Legal Matters (2/3)

CHANGING ILLICIT ACTIVITIES INTO REGULATED, LEGAL ACTIVITIES
I’m aware that I’m lifting a taboo that is barely within my area of expertise.
The Mafia thrives on drug trafficking, sex trafficking, arms trafficking.
In France, unlike the situation in the United States, the handgun issue has been solved through regulations: weapon licenses, gun stores, and registration. Why not branch out from such a successful set of regulations to asphyxiate the other two trafficking scourges?
Sex trafficking used to be regulated through brothels and still is in Germany through the Eros Centers. The system prevents the spread of AIDS and provides prostitutes with better living and working conditions.
In the Netherlands, coffee shops and shoot rooms give the reality of drug use a human dimension. In France, coffee shops with psychologists (we train lots of them, who end up unemployed), psychiatric nurses, and psychiatrists would help solve some of the underlying problems of drug use while drying out the underground economy.
The alternative method of clamping down with law and order has already failed and will continue to fail again and again. We need to innovate and start from the bottom line, that is, the greed of criminals, easy money, the exponential price increases of drugs: the higher the drug prices, the more profitable the trafficking, the more criminals will be attracted to the market! The risk sends their adrenaline levels sky high, and they believe that prison sentences hit other people only, the incompetent, the unlucky. Then, we need to convince the political elites, who turn their positions regarding security into mantras … As for the voters, should they be consulted through polls, they will gradually agree with my position.

PERVERSION OF THE COLLECTIVE ORGANISATION OF TEACHERS
When talking to teachers, it is striking to note that, individually, they are intelligent and educated, whereas collectively, they behave appallingly: complete lack of obedience to their minister’s instructions, unhealthy predilection for strikes in response to their Union’s instructions. Business schools usually teach that the art of successful management is to achieve 1+1=3, namely drawing more from cooperation among people than simply adding up their efforts would bring. In short, our national education system is suffering from its own management – how else could we explain that 1+1=1 in that system! Only the isolated human being, the teacher facing his/her pupils alone, is valued in that ministry. Respecting hierarchical orders has gone, in contradiction to any kind of human organization …
Teachers are so arrogantly self-confident, secure in what they believe they are worth, which is measured through their level in their own discipline as established through the competitive recruitment system. Well, yes, but what have our teachers done with issues such as motivation, hard work (the quality of class preparation, real working time, presence at the workplace), ongoing training (pedagogy, how to handle a class, pupil psychology, adolescent psychology, discipline issues), a collective spirit (mindset) and effort, and many others that are well known of Human Resource directors in companies, organizations, administrations? Are they so special a species that they deserve this type of preferential treatment – which, in any case, turns against them (declining public support, class management incompetence, lack of discipline, lack of collective responsibility, a ministry in a constant state of crisis)?
I don’t want to enter the battlefield of the definition of the ideal school at primary and secondary levels. For this, an extensive research literature is available; it reveals findings that are consensual, unlike those in more controversial disciplines such as economics and foreign policy. The time has come for choices to be made rather than research efforts. The most difficult will be to ensure that those political choices are implemented and to monitor them over time – this is why I am so concerned by the lack of obedience shown by teachers.

PROMOTING POLICY MEDIATION
Our society is afflicted by increasing reliance on the judicial system for numerous everyday issues: relationships between neighbors, customers and retailers, tenants and landlords, residents and town council, pupils and teachers, etc. We are drifting towards the excesses of the Anglo-Saxon (U.S.) society and attendant strains (depersonalized relationships, legal costs, lengthy proceedings / backlogs of court cases).
We are not making enough use of the abilities of our “gendarmes”, police staff at municipal and national level, and elected representatives for genuine conflict management, i.e. the first level of mediation. The inhabitants confer prestige on all these authority figures, and the latter have often met those friction-based issues, know the psychology of the locals, and sometimes know them personally or by reputation. Hence, it would be a pity not to institute a law enforcement-based mediation programme before reaching the filing-charges stage. If 50% of all small offenses or transgressions could end up with an amicable settlement between the conflicting parties under the authority of law enforcement, a huge improvement in our everyday quality of life would ensue in our country.

