This may come as a surprise to some — but while we here at The Hot Screen try to pull no punches when writing about the American political scene, letting loose with fire, brimstone, and assorted burning bon mots as we see fit, we try to practice a little more humility in opining on what’s happening in other countries. The U.S. is where we live and breathe; every other nation is observed at a distance, and it seems better to exercise humility when armed only with imperfect knowledge.
Nevertheless.
The potential ascension of National Front leader Marine Le Pen to the presidency of France fills us with a nausea that a dozen Camus-brand dramamine capsules couldn’t keep at bay. The National Front’s vision for France strikes us as atavistic, racist, anti-Muslim, demagogic, and just plain ugly. Le Pen has worked vigorously to clean up the sordid image of this party founded by her father, and that has long horrified the great majority of the French. Now, in the midst of decades-long economic malaise and fear of terrorist attacks, the party has surged to its highest popularity ever.
The anti-Muslim rhetoric of the National Front is particularly appalling. France has a different model of nationality, citizenship, and the role of religion than the United States — but we don’t know how one can look objectively at the challenges France faces and not conclude that the Muslim community is being scapegoated for a whole raft of problems for which that community can’t rationally be responsible for. No real vision of human rights can countenance blaming an entire populace for the crimes of a very, very few. But, of course, scapegoating is deeply seductive; it frees everyone else from responsibility, and creates a sense of inclusion for those doing the scapegoating.
When Europeans demonize a religious minority, we all need to exercise the deepest skepticism as to motivation and impact on that minority. The idea that France is somehow existentially threatened by a small fraction of its populace says far more about French insecurity than a mysterious outsized power of the minority, and should raise all sorts of alarm bells.
It seems to us that the four major presidential candidates reflect not just France’s, but the western world’s, inability to come to grips with the economic and social challenges of our time. Whether from the right or left side of the spectrum, there is a struggle over how to make the economy work for all; there are various flavors of deals or confrontation with the devil of global capitalism, as well as degrees of embracing or rejecting a vilification of perceived outsiders as a way to remedy or distract from these economic problems.
For us, Jean-Luc Melénchon is the most intriguing of the major candidates, as he seems most committed to addressing the French malaise from a leftward direction: he advocates massive government spending and potentially withdrawal from the European Union if it doesn’t amend its laws to allow things like greater budget deficits for its members. He also seems aware of the environmental barriers to our current economic arrangements, and has spoken of a 100% renewable energy-fueled economy. This piece in The Nation and this one in the New Republic have provided a good introduction to the man and his politics.
We anxiously await Sunday’s vote with a comfort croissant in one hand and a reassuring wedge of brie in the other.
