Sarkozy on pedophilia and genetics

More funny bits from Nicolas Sarkozy. I'm translating his remarks in Philosophie Magazine - yes, there is such a thing in France, and better yet, it has a readership large enough for the Sarkozy PR machine to actually send the boss for an interview. (As an aside, I wonder who are Philosophie Magazine's main advertisers : Patek Philippe? Viagra? Prozac? tour operators specializing in swingers?)

So here's what Sarkozy said to Michel Onfray. The interviewer is a somewhat famous French author - if you can imagine a male cross between the two Marthas (Stewart and Nussbaum). He's the kind of celebrity who utters weighty platitudes without a shred of self-doubt, and wraps them in what passes for elegance in the age of mass consumption. I guess he made Sarkozy feel well at-ease.

But, without further ado, straight from the horse's mouth (my translation):
"For my part, I am inclined to think that one is born a pedophile, and that it is a real problem that we do not know how to cure that pathology. There are 1200 or 1300 youth who commit suicide every year in France, it is not because their parents did not take good care of them! But because, genetically, there is a fragility, a preexisting pain (...) Circumstances are not everything, the role of what's innate is immense."

Besides the slightly comical bit on heredity and criminal pathology, which betrays a complete ignorance of even the most basic notions of modern genetics, I think the important point has to do with his critique of what he calls "circumstances." For a neo-liberal like Sarkozy, the link between criminality and social conditions must be severed at all costs. Because otherwise, the logical next step to reduce criminality is to promote and implement redistributive policies. Hence his critique of circumstances. Hence his not-so-subtle racialization of criminality (which also betrays a complete ignorance of population genetics, and a primitive understanding of phenotypical variations among humans). To Sarkozy, one does not become a pedophile or a suicidal teen or a petty criminal because of circumstances. Therefore, allocating resources to correct and transform "circumstances" is a huge waste of governmental monies. Sarkozy tried to pass a law last year that would mandate monitoring unruly kids in schools, in order to detect supposed criminal predispositions. This is true.

In a sense, Sarkozy adheres to the worst of sociobiology. He does not believe that government can alleviate social ills. In fact, he does not believe that there is a such a thing as socially-determined pathological behaviors. I'd bet that he'd have agreed with old Maggie Thatcher when she claimed that she did not know what society was.

Finally, Sarkozy's predisposition to privilege inherited traits is perfectly consistent with his political philosophy. He believes in Burke's "old customs and traditions." He believes in the "innate." He believes in abolishing the inheritance tax.