A few remarks in response to the article: one – quite so, Macron and all that he represents will survive; two – this is not a hopeful development; it represents social sclerosis, not political resilience; three – his centrism is no such thing; it is in fact a consensus of the global elite, some “liberal”, others openly Marxist, but all vehemently opposed to European nationalism; opposed, therefore, to the forces which actually make society tick. Indeed, they have effectively brought the authentic heartbeat of the west to an end, happier to sit on the shoulders of a zombie than to risk the governance of a living thing.
So, Macron and his kind will continue because they have so successfully sterilised, demoralised, divided and colonised the societies they rule. The Captain and his officers remain on the bridge because with the ship sinking the passengers and crew are too frightened or too despairing or too exhausted to remove them.
Selwyn Jones
1 year ago
A few remarks in response to the article: one – quite so, Macron and all that he represents will survive; two – this is not a hopeful development; it represents social sclerosis, not political resilience; three – his centrism is no such thing; it is in fact a consensus of the global elite, some “liberal”, others openly Marxist, but all vehemently opposed to European nationalism; opposed, therefore, to the forces which actually make society tick. Indeed, they have effectively brought the authentic heartbeat of the west to an end, happier to sit on the shoulders of a zombie than to risk the governance of a living thing.
So, Macron and his kind will continue because they have so successfully sterilised, demoralised, divided and colonised the societies they rule. The Captain and his officers remain on the bridge because with the ship sinking the passengers and crew are too frightened or too despairing or too exhausted to remove them.
Elliott Bjorn
1 year ago
Haha, water heating up, frogs beginning to splash about a little….will they leap out?
The article is breathtaking in its bland: ”seen it all before, no biggie” calling of this as a non-event… but I am not so sure. I would wonder if this is not really about those 2 years; taxpayers know the West has spent into such a debt things will have to give here and there, no, I think that may not be it…..
During the last few years leading up to ‘The Great Depression’, when every gamble on the stock market struck gold and shoe shine boys gave stock tips and Hollywood had the world star-struck dreaming of wealth, glamour, status, and Luxury – during these mad boom times there was a phrase few people know now days; of the late 1920s. It was:
”An uneasy feeling….”
In the back of every mind, but squashed down if it came close to being talked of, the people had this uneasy feeling they could not put their finger on. Something was coming, something maybe brewing, but still the good times Rolled, Good times! but….. perhaps it was just a little too good to be quite true….
.And then Black Tuesday, and stock brokers jumping out of windows… and soup lines and factory closures.
This uneasy feeling – it is in every mind on the planet just now. Every one of us knows… we know the inflation, the covid disaster, the WWIII created and the dividing of the world into Axis and Allies – the National Debt, the Chat GPT coming for the jobs, the young people with useless degrees and their hopeless position of ever getting a house, having a family, and having a pension, the security state is Political now, the MSM, Government, Social Media – they Lie and lie and lie, and the Banks are teetering, and CBDC’s and Social Credit Scores are inevitable…. we all feel it..
This is what I read in the French fires. They are uneasy, and so are over responding……..
The underlying problem is that voters keep electing politicians who promise ice cream today rather the blood sweat toil and tears of fixing the shaky foundations and systemic problems. Once the electorate is shocked by the disastrous consequences of the current insouciant policies they will start to ask politicians to apply systemic reforms. Carbon taxes, fiscal balance and debt repayment, fully funded pensions, market set interest rates, public services that are high quality and low cost (which will require customer choice, means testing and private provision), enterprise economics requiring tax simplification, education, high savings, action on greenhouse gas emissions and and end to subsidies. All achievable but requiring a supportive and educated electorate.
I agree with you apart for the greenhouse gases bit. This is just another bandwagon scam to transfer wealth to the elite and we can’t afford it.
If you disagree, Iraq, Covid, Ukraine
I agree with you apart for the greenhouse gases bit. This is just another bandwagon scam to transfer wealth to the elite and we can’t afford it.
If you disagree, Iraq, Covid, Ukraine
The underlying problem is that voters keep electing politicians who promise ice cream today rather the blood sweat toil and tears of fixing the shaky foundations and systemic problems. Once the electorate is shocked by the disastrous consequences of the current insouciant policies they will start to ask politicians to apply systemic reforms. Carbon taxes, fiscal balance and debt repayment, fully funded pensions, market set interest rates, public services that are high quality and low cost (which will require customer choice, means testing and private provision), enterprise economics requiring tax simplification, education, high savings, action on greenhouse gas emissions and and end to subsidies. All achievable but requiring a supportive and educated electorate.
