[Mount Athos]

What is shocking is that France, which constantly declares its "social model" as superior to that of the US, can't even assimilate such a large percentage of the population such that they would participate in the elections or democratic institutions of the country.

I am skeptical this criticism is fair. It is certainly not shocking. Would this population assimilate in ANY democracy, even the most perfect one in the world? I'm not so sure.

[Unam Sanctam]

Whether the population would assimilate is not the question. The issue is that France consistently vaunts its "superior" social model, which includes strict promotion of "secular" values and, historically, a "mission civilisatrice" to turn North Africans and others into Frenchmen. Their whole claim to superiority is shown to be false.