Parisian Whimsy

I finally got around to reading the Saturday edition of the Los Angeles Times. The front page story in the Calendar section was dominated by a photo in which the inhabitants of Paris were sunning themselves on a makeshift beach along the Seine. Apparently, Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe, a socialist, wanted to help the underserved who had either no time or no money to vacation at a real beach. Therefore, he recreated a beach on the banks of the Seine by closing off streets, trucking in 3000 tons of sand and palm trees and setting up volleyball courts and water venues for cooling off. What craziness! What whimsy! Kudos to Delanoe for his creativity.

Then I read the money quote.

The project was described as "a free populist event that cost the city 1.5 million euros". I may not be too bright, but I do know that something which costs the city millions of euros isn't exactly free. Afterall, where does a city usually get its money to spend on a "populist" event? Did I mention that the mayor is a socialist? That's right, he probably taxed the living snot out of the local citizens so he could then pronounce his little handout as free. If Delanoe was worried about poor people not being able to pay for a real vacation, why not decrease their taxes so they could keep more of their money and perhaps, spend it on a holiday to a real beach with a real ocean to get away from the all too real city?

Why do I have such a hostile reaction to the mayor's shindig? I don't mind when cities put on free events such as movies in the park, dancing at dusk, music at noon, what have you. Sometimes these events are paid for by the public through their taxes, and sometimes organizations or businesses fund the offerings. So why do I mind the beach bit? My hackels were raised by the Mayor's presumption that he was helping the underserved when the reality may be that he (and all his predecessors) has helped cause the condition by over taxation. My irritation is that the mayor isn't honest about who is really funding the "populist" event. If the populace was given the opportunity to choose which they would rather finance with their own funds, a getaway to a real beach or a lie down on a sandy Seine bank, where would all the people be?

I would appreciate the mayor's efforts more if the beach proposal was voted on by the people who were going to pay for it, or if it was touted as a publicity stunt to lure people into the city during the deadest part of summer, thus allowing the local businesses to increase their profits during a normally unproductive month. Instead, the joke is on the poor people who actually paid for the event and still believe they're getting something for nothing.