Reflextions sur la Communisme dans la Metro de Paris (Reflections on Communism within the Paris Metro)

The first time that I arrived in Paris wasn't unlike any of the other times that I arrived in a new airport. They share a multitude of similar characteristics which, if you ignore the non-English writing, end up being extremely easy to navigate. Likewise, the metro system in Paris is similar to Chicago’s “L” in many ways. Barring obvious similarities, both are public transportation and are for the most part subterranean, there are both nuances and improvements within both systems that require keen observation skills in order to comprehend. They are both similar in function, yet different in design.

 (Photo courtesy Octavian Stoch)

(Photo courtesy of Chicago Transit Authority)

Going further down into the metro reveals tunnels that twist and turn and could be intimidating to one who has not gone on a subway before, thankfully all of us have used subway lines before. Due to the cheap cost of the metro there are as many beggars on the Paris metro as there are on the Chicagoan “L” which brings the question to mind that Paris is really similar to Chicago in more ways than one and that they also have similar problems that Chicago has. That is, with the rising cost of the average citizens standard of living many will fall victim to circumstance and end up on the street begging everyday until nature takes it’s due course. I feel that this is unavoidable collateral damage as being a byproduct of capitalism and is necessary in order to advance the entire world artistically and scientifically.

As Paris, Chicago, the World is today all of the consistently successful nations are democracies and republics of which both believe in the importance of free and open trade. This idea is paramount for the advancement of all of our ideals and I could not imagine living in a world where there were no free and open markets. Of course, there would be less “Poverty” but the cost of that is too great for our society to handle. I don’t know how to fix this, but I am sure that, eventually, someone will try and succeed to fix these problems.