Rhinos and Hippos, Oh My!

Abstract

Laurent Obertone is virtually unknown outside the French-speaking world. The author of bestselling fiction and nonfiction works on crime, immigration, and civil war in France, Obertone maintains a cult following despite being exiled from mainstream media. This article examines the motifs of Obertone's work, focusing on human domestication, that is, the tendency of prosperous societies to excuse criminal behavior due to guilt, virtue signaling, and fear of conflict. Obertone sees French judicial laxity as a product of misguided humanitarianism coupled with status competition among elites to show the greatest indulgence toward criminals. This attitude is pushing France toward civil conflict, as criminals take advantage of a culture de l'excuse. Ultimately, Obertone's critique is of the “open society” consensus of the postwar West. Anti-authoritarian impulses are maladaptive in a climate of mass immigration and rapid social change, and if France does not take maintaining order seriously, the result will be catastrophic.