Thank you for this very informative and insightful summary of the state of affairs in French politics. I enjoyed the nuances and carefully chosen details.
Agreed. Also the concise clarity with which the bigger picture is outlined without sacrificing detail.
Noah Ebtihej Sdiri
2 years ago
The Rassemblement National is limited by two factors: Marine Le Pen has the charisma of a rotten oyster, which is hugely detrimental to her cause. French working-class people reject both internationalism and laissez-faire capitalism. They want immigration AND big business to be reigned in. However, by pandering to the urban elite, Marine Le Pen has alienated her working-class base. You cannot oppose internationalism with another form of the same ideology. Macron is a liberal in the purest sense of the term, he supports economic and identitarian liberalism, going as far as to declare that French culture did not exist per se. Therefore, the only way to beat Macron is to counter him with its polar opposite: sovereignism A true sovereignist policy is one that is based upon cultural nationalism, national self-determination, regional autonomy, popular sovereignty and social equality.
Fennie Strange
2 years ago
Precarity? I looked it up in Chambers dictionary, the noun is “precariousness”, not precarity.
Thanks, I was going to do that. It really jumps out of the page!
Katharine Eyre
2 years ago
I’m looking forward to both Le Pen and Macron getting a beating from the French electorate next year. The French are exceptionally good at doling out punishment at the ballot box – it makes for great entertainment!
Assuming both get to the second round, surely only one can get a beating? Unless you think neither get to the second round!
Roger Inkpen
2 years ago
It’s been said that US politics suffers by not having a leader of the opposition, as we do in Britain. But at least it’s possible for leaders in Congress to make a name for themselves.
It never occurred to me before reading this that there is no single opposition leader in France. Well, you could say Le Pen, but ‘polite’ society wouldn’t agree.
So it’s hard to see who is the potential next president, until the next presidential election!
This is a result of the collapse of the parties that have dominated French politics since WW2. Something that has also occurred in most Western European countries other than the UK. In French post-war politics there has also not been one clear centre-right party.
Thank you for this very informative and insightful summary of the state of affairs in French politics. I enjoyed the nuances and carefully chosen details.
Agreed. Also the concise clarity with which the bigger picture is outlined without sacrificing detail.
The Rassemblement National is limited by two factors:
Marine Le Pen has the charisma of a rotten oyster, which is hugely detrimental to her cause.
French working-class people reject both internationalism and laissez-faire capitalism. They want immigration AND big business to be reigned in. However, by pandering to the urban elite, Marine Le Pen has alienated her working-class base.
You cannot oppose internationalism with another form of the same ideology. Macron is a liberal in the purest sense of the term, he supports economic and identitarian liberalism, going as far as to declare that French culture did not exist per se. Therefore, the only way to beat Macron is to counter him with its polar opposite: sovereignism
A true sovereignist policy is one that is based upon cultural nationalism, national self-determination, regional autonomy, popular sovereignty and social equality.
Precarity? I looked it up in Chambers dictionary, the noun is “precariousness”, not precarity.
Thanks, I was going to do that. It really jumps out of the page!
I’m looking forward to both Le Pen and Macron getting a beating from the French electorate next year. The French are exceptionally good at doling out punishment at the ballot box – it makes for great entertainment!
Assuming both get to the second round, surely only one can get a beating? Unless you think neither get to the second round!
It’s been said that US politics suffers by not having a leader of the opposition, as we do in Britain. But at least it’s possible for leaders in Congress to make a name for themselves.
It never occurred to me before reading this that there is no single opposition leader in France. Well, you could say Le Pen, but ‘polite’ society wouldn’t agree.
So it’s hard to see who is the potential next president, until the next presidential election!
This is a result of the collapse of the parties that have dominated French politics since WW2. Something that has also occurred in most Western European countries other than the UK. In French post-war politics there has also not been one clear centre-right party.