The extreme right in France is surging

[Twilight Hue]

Yup, Macron is about to be ***** slapped yet again by the French people! Love it! Looking forward to President Le Pen!

Hopefully with a fair degree of stability and direction for the country.

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

Hopefully with a fair degree of stability and direction for the country.

Stability and direction, eh? Is that when the conservative types deprive everyone else of the liberty to be who they are?

 

[England my lionheart]

From The Economist ...

AFTER THE first round of voting, an initial projection of the results suggests that France is likely to be headed for a hung parliament. As polls predicted the National Rally (RN), a hard-right party led by Marine Le Pen and her young protégé, Jordan Bardella, looks set to become the biggest party in the lower house of parliament. Ipsos, a polling firm, projects it will win 230 to 280 seats (including the Republicans led by Eric Ciotti)—up from just 88. This would fall short of a majority, for which 289 votes are needed. The New Popular Front (NFP), a left-wing alliance, could pick up 125 to 165 seats. Both the hard right and the hard left have put forward an alarming slate of foreign policies as well as reckless economic reforms that could weaken NATO and the West.​

There's nothing quite like a Putin - Le Pen - Viktor Orbán - Netanyahu - Kim Jong Un - Trump world ushering in the 21st century.

Thank Merkel and free movement in the EU,what a foreseeable disaster it’s been.

 

[Regiomontanus]

I don't think there is anything left of extreme right in the US. Universal health care is a radical concept in the US along with woman's rights.

Well, as a socialist, I am all for universal healthcare. But I think we disagree on 'women's rights' in that what is missing is the consideration for the unborn babies.

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

I'm beginning to wonder: the extreme right is making inroads in many places -- and then the left in Britain wins a landslide. I've listened to the arguments about how economic and other concerns are driving a shift to the right -- but I don't think that's it. I am becoming more and more convinced that the politics we're seeing around the world is almost totally cultural!.

This is hard for me to say. As a Canadian, I've adopted multiculturalism as a beacon for the world, where we can know and accept each other for who we are, and yet find ways to live together and prosper. I know we're not perfect, folks are folks after all, but in large part, we seem to be managing it.

Then I look at Britain, which is likewise very multicultural these days. Watch their TV, you'll know! And they just shifted left.

Yes, I'm beginning to suspect that the only thing driving the rightward shift around much of the world is cultural -- the desire to keep "others" away from "us." That's certainly a theme in MAGA, whipped up by Trump.

Here we are on Religous Forums, trying to find ways to understand one another (including the non-religious). Wouldn't the world be better off if we could do that, instead of being terrified of those who think, speak, live, believe, eat and dress differently than us?

I'm not disturbed by seeing a Sikh in a turban in Canada, because I know he's made that choice for himself. The same goes for the Muslima in a hijab -- she's free to take it off if she wants, but she doesn't want to. That makes it her choice. I'm good with that. I love eating the cuisines of dozens of different cultures, and enjoy it as often as I can.

Yes, my friends are mostly those who are culturally like me -- but not all of them. I have good relations with people from every religion and from all over the world. I spend less time with them than with my culturally similar friends, but only because we have less to talk about. But when we're together, getting along isn't really all that hard.


Ooops....I seem to be rambling....

 

[Regiomontanus]

I'm beginning to wonder: the extreme right is making inroads in many places -- and then the left in Britain wins a landslide. I've listened to the arguments about how economic and other concerns are driving a shift to the right -- but I don't think that's it. I am becoming more and more convinced that the politics we're seeing around the world is almost totally cultural!.

This is hard for me to say. As a Canadian, I've adopted multiculturalism as a beacon for the world, where we can know and accept each other for who we are, and yet find ways to live together and prosper. I know we're not perfect, folks are folks after all, but in large part, we seem to be managing it.

Then I look at Britain, which is likewise very multicultural these days. Watch their TV, you'll know! And they just shifted left.

Yes, I'm beginning to suspect that the only thing driving the rightward shift around much of the world is cultural -- the desire to keep "others" away from "us." That's certainly a theme in MAGA, whipped up by Trump.

Here we are on Religous Forums, trying to find ways to understand one another (including the non-religious). Wouldn't the world be better off if we could do that, instead of being terrified of those who think, speak, live, believe, eat and dress differently than us?

I'm not disturbed by seeing a Sikh in a turban in Canada, because I know he's made that choice for himself. The same goes for the Muslima in a hijab -- she's free to take it off if she wants, but she doesn't want to. That makes it her choice. I'm good with that. I love eating the cuisines of dozens of different cultures, and enjoy it as often as I can.

Yes, my friends are mostly those who are culturally like me -- but not all of them. I have good relations with people from every religion and from all over the world. I spend less time with them than with my culturally similar friends, but only because we have less to talk about. But when we're together, getting along isn't really all that hard.


Ooops....I seem to be rambling....