Elliott Bjorn
1 year ago
Haha, water heating up, frogs beginning to splash about a little….will they leap out?
The article is breathtaking in its bland: ”seen it all before, no biggie” calling of this as a non-event… but I am not so sure. I would wonder if this is not really about those 2 years; taxpayers know the West has spent into such a debt things will have to give here and there, no, I think that may not be it…..
During the last few years leading up to ‘The Great Depression’, when every gamble on the stock market struck gold and shoe shine boys gave stock tips and Hollywood had the world star-struck dreaming of wealth, glamour, status, and Luxury – during these mad boom times there was a phrase few people know now days; of the late 1920s. It was:
”An uneasy feeling….”
In the back of every mind, but squashed down if it came close to being talked of, the people had this uneasy feeling they could not put their finger on. Something was coming, something maybe brewing, but still the good times Rolled, Good times! but….. perhaps it was just a little too good to be quite true….
.And then Black Tuesday, and stock brokers jumping out of windows… and soup lines and factory closures.
This uneasy feeling – it is in every mind on the planet just now. Every one of us knows… we know the inflation, the covid disaster, the WWIII created and the dividing of the world into Axis and Allies – the National Debt, the Chat GPT coming for the jobs, the young people with useless degrees and their hopeless position of ever getting a house, having a family, and having a pension, the security state is Political now, the MSM, Government, Social Media – they Lie and lie and lie, and the Banks are teetering, and CBDC’s and Social Credit Scores are inevitable…. we all feel it..
This is what I read in the French fires. They are uneasy, and so are over responding……..
Ben Shipley
1 year ago
Great summary. I’ve seen the French weather far worse storms than this one (1968, as you mention). But then I also watched the anglophone media treat the Islamist attacks in Paris and brussels as the dawn of the apocalypse. The dust will settle, and those media will move on to the next breathless report before anyone notices how badly they missed this one.
Ben Shipley
1 year ago
Great summary. I’ve seen the French weather far worse storms than this one (1968, as you mention). But then I also watched the anglophone media treat the Islamist attacks in Paris and brussels as the dawn of the apocalypse. The dust will settle, and those media will move on to the next breathless report before anyone notices how badly they missed this one.
Brian Villanueva
1 year ago
“genuinely radical governments have held power for less than 20 of the last 234 years”
Does Le Pen really qualify as “radical”? This is kind of like the near ubiquitous “far-right” slur that journalists give to anyone to the right of Trotsky.
When you have 45% of the vote, you are, ipso-facto, the mainstream of your country. If the author thinks that’s “radical”, that says more about him than Le Pen.
To call something radical doesn’t mean it is good, and it doesn’t mean that it’s bad, it just means well – it’s radical. Radicals can be from the Right: e.g. Mrs Thatcher or from the Left: e.g. Mr Benn snr. (I realise that I’m showing my vintage here by these examples). Radical can be a neutral value term, unless one is an ultra conservative (note the small “c”) in which case all change is bad and, therefore, radicals are bad.
I’m not saying radicalism is bad at all, but doesn’t being “radical” entail being a minority almost be definition? What would a “radical majority” look like? Since radicals, by definition, want to make significant changes, if they already hold majority status, there are no changes for them to make.
This was kind of the curse of the 1960’s radicals. The baby Boomers were so successful in their anti-establishment ideology that they became the establishment, and “establishment radical” is clearly an oxymoron.
I’m not saying radicalism is bad at all, but doesn’t being “radical” entail being a minority almost be definition? What would a “radical majority” look like? Since radicals, by definition, want to make significant changes, if they already hold majority status, there are no changes for them to make.
This was kind of the curse of the 1960’s radicals. The baby Boomers were so successful in their anti-establishment ideology that they became the establishment, and “establishment radical” is clearly an oxymoron.
To call something radical doesn’t mean it is good, and it doesn’t mean that it’s bad, it just means well – it’s radical. Radicals can be from the Right: e.g. Mrs Thatcher or from the Left: e.g. Mr Benn snr. (I realise that I’m showing my vintage here by these examples). Radical can be a neutral value term, unless one is an ultra conservative (note the small “c”) in which case all change is bad and, therefore, radicals are bad.
