Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities has come to my mind this week. As billionaires and the French government pledge money to rebuild Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, the Yellow Vest protests continue. While I do not condone vandalism and violence, the underlying circumstances that spurred the protests nearly six months ago have yet to be addressed by the government. In addition, this New York Times article indicates that Notre Dame is emblematic of the aging churches, cathedrals, and historic sites that have fallen into disarray in France.
Lest you think that this is only an issue for nations with many Medieval monuments to maintain, let’s turn the camera lens closer to home. The National Park Service, the guardian of our national heritage, will suffer a nearly $500 million cut if the current proposed budget is approved. (See this article for details.) Anyone who’s visited a National Park of late knows that the staff is overworked and the facilities and roads are falling into disrepair.
Madame Defarge, have you started knitting yet?
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Did you notice in the news that some of the billionaires in France were also asking for their contributions to Notre Dame to have an even greater tax deduction than normal? Thus, they wanted the glory of seeming to be charitable, but they actually wanted the French government to pick up most of the bill.