THE EVALUATION OF ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE
I possess an engineering background, and the math teaching that has been the most useful to me is the ability to use mental math skills to check calculations in terms of orders of magnitude (power of 10 or fraction of 1/10) received from a pocket calculator or the computer for such matters as engineering design, shop prices, large balance sheet items, estimate checks, checking the tax figures touted by politicians, etc.
Those order of magnitude techniques enable one to assess quickly a possible mistake made by mindlessly entering in the calculator figures of unknown origin or accuracy.
For instance, if a politician talks of a tax income of 10 million Euros, one should wonder whether it should not be 10 billion Euros, knowing that the French GDP is about 1,500 billion Euros; the tax revenue is about 50% of the GDP, hence 750 billion Euros; VAT is the highest tax, amounting to about 150 billion Euros, followed by corporation tax (25 billion) and income tax (25 billion). It is thus highly likely that governments create a tax to collect a few billion rather than million Euros; this rings alarm bells and prompts checking the figure given by the politician…
Another example: I work out, or the nurse works out that I need to administer an injection of 10ml of pure drug. As I know a little medicine and biology, I know that current meds are active from a dose of 0.1ml (for instance). So, I won’t kill the patient through mindless acceptance of calculations I have not made.
And another one: prices are indicated as 29.95 Euros or 29.99 Euros. I know immediately that I will pay in the region of 30 Euros – certainly not 20 Euros!
Then, I’m given a quote for 90 Euros with a 33% discount and 10% rebate. I immediately work out 90*0.66=60 Euros, 60 Euros – 60*10% = 60 – 60*0.1= 60 – 6 = 54 Euros. If the cashier asks for another amount, I then produce my calculator, check it all out and call the sales assistant …
Finally, if I’m not at home, or if I’m sitting in front of the TV, and I have to work out 390*42, I round off to 400*40, so 16000 mentally, and I get my order of magnitude, even if the figure itself is inaccurate. The same rounding off procedure enables me to check that I have not made a mistake by inputting 39*42 in the calculator – that would give 1638, which is distinctly not the order of magnitude of 16000 …

AUTHORITY WITHIN THE SCHOOL
I have just watched the “Further Investigation” programme on TV regarding the status of authority within the school.
Knowledge and authority should not be placed in opposition to one another, and one should not be favored over the other: authority is an essential prerequisite to enabling the transfer of knowledge in good conditions for listening, concentration, and efficacy.
Knowledge transfer is one of the goals of schooling; another is education in such areas as civic and republican values, respecting others and hierarchical relationships, and learning obedience and negotiation skills; yet another is to instill the desire to learn throughout one’s long life …
What can generate authority? Very many things, which include (in no particular order) the following: not allowing exceptions; monitoring the carrying out of one’s orders right to the end; respond to the smallest abuses, all of them, thus deterring the bigger ones; showing humanity in extreme cases; giving all instructions and rules in simple, straightforward language that can’t be (mis)interpreted, using basic vocabulary and short sentences (as found in advertising slogans). Combat sports (judo, karate, French boxing, etc.) bring awareness of one’s ability to take blows and assess the strength of the blows given, which in turn brings awareness of violent physical relations and physical control – all of this, in turn, is reflected in one’s attitude, which becomes dissuasive. Team sports bring the ability to manage a team, attitudes and words conveying empathy and authority. One’s voice should be able to go from soft to very loud, in an accelerated rhythm, then go back to soft, without trembling; it must reassure, if necessary. If one is physically afraid, they will sense it; it’s an intuitive, basic body language. One has to be ready to fight, any time …
Today’s teachers are selected through discipline-based competitive exams and they are in no ways prepared for the job. At the Licence level (3-year degree), those exams are more than enough to teach in the primary and secondary levels – even right up to the lycée (high school). However, it is essential to add some B.A. in Education subjects and an evaluation of the would-be teachers’ class management ability through real-life situations (in which experienced teachers would play the role of pupils). Finally, a motivation evaluation interview is necessary, and so many elements must be tested, in one way or another: willingness for ongoing training throughout one’s life, psychological knowledge regarding children/ adolescents and experience of working with them (bafa, nanny, etc.), willingness and ability to work in a team of teachers, and ability to accept and submit to the decisions of one’s hierarchy (principals, inspectors, education directors, minister).

