Why the Harsh Parties Are Competitive in France, U.K., & U.S.

May 5, 2017 by PaulM Posted in Current Events, Politics 1 Comment

FILE PHOTO: Marine Le Pen, French National Front (FN) political party leader and candidate for French 2017 presidential election, attends a political rally in Arcis-sur-Aube, near Troyes, France April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

These complaints are not going away, and in the U.S. the Democratic Party must address the grievances of those who are being run over by economic and social changes driven by powerful interests.

From today’s paper, here’s a NY Times opinion piece by a writer in France.

Why Marine Le Pen is popular in France. 

And here’s another NY Times guest column from today with a broader view of the French political situation and what’s at stake there in the election this weekend.

 

 

One Response to Why the Harsh Parties Are Competitive in France, U.K., & U.S.

  1. Joe Boyle says:

    Remember back in 2009, when the Republicans argued that fiscal stimulus was a bad idea during a recession, urging instead big spending cuts to try to balance the budget in the middle of a downturn? And how frustrating that was, because we all thought everyone understood Keynes, and that the debate over austerity during recessions had been settled in the 1930s? Republicans had been supporting stimulus packages during recessions for decades – maybe not what Democrats would have done, but something that primes the pump. They’d just passed a smallish package in 2008. But then, suddenly, they’re talking like Andrew Mellon.

    I feel the same way about how some people in the Democratic Party are insisting that economic dislocation has nothing to do with the rise of fascism. Once again, I thought we got this settled in the 1930s.