Much of the movement 'to the right' seems, to me, to be mostly a populism, fed by the continual failure of modern monopoly-capitalism to help the average person.

The world is on fire, most people struggle to provide for themselves and their families, but we are told the economy is booming. The system is the problem.

Trump is not the answer but neither is Biden, IMHO. Harris can beat Trump but she will be more of the same, I fear.

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

Much of the movement 'to the right' seems, to me, to be mostly a populism, fed by the continual failure of modern monopoly-capitalism to help the average person.

The world is on fire, most people struggle to provide for themselves and their families, but we are told the economy is booming. The system is the problem.

Trump is not the answer but neither is Biden, IMHO. Harris can beat Trump but she will be more of the same, I fear.

Yes, the world is on fire. Just look around. Climate is changing faster than ever before in human memory -- but we want to ignore it because it would cost money to fix, and we want to keep our money. Okay, we can keep it. Just, when there's no habitable planet left, where will we spend it? We haven't found Vulcan yet, let alone Riley's Pleasure Planet.

The system is what WE want it to be. We have a vote. We have a voice. Politicians who want to be elected must listen to those -- but that only works if WE SPEAK UP.

 

[We Never Know]

Yet you are willing to comment in it while knowing nothing about it.

Oh I'm sorry. I didn't know only asking about a left or a right was inserting myself into the politics of France.

Good thing I didn't ask about any certain politicians. You would have thought I was somehow involved in politics the of France.

 

[Regiomontanus]

Yes, the world is on fire. Just look around. Climate is changing faster than ever before in human memory -- but we want to ignore it because it would cost money to fix, and we want to keep our money. Okay, we can keep it. Just, when there's no habitable planet left, where will we spend it? We haven't found Vulcan yet, let alone Riley's Pleasure Planet.

The system is what WE want it to be. We have a vote. We have a voice. Politicians who want to be elected must listen to those -- but that only works if WE SPEAK UP.

Of course we can't ignore it. That is why I say the system is the problem. Sure Biden is the lesser of two evils but both parties will destroy the biosphere, eventually. Rs faster than Ds.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Stability and direction, eh? Is that when the conservative types deprive everyone else of the liberty to be who they are?

Dosent mean much when the left wing runs the most oppressive and least free regimes in the entire world compares to the right wing.

Keep believing in the fantasy while I look directly at the reality as it stands.

 

[lukethethird]

Well, as a socialist, I am all for universal healthcare. But I think we disagree on 'women's rights' in that what is missing is the consideration for the unborn babies.

If those that are willing to grant special rights to unborn babies cared at all about babies once the are born, we might agree, but until then, we don't.

 

[ChristineM]

Oh I'm sorry. I didn't know only asking about a left or a right was inserting myself into the politics of France.

Good thing I didn't ask about any certain politicians. You would have thought I was somehow involved in politics the of France.

Your comment implied your wish that it was a binary system, nothing can be further from the truth.

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

Dosent mean much when the left wing runs the most oppressive and least free regimes in the entire world compares to the right wing.

Keep believing in the fantasy while I look directly at the reality as it stands.

I live in Canada -- far, far more left than the USA -- and I've been free to marry my partner for 10 years longer than I would have in the United States, and nobody, not even one of our SC justices, is threatening to take it away. No Canadian province is trying to shove gays, drag queens or transsexuals back into their closets. Canada has no law whatever respecting abortion -- a woman is in free to choose for herself how she wishes to manage her own body. And it's paid for by our universal healthcare.

That is our reality. That is liberty.

 

[Twilight Hue]

I live in Canada -- far, far more left than the USA -- and I've been free to marry my partner for 10 years longer than I would have in the United States, and nobody, not even one of our SC justices, is threatening to take it away. No Canadian province is trying to shove gays, drag queens or transsexuals back into their closets. Canada has no law whatever respecting abortion -- a woman is in free to choose for herself how she wishes to manage her own body. And it's paid for by our universal healthcare.

That is our reality. That is liberty.

And your quickly losing it. If you think just abortion alone revolves around freedom, your sadly mistaken.

One example to prove a point....

More than half of Canadians say freedom of speech is under threat, new poll suggests

A new poll suggests a majority of Canadians feel their right to freedom of speech is in danger.

www.ctvnews.ca

There more of course. Shall I list them for you?

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

And your quickly losing it. If you think just abortion alone revolves around freedom, your sadly mistaken.

One example to prove a point....

More than half of Canadians say freedom of speech is under threat, new poll suggests

A new poll suggests a majority of Canadians feel their right to freedom of speech is in danger.

www.ctvnews.ca

There more of course. Shall I list them for you?

What an uninteresting poll. First, you have to decide what "under threat" means. "I can speak freely, but maybe I might not be able to some day?" What would be wrong with a poll asking a direct question, instead of skirting the issue, like: "Are you able to say what you want?" Simple yes/no would tell a story. And it's easy to find polls that say anything you want. Find some actual examples of suppression of free speech. (And that does not include setting up a blockade in the nation's capital for weeks. That does actual harm to people and businesses, and so is not covered by free speech.)

