France General Discussion II: Living under Marxism

[politicus]

Bunin is classified as stateless but did live in Paris when got the price. Beckett was Irish and Gao Chinese.

Obviously not including Beckett and Gao (who had only lived in France for two years when he got it.

Its 14 + Bunin.

Prudhomme, Mistral, Rolland, Anatole France, Bergson, du Gard, Andre Gide, Mauriac, Camus, Perse, Sartre, Simon, Clezio, Modiano.

So:

16th for writer living in France some period of their life (Bunin, Beckett, Gao).

is incorrect, its 17th and nobody counts Beckett as French in any context (or Karl Gjellerup as German for that matter) - so you have a point, but your examples are rubbish.

[Hash]

The glorious right-wing economy minister wants to gut unemployment insurance (this is the same rich moron who said that workers in some plant were 'illiterates'): http://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2014/10/12/macron-relance-le-debat-de-la-reforme-de-l-assurance-chomage_4504807_823448.html

Can this government be any more of a joke?

A shame the "frondeurs" just abstained

Well, if they had voted against and the clown show had lost, then we would be having snap elections which would inevitably result in a cohabitation with the other clown show, the UMP.

[You kip if you want to...]

Flamby at 8% in a hypothetical primary, Valls leads Aubry 38/25. Halfway through the term, that said.

DSK will be reelected.

[windjammer]

The glorious right-wing economy minister wants to gut unemployment insurance (this is the same rich moron who said that workers in some plant were 'illiterates'): http://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2014/10/12/macron-relance-le-debat-de-la-reforme-de-l-assurance-chomage_4504807_823448.html

Can this government be any more of a joke?

A shame the "frondeurs" just abstained

Well, if they had voted against and the clown show had lost, then we would be having snap elections which would inevitably result in a cohabitation with the other clown show, the UMP.

Of course. But I just prefer to be f***** by the right than my own party...

[MaxQue]

In other news, Dupont-Aignan "gaullist" cult party "Debout la République" (Arise the Republic) renamed itself "Debout la France" (Arise the France).

[StateBoiler]

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I remember before the prior election on another board I'm on a very cynical Corsican reviewing the upcoming election. He painted the issue as a fight over the French mafia family and everyone wanting to win something that was going to go downhill anyway. Well, time has proved his point of view right. The other Frenchmen on the board were not near as cynical but all pretty thought the country was ed because they could have Sarkozy who they didn't think much of as president, or Hollande who was a horrible candidate put forth by the Socialists.

So pretty much we have a situation where the true Gaullists are failures and the true Socialists are failures.

[swl]

Must admit I have never read any of his books, have any of you?

All the usual: "Another white, European male" complaints of course.

I don't know the guy, but looking at the list of laureates this complaint is not really honest.

The glorious right-wing economy minister wants to gut unemployment insurance (this is the same rich moron who said that workers in some plant were 'illiterates'): http://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2014/10/12/macron-relance-le-debat-de-la-reforme-de-l-assurance-chomage_4504807_823448.html

Can this government be any more of a joke?

There is no doubt that the unemployment insurance can be improved, but Macron cannot afford to make empty announcements like that without saying what he has in mind. He does not have the trust of his own camp, so it only raises suspicion. He's a typical youngster: he is ambitious and he wants to change everything right now -fair enough-, but he speaks too fast and too much.

The French press talked a lot about the problems of the German economy during the last days. There seems to be a kind of schadenfreude from those who claimed that France should not follow the German model.

Just seeing now that a guy from my home area -Toulouse- won the Nobel in economy, it's going to be a big deal there.

[Antonio the Sixth]

The glorious right-wing economy minister wants to gut unemployment insurance (this is the same rich moron who said that workers in some plant were 'illiterates'): http://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2014/10/12/macron-relance-le-debat-de-la-reforme-de-l-assurance-chomage_4504807_823448.html

Can this government be any more of a joke?

A shame the "frondeurs" just abstained

Well, if they had voted against and the clown show had lost, then we would be having snap elections which would inevitably result in a cohabitation with the other clown show, the UMP.

That could actually be better in some ways.

[Zanas]

The glorious right-wing economy minister wants to gut unemployment insurance (this is the same rich moron who said that workers in some plant were 'illiterates'): http://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2014/10/12/macron-relance-le-debat-de-la-reforme-de-l-assurance-chomage_4504807_823448.html

Can this government be any more of a joke?

A shame the "frondeurs" just abstained

Well, if they had voted against and the clown show had lost, then we would be having snap elections which would inevitably result in a cohabitation with the other clown show, the UMP.

That could actually be better in some ways.

Not in many ways, to be honest.

I haven't read anything by Modiano, just barely had heard his name here and there before.

Macron needs to die. Hollande needs to die. President Larcher ftw.

Am aporetic.

[RogueBeaver]

DSK's former business partner commits suicide in Israel.

[swl]

Funny story of the week: a young FN elected member converted to Islam, explained that he realized he had been wrong about Islam all this time and, and sent a video to other members to explain his choice. He was excluded from the party.

Other sad/amusing story of the week: two French people won a Nobel prize lately. It seems quite good for a country of 60 millions, and one could expect people to be relatively proud of it and to rush to their books. But the literature Nobel prize winner Patrick Modiano is only second among the best book sellers of the week: the best seller is Eric Zemmour, with his book The French suicide. The whole book explains why France is going down the brain because of immigrants, Islam, the US, the EU, women, gays, high finance, artists, etc... "France is dying, France is dead. Our elites . . . spit on her tomb and trample on her smoking corpse."

If you want to understand FN voters, read Zemmour. He is kind of the spokesperson and the intellectual hero of the FN supporters. Obviously I see him as a crazy man projecting its own nevrosis, sick obsessions and suicidal thoughts on others, but many are like him.