Brian Villanueva
1 year ago
“genuinely radical governments have held power for less than 20 of the last 234 years”
Does Le Pen really qualify as “radical”? This is kind of like the near ubiquitous “far-right” slur that journalists give to anyone to the right of Trotsky.
When you have 45% of the vote, you are, ipso-facto, the mainstream of your country. If the author thinks that’s “radical”, that says more about him than Le Pen.
AC Harper
1 year ago
Google translate renders surenchère as one-upmanship. The dangers of one-upmanship are that it is competitive and those who blink first, lose.
Did Macron deliberately choose to launch pension reform by decree as a cynical bid for strong one-upmanship – or was he careless? How will it affect future French political theatre?
AC Harper
1 year ago
Google translate renders surenchère as one-upmanship. The dangers of one-upmanship are that it is competitive and those who blink first, lose.
Did Macron deliberately choose to launch pension reform by decree as a cynical bid for strong one-upmanship – or was he careless? How will it affect future French political theatre?
BW Naylor
1 year ago
I hand it to the French for getting off their lounges and making themselves heard! Here in Canada Trudeau’s Liberal government did 4 things in 1 week worthy of such protests:
Trudeau added $40 billion in spending to his already historical debt spending spree; He lifted a ban on foreign housing that didn’t last 3 full months; He pushed through a bill, C-11, limiting online content and boosting censorship; and he (gasp) increased taxes on beer and alcohol!
Canadians could barely muster a yawn as they upvoted the stories on Reddit and went back to complaining they can’t afford a home, or find their favourite blog online… poor sobs can’t even afford to drink away their blues.
Even if France looses this battle, and we all know they will, at least they still care about their country enough to fight for it!
Last edited 1 year ago by BW Naylor
BW Naylor
1 year ago
I hand it to the French for getting off their lounges and making themselves heard! Here in Canada Trudeau’s Liberal government did 4 things in 1 week worthy of such protests:
Trudeau added $40 billion in spending to his already historical debt spending spree; He lifted a ban on foreign housing that didn’t last 3 full months; He pushed through a bill, C-11, limiting online content and boosting censorship; and he (gasp) increased taxes on beer and alcohol!
Canadians could barely muster a yawn as they upvoted the stories on Reddit and went back to complaining they can’t afford a home, or find their favourite blog online… poor sobs can’t even afford to drink away their blues.
Even if France looses this battle, and we all know they will, at least they still care about their country enough to fight for it!
A few remarks in response to the article: one – quite so, Macron and all that he represents will survive; two – this is not a hopeful development; it represents social sclerosis, not political resilience; three – his centrism is no such thing; it is in fact a consensus of the global elite, some “liberal”, others openly Marxist, but all vehemently opposed to European nationalism; opposed, therefore, to the forces which actually make society tick. Indeed, they have effectively brought the authentic heartbeat of the west to an end, happier to sit on the shoulders of a zombie than to risk the governance of a living thing.
So, Macron and his kind will continue because they have so successfully sterilised, demoralised, divided and colonised the societies they rule. The Captain and his officers remain on the bridge because with the ship sinking the passengers and crew are too frightened or too despairing or too exhausted to remove them.
A few remarks in response to the article: one – quite so, Macron and all that he represents will survive; two – this is not a hopeful development; it represents social sclerosis, not political resilience; three – his centrism is no such thing; it is in fact a consensus of the global elite, some “liberal”, others openly Marxist, but all vehemently opposed to European nationalism; opposed, therefore, to the forces which actually make society tick. Indeed, they have effectively brought the authentic heartbeat of the west to an end, happier to sit on the shoulders of a zombie than to risk the governance of a living thing.
So, Macron and his kind will continue because they have so successfully sterilised, demoralised, divided and colonised the societies they rule. The Captain and his officers remain on the bridge because with the ship sinking the passengers and crew are too frightened or too despairing or too exhausted to remove them.
Haha, water heating up, frogs beginning to splash about a little….will they leap out?
The article is breathtaking in its bland: ”seen it all before, no biggie” calling of this as a non-event… but I am not so sure. I would wonder if this is not really about those 2 years; taxpayers know the West has spent into such a debt things will have to give here and there, no, I think that may not be it…..
During the last few years leading up to ‘The Great Depression’, when every gamble on the stock market struck gold and shoe shine boys gave stock tips and Hollywood had the world star-struck dreaming of wealth, glamour, status, and Luxury – during these mad boom times there was a phrase few people know now days; of the late 1920s. It was:
”An uneasy feeling….”
