned to what it was.
Other European nations are following suit as well, exhibited most recently by the collapse of the government in the Netherlands over its immigration policies.
Let us hope that this revolution continues to spread.
And that like those in the "Purge" our villainous elites too lose in the end.
Viva la France! And the Western.
Lee Steinhauer is a strategic policy and political consultant known for his book "The Art of The New Cold War: America vs China. What America Must Do to Win." Lee is a frequent guest on Fox, Fox Business, Newsmax, and a published policy and opinion writer for numerous media publications. Read Lee Steinhauer's Reports — More Here.
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