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Miss Le Pen is engaged in a major facelift of her party. A change of image towards something more apparently moderate, in order to gobble up the former "Gaullist" party, the UMP, and recuperating leftist themes the better to pick up disenchanted voters of the left. Under the pancake make-up, the FN is historically the enemy of the left, and inspired by hatred of De Gaulle and Gaullism. It belongs to the classic French nationalist xenophobic extreme-right tradition, and its more immediate ancestry is Vichy, in direct line via Daddy Le Pen. Marine is Pétain's grand-daughter.
I used to know a redstar who had a mind and a memory for these things, who wouldn't have been taken in by cosmetic changes. But then, maybe he's just concern-trolling too.
Regarding the evolution of the economic ideas of the Front, over time they have certainly been... dynamic.
At the end of the 1970s, Le Pen refurbished his party's appeal, by breaking away from the anticapitalist heritage of Poujadism. He instead made an unambiguous commitment to popular capitalism, and started espousing an extremely market liberal and antistatist program. Issues included lower taxes, reducing state intervention, and dissolving the bureaucracy. Some scholars have even considered that the FN's 1978 program may be regarded as "Reaganite before Reagan".[133] The party's economic policy shifted from the 1980s to the 1990s from neoliberalism to protectionism.[138] This should be seen within the framework of a changed international environment, from a battle between the Free World and communism, to one between the nationalism and the globalization.[93] During the 1980s, Le Pen complained about the rising number of "social parasites", and called for deregulation, tax cuts, and the phasing-out of the welfare state.[138] As the party gained growing support from the economically vulnerable, it converted towards politics of social welfare and economic protectionism.[138] This was part of its shift away from its former claim of being the "social, popular and national right" to its claim of being "neither right nor left - French!"[139] Increasingly, the party's program became an uneasy amalgam of free market and welfarist policies.[93][140] Under her leadership, Marine Le Pen has been more clear in her support for protectionism, while she has criticised globalism and capitalism for certain industries. She has been characterized as a proponent of letting the government take care of health, education, transportation, banking and energy.[136][140]
The party's economic policy shifted from the 1980s to the 1990s from neoliberalism to protectionism.[138] This should be seen within the framework of a changed international environment, from a battle between the Free World and communism, to one between the nationalism and the globalization.[93] During the 1980s, Le Pen complained about the rising number of "social parasites", and called for deregulation, tax cuts, and the phasing-out of the welfare state.[138] As the party gained growing support from the economically vulnerable, it converted towards politics of social welfare and economic protectionism.[138] This was part of its shift away from its former claim of being the "social, popular and national right" to its claim of being "neither right nor left - French!"[139] Increasingly, the party's program became an uneasy amalgam of free market and welfarist policies.[93][140]
Under her leadership, Marine Le Pen has been more clear in her support for protectionism, while she has criticised globalism and capitalism for certain industries. She has been characterized as a proponent of letting the government take care of health, education, transportation, banking and energy.[136][140]
And as your article rightfully points out, the reactionary policies which cause this to be the case are being pursued by the PS.
And as a sentient person, you think I should ignore that fact but remember what MLP's dad represented and assume she will be the same?
You do see the inconsistencies here? The Hun is always either at your throat or at your feet. Winston Churchill
What is your alternative? The Hun is always either at your throat or at your feet. Winston Churchill
But what is your viable alternative? The Hun is always either at your throat or at your feet. Winston Churchill
And you are right. We have nothing to say to each other, just as you have nothing to offer to real people living in France. The Hun is always either at your throat or at your feet. Winston Churchill
You'll get no help from the Front National. Marine is creating an illusion.
Now, I'm not as scared as some on the left of working with ugly parties against neoliberals. But there is a difference between working with ugly parties after an election and empowering them during one.
- Jake Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.
Show me one though with anything approaching a brain regarding the Euro and the EU, and I will get behind them.
Hint...there simply is no one credible who fits that bill. The Hun is always either at your throat or at your feet. Winston Churchill
No one on the left is saying this outside of academia. The Hun is always either at your throat or at your feet. Winston Churchill
You are saying this is impossible?
And I guarantee you friend, I do have a brain. The Hun is always either at your throat or at your feet. Winston Churchill
Syriza was "not credible" as late as the spring of 2010.
In other words, this should not be acceptable.
Keep in mind the apt phrase "the hun is at your throat or at your feet." The Hun is always either at your throat or at your feet. Winston Churchill
Because the alternative to keeping the Unserious left-wing alternative alive is that the only parties left standing after the Very Serious People drive the country into a ditch are the far-right militias.
It's not particularly rewarding work, but it's important.
I'm not as scared as some on the left of working with ugly parties against neoliberals.
That's my reluctant feeling about Grillo and Farage. All the worry is about Farage contaminating Grillo, but there's not much talk about the possible good influence from the MV5. Farage is for nuke power, and I know the MV5 will never go for that. 'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty
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