In the back of every mind, but squashed down if it came close to being talked of, the people had this uneasy feeling they could not put their finger on. Something was coming, something maybe brewing, but still the good times Rolled, Good times! but….. perhaps it was just a little too good to be quite true….
.And then Black Tuesday, and stock brokers jumping out of windows… and soup lines and factory closures.
This uneasy feeling – it is in every mind on the planet just now. Every one of us knows… we know the inflation, the covid disaster, the WWIII created and the dividing of the world into Axis and Allies – the National Debt, the Chat GPT coming for the jobs, the young people with useless degrees and their hopeless position of ever getting a house, having a family, and having a pension, the security state is Political now, the MSM, Government, Social Media – they Lie and lie and lie, and the Banks are teetering, and CBDC’s and Social Credit Scores are inevitable…. we all feel it..
This is what I read in the French fires. They are uneasy, and so are over responding……..
The underlying problem is that voters keep electing politicians who promise ice cream today rather the blood sweat toil and tears of fixing the shaky foundations and systemic problems. Once the electorate is shocked by the disastrous consequences of the current insouciant policies they will start to ask politicians to apply systemic reforms. Carbon taxes, fiscal balance and debt repayment, fully funded pensions, market set interest rates, public services that are high quality and low cost (which will require customer choice, means testing and private provision), enterprise economics requiring tax simplification, education, high savings, action on greenhouse gas emissions and and end to subsidies. All achievable but requiring a supportive and educated electorate.
I agree with you apart for the greenhouse gases bit. This is just another bandwagon scam to transfer wealth to the elite and we can’t afford it.
If you disagree, Iraq, Covid, Ukraine
I agree with you apart for the greenhouse gases bit. This is just another bandwagon scam to transfer wealth to the elite and we can’t afford it.
If you disagree, Iraq, Covid, Ukraine
The underlying problem is that voters keep electing politicians who promise ice cream today rather the blood sweat toil and tears of fixing the shaky foundations and systemic problems. Once the electorate is shocked by the disastrous consequences of the current insouciant policies they will start to ask politicians to apply systemic reforms. Carbon taxes, fiscal balance and debt repayment, fully funded pensions, market set interest rates, public services that are high quality and low cost (which will require customer choice, means testing and private provision), enterprise economics requiring tax simplification, education, high savings, action on greenhouse gas emissions and and end to subsidies. All achievable but requiring a supportive and educated electorate.
Haha, water heating up, frogs beginning to splash about a little….will they leap out?
The article is breathtaking in its bland: ”seen it all before, no biggie” calling of this as a non-event… but I am not so sure. I would wonder if this is not really about those 2 years; taxpayers know the West has spent into such a debt things will have to give here and there, no, I think that may not be it…..
During the last few years leading up to ‘The Great Depression’, when every gamble on the stock market struck gold and shoe shine boys gave stock tips and Hollywood had the world star-struck dreaming of wealth, glamour, status, and Luxury – during these mad boom times there was a phrase few people know now days; of the late 1920s. It was:
”An uneasy feeling….”
In the back of every mind, but squashed down if it came close to being talked of, the people had this uneasy feeling they could not put their finger on. Something was coming, something maybe brewing, but still the good times Rolled, Good times! but….. perhaps it was just a little too good to be quite true….
.And then Black Tuesday, and stock brokers jumping out of windows… and soup lines and factory closures.
This uneasy feeling – it is in every mind on the planet just now. Every one of us knows… we know the inflation, the covid disaster, the WWIII created and the dividing of the world into Axis and Allies – the National Debt, the Chat GPT coming for the jobs, the young people with useless degrees and their hopeless position of ever getting a house, having a family, and having a pension, the security state is Political now, the MSM, Government, Social Media – they Lie and lie and lie, and the Banks are teetering, and CBDC’s and Social Credit Scores are inevitable…. we all feel it..
This is what I read in the French fires. They are uneasy, and so are over responding……..
Great summary. I’ve seen the French weather far worse storms than this one (1968, as you mention). But then I also watched the anglophone media treat the Islamist attacks in Paris and brussels as the dawn of the apocalypse. The dust will settle, and those media will move on to the next breathless report before anyone notices how badly they missed this one.
Great summary. I’ve seen the French weather far worse storms than this one (1968, as you mention). But then I also watched the anglophone media treat the Islamist attacks in Paris and brussels as the dawn of the apocalypse. The dust will settle, and those media will move on to the next breathless report before anyone notices how badly they missed this one.
