Front National (FN) & the Rebellious Bourgeois

French see their economic descent with remarkable composure for so long until it comes to the crunch ... 2 years ago the majority majority made their last vote in protest against the antics of Sarkozy and got M. Hollande as their President Now, during the municipal elections in 2014 another change will most likely take place again, this time 180 degree back. 

The Front National (FN) is at best right-extreme! But No Radical-Right! Radical-right is when violence is applied to archive political demands, such as it is happened with this NSU in Germany, - a terrorist-group, which was killing a larger number of foreigners.  Their dealing was even obscenely veiled by the German version of "Homeland-Security"... The EDL in England, with its anti-Semitic paroles can be described as radical-right, but at least they do not kill.



Everybody who begins a recherché about European Right Wing Parties will immediately realize that in recent years a rapid rise of European right-wing parties has become the norm. Some have won elections or even took over full political responsibility (Hungry). And, where they have not (yet) won electorally, far-right parties continue to force mainstream politicians to echo their xenophobic and Euroskeptic rhetoric. If there would be a referendum today about the agreement to the European Constitution, more voters would opt out of the European Union. The signs for future developments are not giving much hope.  And in the case of Germany, the Neo-Nazis are hosting their racist rubbish in Brega, California. There is no change of shutting down their website because these websites are under US jurisdiction and can't be shut because of "freedom of speech"..., despite the fact that some of the people offering hosting are convicted for racial crimes in Hamburg...

The recent success of the "Front National" (FN) in the South of France during a by-election is a result of consistent image building. The FN won 54% in Brignoles, Cote 'azur, Var. Pretending to be the representative of the "vox pupoli faction" with a party leader who acts like a kind "blond angel of revenge for the small people". Since its adoption as Party-leader from her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, his daughter Marine Le Pen is still using Islamophobia, economic crisis and a obvious disinterest  by a wide range of French population with traditional parties like UMP and PS.

The FN does not have by any means a better concept in place. Still, this seems not to matter. Yet. Once they a involed in the parliament and policy making, they will begin with the usual patch-working. And everybody who remembers that the current French president was only elected because out of a profound opposition to his hyper-active predecessor can imagine that this blond Lady is attempting to run for the Presidency. The voter will not care that they will make the goat a gardener. In France this can be a very, very dangerous development! Strangely, for me, living in France as a foreigner and European, I find that the French people in general are the least nationalistic population in Europe!! Even their patriotism is rather naive. My neighbors in the countryside are from all kind of nationalities, like US, Iran, Ireland, UK, Netherlands, you name it, but none of the French people I know have a problem with it! 

So how comes that Le Pen has such success? During the last 3 years Marine Le Pen, the FN as a Party has released itself from ideological ballast. Unlike the UK's UNKIP, the FN is not asking for the "role in the world" the "Grande Nation" has to play. So, nostalgic fashion of a colonial power is not on FN's agenda. Moreover, the former uncritical belief in the "self-healing powers" of so called "Free markets" is off the shelves. And, above all this: Anti-Antisemitism rhetoric, her father blocked himself politically, is a taboo today... 

Thus, the FN does not differ from any other of the European Right-Wing Parties, such as the "True Finns", the "Swiss People's Party", the "Danish People's Party, DF", Austria's "Freedom Party (FPÖ),", Norway's "Progress Party" and Sweden's "Sweden Democrats "- just to mention thus parties which are actively involved in governments.Their program may differ, but not their concepts which are born out of the fear of global cowboy markets. Like everywhere in Europe, except in London, that attacks on the Euro are not forgotten and will not be forgotten till austerity is remaining as the parole of the day. 

The dilemma of the U.S. currency with its debt mountain of 17 trillion, and its money printing machine is simply frightening for many French people who see themselves as being hostage to clueless "Tea-Party" Rebells in their Obama-Bashing. China's economy is not out of the woods and still on shaky grounds: one larger unrest in China can easily paralyze the countries economy once the human-rights-hippies and pundits of Washington's Thank-Tank battalions are complaining about China's way to deal with internal unrests...  It is simply the fact: French people don't like to be bossed around under the mask of a an foggy globalist agenda that only benefits global enterprises. French people don't have anything out of it and want their daily 2 hour lunch break. Anyway, with their former colonies, now called "overseas departments", which are fully integrated into all state affairs, French people can supply themselves without help of S&P, Finch and other "cleverlies". In a way they are much more generous them crude capitalism of profit vultures in the temples of Wallstreet.. 

It is not radical-right to reject the constant threats of ever more humanitarian wars, and the Laurent Fabuis did not made himself a favor to promote publicly that the national air-force should become a air-force for alQaida in Syria. Why should someone be happy about products in supermarket chains, which in turn only pay a small amount of tax in the countries they operate, while they are driving the local producers into bankruptcy. France has its own efficient agriculture, it does not need GM apples and potatoes from remote countries who's quality is at best not verifiable. What concerns many French people is the extinction of socially important professions such as Butchers, bakers, carpenters, and craftsmen, brought to the bring by taxing them to an extent which led many of them to close down their businesses. In France these were over 70.000 per year that went under. But its the small and mid-size business that is by far providing the majority of employment opportunities, not the global player!Before writing about a  "Radical-Right" success and then only to get into personal descriptions  a more relaxed approach would be helpful to understand that like UMP and now PS also the FN will and can not touch the real root France's problems: the unwillingness to kill the "golden calf",  retirement policies and the structures of a "nanny-state". When a opera ballerina goes into retirement in the young age of 40, while a brick-layer must toil hard till he is 63, something is wrong. The minimum wage did not prevent undeclared work but favored it, - and led to an incredibly high youth unemployment. Not even the FN will change this! 

Hollande's PS justice minister, Christiane Taubira is only helping FN to gain more and more ground. There are really problems to be solved, like youth-unemployment, cutting down drastically the state functionary privileges, improving research in technology, especially in terms of renewable forms of energy because the nuclear spoiled population has to get used to raising energy prices, transportation etc, etc. As  Mme Taubira began her campaign for gay marriages first the people did not wanted to hear about it, and as the tohowabou in the medias was getting on their nerves the discussion only unified all Conservative elements, showing UMP walking hand in hand with FN demonstrating against the new laws.  Then the war in Mali, then the thread of war in Syria, while while much more important problems in their own country are burning under the fingernails.

The decapitators of the French Revolution had also with all their gruesome work completely forgotten to draft a new constitution. After 2 years, the nightmare was over then and the Revolution got hijacked by the rest of the European Queens & King & Emperors. So, there is a kind of unconscious solidarity among the population. The recent election results only indicate the impression as if many French people simply did not have overcome (and probably never will) their rebellious youth and simply vote naive.