Allons, Enfants de l'Europe
Today is the first election in France, to weed out all the extra candidates, and narrow the field down to two, from which number the President of the Republic will be chosen next month. Since the Brexit referendum last year, and the Dutch elections this year, it is the election that will have the most influence on the future of Europe.
In a world where national elections have international repercussions, everyone is worried. I have seen pictures already of long lines at polling places set up in foreign countries for French citizens. Everyone wants to have their say. The five major candidates are different, and some of their views remind one of others, elsewhere.
Marine LePen is the scariest of all. She is completely anti-Europe, anti-immigrant, anti-anything-that-is-not-pure-French-all-the-way-back-to-Charlemagne. After the firefight that killed a police officer in Paris last week, she screamed that the terrorist attacks wouldn't have happened if the terrorists hadn't been allowed into the country. Ahem, just about all the terrorists were born in France; some were descendants of migrants from a former French colony, Algeria. They weren't exactly from "a terrorist Muslim country." If she's elected next month, most fear the worst for the European Union, and chances are she'll pass the bar today. She's the French Trump. She is also under investigation for misuse of European funds by her political party.
François Fillon is an ultra-Catholic, ultra-French anglophile who admires Margaret Thatcher and wants Britain to leave Europe at once. He wants to strengthen the borders, which would mean renegotiating the Schengen agreement. He's also very pro-business, and believes in the neo-conservative version of economics, which was apparent as finance minister to Sarkozy. And which we know through the austerity programs put into place during the recession, that they tend to clobber the little guy while floating the boats of those who had money to begin with. He is also under investigation for embezzlement.
Emmanuel Macron is an investment banker turned finance minister for Socialist Hollande who wants to change the nanny state into something more flexible. He is simply a younger and more liberal conservative. He opposes the inflexibility of hiring workers practically for life, especially among civil servants, and also the inflexibility of firing workers in private companies, where it is difficult to fire people. He claims that if flexibility is allowed, those on the outside, the immigrants and long-time unemployed, will be given a chance at a decent job. That would depend on the morality of the employer. Firing was made easier in Spain, as well, and now the only contracts that abound are temporary contracts of maybe a couple of weeks or months, with no assurance of being re-hired. It doesn't do much for the financial stability of those on the outside. He is in favor, however, of the European Union and would work to strengthen it. He is not being investigated at the moment, and the only thing that raises eyebrows is that he is married to a woman twenty years older than him, whom he met when he was in high school and she was a teacher there. Perhaps the French Clinton on policies?
Jean-Luc Mélenchon is different. He's a former radical Trotskyist who thinks the root of all evil is money. He wants to tax the rich and the French living abroad on their worldwide income. He wants to wean France off nuclear energy, give more power to Parliament, renegotiate France's role in Europe, and welcome immigrants with arms wide open. He has used new technologies, such as holograms, to hold meetings in different places at once. He is considered a radical, far left populist who would be dangerous as the head of one of the most powerful European countries. The establishment fears him because he talks from the underbelly of the country. He was a Communist, after all. Some say he resembles the Spanish Pablo Iglesias, except Iglesias doesn't seem quite so radical to me.
Benoît Hamon is the official Socialist candidate. He's also the one who's doing the lousiest, and no one includes him as a possible second-round candidate. The general consensus seems to be, "Who's he?"
Analysts have warned that, while most opinions of the candidates stem from those enjoying city life, the vast number of French who live in the countryside and small towns are feeling very restless and forgotten. There is the very distinct possibility of someone very far-right or far-left being elected. I understand some of that. When my husband and I were in France three years ago, we stayed at a bed and breakfast just outside Domme. It was run by a Welsh couple who lived there during the summer and lived in Wales in the winter (How will Brexit affect them?). They told us that during the summer Domme was full of people, but in the winter there were maybe thirty residents in the entire town. If I remember correctly, even the small hospital shut down. The livelihood of the town was based on tourism, which can always fluctuate up or down. Those who wanted to live on a more firm footing had to move out to the cities. I'm sure most of them want a change, or at least a shake-up that will make them heard. What will that cost the rest of Europe?
