Metastophicleas wrote:
Maybe my understanding of what went on in France is limited, because well, face it, we don't get much news out of France, mostly because France hasn't been relevant in decades (at least since Van Dame did that movie about being in the Legion), but the fact that the people chose the right wing candidate should mean something. Is it possible that the French have seen what will happen to them, should they continue to vote for socialists, and not changing it up every few years or so to keep things balanced?
Well, first of all, Van Damme is Belgian. Just want to amke sure there isn't any confusion.
Second, it's funny the difference between what goes on, and what the media report. Especialy when it's foreign.
In the foreign papers, everyone portays Sarko as the reformist candidate that will put France back into globalisation, open the markets, get tough with the rowdy kids, etc...
What they don't say, is that he was in government for 5 years before this election, at the Interior Ministry, and then in the Finance Ministry. And he did nothing in either of those to suggest he would either deal with rowdy kids, or change France's economy.
Third, the "right" in France is not like the right in other countries. They are not free-market liberals. The French right is interventionnist, believes in a strong state (Gaullism), and believes in prtecting its industries. Sarko did just that when he was Finance Minister. He "rescued national champions", meaning that he used the state to bail out companies that were threatened with being brought by foreign companies. He's currently arguing that the WTO rules should be re-written to be more "fair". He argues that the EU has acted as a "trojan horse" for "ultra-capitalism.
These are not the hallmarks of a free-market reformer. And this is not surprising, because he is not one.
Now, I understand that French politics are a bit special, and that things need to be simplified for a foreign audience. But Sarko is not, and will never be, the "French Thatcher". If anything, he is the "French Berlusconi". Thats the closest comparaison.
He did make me laugh when he said he would push the US on global warming, though. Good luck with that!
As for the whole "nationalistic pride" thing, f
Uck that. We did all that in the 20th Century, it was fun, but now this era is gone. Nations, especially tiny nations like Europeans ones don't mean
Shit anymore. France can't compete with the US, or China, or India, or Brazil. The days of "national pride" are over. We must be Europeans now, and forget about all these patriotic bull
Shit.
And the worse is that Sarko knows this. He's only playing to an old and stupid electorate that somehow still believes that France
could be important on the world stage, if only it wanted to.
It can't. These days are over, and the sooner we all get over it, the better.
So, I'm not impressed by that either.
We'll see what he does, and the crucial test will be unemployment in the suburbs, and the EU. If he can make serious progress on those two topics, I'll congratulate him, and maybe even vote for him.
But I'm not holding my breath.