TEACHERS RECRUITED BY THE SCHOOL PRINCIPALS
I believe that the management team should be responsible for the recruitment of the teaching team.
Concerning transfers, the selection should be made through a study of the candidate’s records and an interview.v Concerning the initial recruiting, one should be able to design some type of “educational qualification” mechanism to evaluate people’s education abilities through both written and oral competitive exams in terms of subject and pedagogy; then, starting from this pool, a mechanism for aptitude-based (in particular, the aptitude to exert one’s authority on a class) and motivation-based (for a particular place and working atmosphere) selection that should be exacting in terms of both authority and disciplinary competence. The educational qualification would be valid for a couple of years, then would fall away if no recruitment has taken place. This system is based on the regional administration competitive exams.

THE MULTIPLYING AGGREGATION OF THE POLICE STATISTIC RESULTS
Roughly, there are three ways to aggregate numbers: adding them (to derive the arithmetic mean), multiplying them (to derive the geometric mean), and adding each squared number (to derive the root mean square).
When adding numbers (arithmetic mean), poor figures/results in one area may be (over)compensated by good figures in another. When multiplying numbers (geometric mean), really poor figures (usually 0) will sink the final results, regardless of figures elsewhere. The best aggregated scores will result from homogeneous figures (only 3 out of 10, only 5 out of 10, only 8 out of 10). Should this aggregating method be chosen for police figures, it is nevertheless necessary to ensure that each statistical indicator/figure used in the multiplying represents a handled crime; otherwise, there will be a few figures near 0 that will bring towards 0 all the other indicators. Such an aggregated indicator, tested in previous years and monitored over time, could be used as point of reference for evaluating police performance. Simulations are possible to identify future improvements (improving the lowest figures – which, how, which means should be allocated to whom, in which geographical area, which populations).
Simple example I with the numbers 3, 5, 7:
Arithmetic mean (3+5+7)/3=5
Geometric mean (3*5*7) raised to the 1/3rd power = 4.7
Simple example II with the numbers 1, 5, 9:
Arithmetic mean (1+5+9)/3=5
Geometric mean (1*5*9) raised to the 1/3rd power = 3.5
Conclusion: with the same arithmetic mean (=5), Situation II, less balanced than Situation I obtains a lower geometric mean (=3.5 instead of 4.7).
To be noted: The balanced situation with figures of 5, 5, 5 would have received the maximum score as far as geometric mean is concerned (=5) for an arithmetic mean =5. In other words, the optimum of the geometric mean, for an arithmetic mean =X is such that all averaged figures are equal to X. Under these conditions (optimum), geometric mean = arithmetic mean = X.v
COMBATING TAX EVASION
Tax evasion is a non-lethal crime, which is why it is widely ignored by public opinion. It is nevertheless extremely costly: roughly 10 billion Euros per year, or the equivalent of the deficit of the Social Security system. Hence, investing in human and technological means of combating white collar crime is both justified and cost-effective. It should be on the priority list.
NB. In the excellent story broadcasted by “Envoyé spécial” (Special correspondent) on 13 October 2011, we learn that the Belgian administration has put together a very effective structure combining customs officers, tax specialists, and police officers. We must imitate them! Moreover, this structure uses transaction analysis software that considerably simplifies the job by sorting out potentially fraudulent transactions by relevance: amount, degree of ambiguity, danger level. In this case, if we want to do anything, the solution is simple: either we design similar software in France, or we buy it from the companies that designed it or from the Belgian customs.