In a world where national elections have international repercussions, everyone is worried. I have seen pictures already of long lines at polling places set up in foreign countries for French citizens. Everyone wants to have their say. The five major candidates are different, and some of their views remind one of others, elsewhere.
Marine LePen is the scariest of all. She is completely anti-Europe, anti-immigrant, anti-anything-that-is-not-pure-French-all-the-way-back-to-Charlemagne. After the firefight that killed a police officer in Paris last week, she screamed that the terrorist attacks wouldn't have happened if the terrorists hadn't been allowed into the country. Ahem, just about all the terrorists were born in France; some were descendants of migrants from a former French colony, Algeria. They weren't exactly from "a terrorist Muslim country." If she's elected next month, most fear the worst for the European Union, and chances are she'll pass the bar today. She's the French Trump. She is also under investigation for misuse of European funds by her political party.
François Fillon is an ultra-Catholic, ultra-French anglophile who admires Margaret Thatcher and wants Britain to leave Europe at once. He wants to strengthen the borders, which would mean renegotiating the Schengen agreement. He's also very pro-business, and believes in the neo-conservative version of economics, which was apparent as finance minister to Sarkozy. And which we know through the austerity programs put into place during the recession, that they tend to clobber the little guy while floating the boats of those who had money to begin with. He is also under investigation for embezzlement.
Emmanuel Macron is an investment banker turned finance minister for Socialist Hollande who wants to change the nanny state into something more flexible. He is simply a younger and more liberal conservative. He opposes the inflexibility of hiring workers practically for life, especially among civil servants, and also the inflexibility of firing workers in private companies, where it is difficult to fire people. He claims that if flexibility is allowed, those on the outside, the immigrants and long-time unemployed, will be given a chance at a decent job. That would depend on the morality of the employer. Firing was made easier in Spain, as well, and now the only contracts that abound are temporary contracts of maybe a couple of weeks or months, with no assurance of being re-hired. It doesn't do much for the financial stability of those on the outside. He is in favor, however, of the European Union and would work to strengthen it. He is not being investigated at the moment, and the only thing that raises eyebrows is that he is married to a woman twenty years older than him, whom he met when he was in high school and she was a teacher there. Perhaps the French Clinton on policies?
Jean-Luc Mélenchon is different. He's a former radical Trotskyist who thinks the root of all evil is money. He wants to tax the rich and the French living abroad on their worldwide income. He wants to wean France off nuclear energy, give more power to Parliament, renegotiate France's role in Europe, and welcome immigrants with arms wide open. He has used new technologies, such as holograms, to hold meetings in different places at once. He is considered a radical, far left populist who would be dangerous as the head of one of the most powerful European countries. The establishment fears him because he talks from the underbelly of the country. He was a Communist, after all. Some say he resembles the Spanish Pablo Iglesias, except Iglesias doesn't seem quite so radical to me.
Benoît Hamon is the official Socialist candidate. He's also the one who's doing the lousiest, and no one includes him as a possible second-round candidate. The general consensus seems to be, "Who's he?"
Analysts have warned that, while most opinions of the candidates stem from those enjoying city life, the vast number of French who live in the countryside and small towns are feeling very restless and forgotten. There is the very distinct possibility of someone very far-right or far-left being elected. I understand some of that. When my husband and I were in France three years ago, we stayed at a bed and breakfast just outside Domme. It was run by a Welsh couple who lived there during the summer and lived in Wales in the winter (How will Brexit affect them?). They told us that during the summer Domme was full of people, but in the winter there were maybe thirty residents in the entire town. If I remember correctly, even the small hospital shut down. The livelihood of the town was based on tourism, which can always fluctuate up or down. Those who wanted to live on a more firm footing had to move out to the cities. I'm sure most of them want a change, or at least a shake-up that will make them heard. What will that cost the rest of Europe?
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