Last week, most of us heard the news: Emmanuel Macron had been re-elected. To most of us, this was not particularly a surprise. After all, the majority of the world’s mainstream media had been labeling the opposite candidate, Marine Le Pen, as “far-right.”
Everything that was simply conservative 20 years ago, has become extremist today, at least according to the media. We do not have a “right” anymore, the press only refers to the right as “far-right.” I have a left hand and a far-right hand. If we are to go by how the mainstream media portrays populist traditional ideas that were held by centrists 20 years ago, we are to think that the left is never wrong and never strays too far.
What was Marine Le Pen’s “far-right” message?
Among other things, the French candidate called to slash VAT, raise wages, renationalize motorways, slash income tax from all workers under 30 years of age, and remove corporation tax for entrepreneurs under 30.
These proposals might explain why Le Pen was not the candidate of “old men,” as the left always likes to claim. Instead, she was the candidate of the French youth. Surprisingly enough, Macron had a lot more support from French citizens over the age of 60, who seem more likely to vote for mainstream candidates. Marine Le Pen polled much better with younger generations. She polled well with younger voters, particularly younger women.
Are these facts surprising considering that France is becoming increasingly unsafe for women? Where women are often harassed on the streets by those who do not share the French culture but still benefit from its system.
The younger generation of French that expressed support for Le Pen seemed to be middle class or working class; those who have found themselves on the wrong side of globalization, immigration, cost of living, and automation. The main concerns for these voters tend to be uncontrolled immigration, insecurity, declining purchasing power, and further down the list, Islamic terrorism.
The left downplays all of this and insists that they must paint a more optimistic picture for the future, because the “far-right” is painting a cynical one, and according to newspapers like The Atlantic, that talking point seems to be garnering too much support and attention.
The Atlantic published an article in which they warn that “The French far right is closer to power now than it has been at any time since World War II.” They continue their argument saying “Marine will get the largest number of votes won by any far-right candidate in the history of the Fifth Republic.”
So how can a few missteps by an incumbent president, or a few adroit moves by his extremist challenger, be enough to put the far right within arm’s reach of winning the highest office in the country?
The answer, I believe, has to do with the power of the relentlessly pessimistic narrative told by the far right—and the failure of the rest of society to counter it with a more optimistic vision of the future.
The Atlantic
Over the course of decades, they claim, corrupt elites have betrayed the country by attempting to replace its native population with more pliable immigrants.
France’s left rightly rejects both conspiracy theories about a “great replacement” and attempts to blame immigrants for the concentrated poverty that does persist in some French suburbs.
The difference lies in who is blamed for these dystopian conditions: The real culprits, according to more progressive pessimists, are the incessant discrimination and racism that define contemporary France.
The Atlantic, continued
The amount of gaslighting in this article is actually very interesting to understand because this is what many liberal and increasingly left-wing voters are reading. Simultaneously, it is good to see how we see the world from completely different lenses; almost as if we are living in parallel realities.
Even though I disagree with their assessment of the meaning of “far-right” and that this is such a scary thing for France (it isn’t), I do agree that most voters are beginning to see the light and consider an alternative which the likes of the Soros family, mainstream news, and the global corporations, are prominently against. If we disregard the shenanigans that might have gone on in Western elections as of late… we could confidently say, that Marine Le Pen, and nationalist candidates like her, are breaking into the mainstream conversation (once again).
The percentage of support keeps rising year to year, despite the gaslighting from the media. We just have to be watchful for trickery and subversion, because it is very clear that there is a belief among the political elite and establishment class, that their way is the only way, and that despite the protestations of the population, they have all the answers, they have the virtue, they know better, and so they must secure their power at all costs.