“genuinely radical governments have held power for less than 20 of the last 234 years”
Does Le Pen really qualify as “radical”? This is kind of like the near ubiquitous “far-right” slur that journalists give to anyone to the right of Trotsky.
When you have 45% of the vote, you are, ipso-facto, the mainstream of your country. If the author thinks that’s “radical”, that says more about him than Le Pen.
To call something radical doesn’t mean it is good, and it doesn’t mean that it’s bad, it just means well – it’s radical. Radicals can be from the Right: e.g. Mrs Thatcher or from the Left: e.g. Mr Benn snr. (I realise that I’m showing my vintage here by these examples). Radical can be a neutral value term, unless one is an ultra conservative (note the small “c”) in which case all change is bad and, therefore, radicals are bad.
I’m not saying radicalism is bad at all, but doesn’t being “radical” entail being a minority almost be definition? What would a “radical majority” look like? Since radicals, by definition, want to make significant changes, if they already hold majority status, there are no changes for them to make.
This was kind of the curse of the 1960’s radicals. The baby Boomers were so successful in their anti-establishment ideology that they became the establishment, and “establishment radical” is clearly an oxymoron.
I’m not saying radicalism is bad at all, but doesn’t being “radical” entail being a minority almost be definition? What would a “radical majority” look like? Since radicals, by definition, want to make significant changes, if they already hold majority status, there are no changes for them to make.
This was kind of the curse of the 1960’s radicals. The baby Boomers were so successful in their anti-establishment ideology that they became the establishment, and “establishment radical” is clearly an oxymoron.
To call something radical doesn’t mean it is good, and it doesn’t mean that it’s bad, it just means well – it’s radical. Radicals can be from the Right: e.g. Mrs Thatcher or from the Left: e.g. Mr Benn snr. (I realise that I’m showing my vintage here by these examples). Radical can be a neutral value term, unless one is an ultra conservative (note the small “c”) in which case all change is bad and, therefore, radicals are bad.
“genuinely radical governments have held power for less than 20 of the last 234 years”
Does Le Pen really qualify as “radical”? This is kind of like the near ubiquitous “far-right” slur that journalists give to anyone to the right of Trotsky.
When you have 45% of the vote, you are, ipso-facto, the mainstream of your country. If the author thinks that’s “radical”, that says more about him than Le Pen.
Google translate renders surenchère as one-upmanship. The dangers of one-upmanship are that it is competitive and those who blink first, lose.
Did Macron deliberately choose to launch pension reform by decree as a cynical bid for strong one-upmanship – or was he careless? How will it affect future French political theatre?
Google translate renders surenchère as one-upmanship. The dangers of one-upmanship are that it is competitive and those who blink first, lose.
Did Macron deliberately choose to launch pension reform by decree as a cynical bid for strong one-upmanship – or was he careless? How will it affect future French political theatre?
I hand it to the French for getting off their lounges and making themselves heard! Here in Canada Trudeau’s Liberal government did 4 things in 1 week worthy of such protests:
Trudeau added $40 billion in spending to his already historical debt spending spree; He lifted a ban on foreign housing that didn’t last 3 full months; He pushed through a bill, C-11, limiting online content and boosting censorship; and he (gasp) increased taxes on beer and alcohol!
Canadians could barely muster a yawn as they upvoted the stories on Reddit and went back to complaining they can’t afford a home, or find their favourite blog online… poor sobs can’t even afford to drink away their blues.
Even if France looses this battle, and we all know they will, at least they still care about their country enough to fight for it!
I hand it to the French for getting off their lounges and making themselves heard! Here in Canada Trudeau’s Liberal government did 4 things in 1 week worthy of such protests:
Trudeau added $40 billion in spending to his already historical debt spending spree; He lifted a ban on foreign housing that didn’t last 3 full months; He pushed through a bill, C-11, limiting online content and boosting censorship; and he (gasp) increased taxes on beer and alcohol!
Canadians could barely muster a yawn as they upvoted the stories on Reddit and went back to complaining they can’t afford a home, or find their favourite blog online… poor sobs can’t even afford to drink away their blues.
Even if France looses this battle, and we all know they will, at least they still care about their country enough to fight for it!
Errr… no it’s not… ” end of”.. goodbye.
Errr… no it’s not… ” end of”.. goodbye.