HOW TO CONTROL LEGAL IMMIGRATION
There are two types of immigration: 1) illegal immigration, which needs to be reduced to the absolute minimum – otherwise, what is the use of having laws to control the second type, and 2) legal immigration, which is accepted by the host country.
Legal immigration should be a process both accepted and desired, especially in the current context of economic stagnation that sees increasing competition for financial resources (State allocations, public services, jobs) among those residing on our territory. Hence, the immigration control criteria need to be defined.
Hence, our goal should be to match employment opportunities with the skills possessed by the selected immigrants. In those sectors with a structural deficit in job applicants, identified by employers’ unions/associations such as MEDEF, CGPME, and others and confirmed by Pôle Emploi (the public institution responsible for employment), the annual entry quota will be proportional to the annual number of unfilled vacancies (100%, 50%, or any other proportion to be negotiated with employees’ unions). For the jobs French citizens can fill, only immigrants who need protection for humanitarian reasons will be accepted. In practice, priority will be given to immigrants who have already received a job offer via the Pôle Emploi-operated Internet server that brings together all job openings available to immigrant candidates, as defined above.
Incidentally, the Extreme Left wing cannot possibly criticize this control method for plundering the Third World, namely its expensively trained brainpower. In the current situation of job openings, there will be doctors and nurses (as long as the medical schools numerus clausus remains too restrictive), but mostly construction workers with little or no training. Consequently, there is no organized, deliberate, and exclusive programme for plundering the Third World brainpower!

THE “ECHEVINAGE” COURT SYSTEM
Among the numerous books I have read concerning the reform of the French judicial system, a miracle cure is often mentioned, namely the system of échevinage of judges. The term refers to mixing in a court of law professional judges (law specialists) and ordinary citizens (sometimes elected and receiving a small measure of training).
The advantage of this system is that it fills the gap between learned law, represented by the professional judges, and the intuitive sensitivity of non specialist citizens who are closer to ordinary public opinion, while ensuring that the judgment handed down by the court will comply with the law, thanks to the professional judges’ competence. In addition, given the professional judges’ training and career choices, one could assume greater resistance on their part to corruption than on that of consular judges in the current set-up of commercial courts (see Antoine Gaudino’s Mafia of the commercial courts).
I would thus strongly encourage the government to embark on an analysis of the advantages/disadvantages of introducing échevinage at various levels of the courts of justice, and then to act according to the study findings.

ONE OF THE KEYS TO ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE: MONITORING IMPLEMENTATION
It is not enough for the CEO or company director, in collaboration with his/her assistants, to decide which strategic policy will be executed and how to implement it; implementation and development stages need to be fully and regularly monitored. Similarly, it is not enough for the legislators or the government to work out and vote the most relevant economic measures, then translate those into law and regulations; it is also necessary to monitor how companies and the population at large respect those binding measures. It would also be naïve and ridiculous to believe in people’s sense of duty as citizens; as a matter of fact, a national sport involves bypassing the meaning of laws and getting out of their constraints, particularly as regards one’s bank balance.
This is why it is essential to appoint and/or maintain a reasonable number of inspectors (of finance, the Social Security system, etc.). In terms of justifying these jobs, one should start from the principle that if, on average, an inspector brings into the public budget more than his/her gross salary (e.g. from 1 to 10 minimum), the post of public servant auditor is fully justified. If, for a particular type of auditing, the average amount of the collected fines and/or avoided fraud losses is inferior to the annual average salary of these inspectors, that will be the sign that nitpicking is taking place = obsession with detail, which is unhealthy for the administration and its employees. The solution will then be to reduce the administrative pressure by reducing the number of inspectors. To add a practical detail, the average benefit per type of inspector can be either measured, or statistically estimated by the INSEE, or obtained through a comparison of the accounting measure and the statistical estimate.