Second, those who think so are mostly conservative, and what's the good of being conservative if threatening to kill someone is considered in bad form, eh?

I live here. I know a lot of people who live here. And I don't know a single one who thinks that their ability to speak freely -- so long as they threaten no one -- is in any way impaired. Hell, have you read any of my texts? Do I sound like I'm afraid to say what I'd like (I've been taken to task for it by MODS enough times!).

 

[Twilight Hue]

What an uninteresting poll. First, you have to decide what "under threat" means. "I can speak freely, but maybe I might not be able to some day?" What would be wrong with a poll asking a direct question, instead of skirting the issue, like: "Are you able to say what you want?" Simple yes/no would tell a story. And it's easy to find polls that say anything you want. Find some actual examples of suppression of free speech. (And that does not include setting up a blockade in the nation's capital for weeks. That does actual harm to people and businesses, and so is not covered by free speech.)

Second, those who think so are mostly conservative, and what's the good of being conservative if threatening to kill someone is considered in bad form, eh?

I live here. I know a lot of people who live here. And I don't know a single one who thinks that their ability to speak freely -- so long as they threaten no one -- is in any way impaired. Hell, have you read any of my texts? Do I sound like I'm afraid to say what I'd like (I've been taken to task for it by MODS enough times!).

I worked in Canada every single day. Mostly in and around the GTA going west to places like Milton, London, and Cambridge.

Even though I live in the states, my cousin is also Canadian , and I can tell you those concerns are real. At least in the areas where I went and worked in.

Not to mention your country has dropped significantly in the freedom index. If that doesn't bother you, that's your choice. However it isn't going to change the facts that a good number of Canadians have the same concerns as we do here in America and that's the loss of freedom and liberty.

 

[Colt]

Stability and direction, eh? Is that when the conservative types deprive everyone else of the liberty to be who they are?

The president of France met his wife when he was 15, she was his 40-year-old schoolteacher! I don't think "conservative" in France is quite like America!

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

I worked in Canada every single day. Mostly in and around the GTA going west to places like Milton, London, and Cambridge.

Even though I live in the states, my cousin is also Canadian , and I can tell you those concerns are real. At least in the areas where I went and worked in.

Not to mention your country has dropped significantly in the freedom index. If that doesn't bother you, that's your choice. However it isn't going to change the facts that a good number of Canadians have the same concerns as we do here in America and that's the loss of freedom and liberty.

Have you ever noticed how many claims you make -- without EVER being specific? What is your cousin afraid to say?

And I told you already, the drop on the "Freedom Index" was significantly because we locked down more during the pandemic. This saved lives, which apparently doesn't matter to many conservatives (you know, the "pro-lifers"). COVID killed 60% fewer Canadians per capita (and prevented a similar percentage of lung transplants and long-term illness) than the United States. We think lives are worth it.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Have you ever noticed how many claims you make -- without EVER being specific? What is your cousin afraid to say?

And I told you already, the drop on the "Freedom Index" was significantly because we locked down more during the pandemic. This saved lives, which apparently doesn't matter to many conservatives (you know, the "pro-lifers"). COVID killed 60% fewer Canadians per capita (and prevented a similar percentage of lung transplants and long-term illness) than the United States. We think lives are worth it.

Its also the fact that it ended up with the Canadian Federal Emergencies Act givin notably expanded police powers that not only allow suppression of protests, but also enables the government to freeze bank accounts of individual protesters. *yikes!*

Remember the Freedom Convoy? The Canadian government took great advantages with that to justify a more authoritarian approach over those who wanted oppressive COVID restrictions to finally end. That I'm sure will undoubtedly be applied with the next major protest that happens in the country in order to crush it.

People are going to jail for speaking their minds under the guise and premise of hate speech , which is obviously a fact now that you can go to prison for in Canada on a basis of what a person says alone, backed by Tristin Hopper who stated that, "Unlike in the U.S., you can go to jail in Canada for saying the wrong thing".

Shall I continue on with the list?

 

[icehorse]

The far right is doing well in Europe, even in the UK, despite a Centre Left resurgence (hopefully). They are selling the migrant problem and people are buying it.

The more the greedy corporations put the squeeze on everyone economically, and they see their governments doing nothing at all to relieve it, they will continue to seek out extreme measures, and to crave the empowerment that the fascist authoritarians promise them. We have seen this aplenty in the past, and we are seeing it again, now. In every country on Earth where the capitalist's greed is squeezing the life out of the people, and corrupting their governments into ineptitude, they are turning to these would-be dictators that promise them violent reforms.

It strikes me that extremism and authoritarianism are on the rise at both ends of the political spectrum.

And indeed, it starts with the fact that we're now living in an oligarchy (more or less), almost all politicians have been corrupted, and so none of our "leaders" are telling us the truth.