[politicus]

... the best seller is Eric Zemmour, with his book The French suicide. The whole book explains why France is going down the brain because of immigrants, Islam, the US, the EU, women, gays, high finance, artists, etc... "France is dying, France is dead. Our elites . . . spit on her tomb and trample on her smoking corpse."

If you want to understand FN voters, read Zemmour. He is kind of the spokesperson and the intellectual hero of the FN supporters. Obviously I see him as a crazy man projecting its own nevrosis, sick obsessions and suicidal thoughts on others, but many are like him.

How does he unite his own background as the son of Algerian (Jewish) immigrants with being anti-immigration. Is it simply that it's only Muslim immigration he perceives as a threat? Or is it the size of immigration he views as problematic?

Also, I thought FN supporters were generally too anti-semitic to have a Jewish hero.

[MaxQue]

I don't want to make a parallel, but a book, a background in contradiction with ideas...., it's creepy.

[swl]

Well it's obviously complicated, but it kind of makes sense when you back to the origins. In Algeria his family was part of the "French-assimilated" community (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pied-Noir). These people supported French ruling of Algeria and were kicked out during the Algerian war of independence. So in general they hate the native Muslim majority. They also sometimes saw themselves as "more French than the French".

On immigration, he sees good and bad immigrants (obviously he's among the good ones).

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Also, I thought FN supporters were generally too anti-semitic to have a Jewish hero.

Contrary to her father, the FN of Marine Le Pen is very careful not to offend Jews, and really focuses on Muslims/Arabs. The enemy of my enemy is my friend kind of thing.

[Hash]

New Ifop poll for 2017:

Panzergirl (FN) 29%
Poison Dwarf (UMP) 26%
Flanby (PS) 14%
Bayrou (MoDem) 13%
Mélenchon (FG) 9%
Duflot (EELV) 3%
NDA (DLR) 3%
Arthaud (LO) 1.5%
Poutou (NPA) 1.5%

Panzergirl (FN) 30%
Juppé (UMP) 28%
Flanby (PS) 13%
Bayrou (MoDem) 10%
Mélenchon (FG) 9%
NDA (DLR) 4%
Duflot (EELV) 3%
Arthaud (LO) 1.5%
Poutou (NPA) 1.5%

Panzergirl (FN) 32%
Juppé (UMP) 32%
Flanby (PS) 15%
Mélenchon (FG) 10%
NDA (DLR) 4%
Duflot (EELV) 4%
Arthaud (LO) 1.5%
Poutou (NPA) 1.5%

Panzergirl (FN) 31%
Fillon (UMP) 18%
Bayrou (MoDem) 16%
Flanby (PS) 14%
Mélenchon (FG) 9%
NDA (DLR) 5%
Duflot (EELV) 4%
Arthaud (LO) 1.5%
Poutou (NPA) 1.5%

Panzergirl (FN) 29%
Poison Dwarf (UMP) 26%
Flanby (PS) 15%
Bayrou (MoDem) 14%
Mélenchon (FG) 9%
NDA (DLR) 4%
Arthaud (LO) 1.5%
Poutou (NPA) 1.5%

Panzergirl (FN) 27%
Poison Dwarf (UMP) 27%
Aubry (PS) 14%
Bayrou (MoDem) 14%
Mélenchon (FG) 9%
NDA (DLR) 3.5%
Duflot (EELV) 3%
Arthaud (LO) 2%
Poutou (NPA) 1.5%

Juppé (UMP) 30%
Panzergirl (FN) 29%
Aubry (PS) 13%
Bayrou (MoDem) 10%
Mélenchon (FG) 9%
NDA (DLR) 4%
Duflot (EELV) 2%
Arthaud (LO) 1.5%
Poutou (NPA) 1.5%

Panzergirl (FN) 27%
Poison Dwarf (UMP) 27%
Oberst-Gruppenführer Valls (PS) 15%
Bayrou (MoDem) 13%
Mélenchon (FG) 8.5%
NDA (DLR) 3%
Duflot (EELV) 3%
Arthaud (LO) 2%
Poutou (NPA) 1.5%

RIP France.

[swl]

It's been exactly 2 years and half that Hollande was elected. To celebrate this 'midterm', he will give tonight a special interview to 4 French citizens selected by TF1 plus 3 journalists. I am not going to watch it, but we will see if he says anything interesting.

[morgieb]

How the f**k is Le Pen winning? Has France gone insane or something?

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

What
The
F**k
Is
Going
On
?!?!

[swl]

How the f**k is Le Pen winning? Has France gone insane or something?

The main reason is that the last two presidents have been failures. But remember that there are two rounds in the presidential election, I still think that any UMP candidate other than Sarkozy would easily win the second round. On the other hand, Sarkozy - Le Pen in the second round would have bad consequences...

And also when things don't work very well, French people like to burn the place. I am surprised by the number of perfectly sane people I know who consider that the French and European political and economic systems have been complete failures, and thus that the best thing to do is to bring down everything and start anew.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

I'm mainly waiting for the inevitable Podemos/Syriza style consumption of both PS and FdG. Something's got to give at this point, right?

BTW did France even get PR in the end? I know EELV demanded it in more optimistic times, but does this mean we'll see a large Fascist presence in the next chamber?

Also the Le Pen duo are having another public spat. Supposedly, Panzergirl wants to change the name of the party for PR, and her father whined about it in an interview. Why are these losers so popular?

How the f**k is Le Pen winning? Has France gone insane or something?

The main reason is that the last two presidents have been failures. But remember that there are two rounds in the presidential election, I still think that any UMP candidate other than Sarkozy would easily win the second round. On the other hand, Sarkozy - Le Pen in the second round would have bad consequences...

Who would win in a Le Pen vs. non-Hollande Socialist match-up?

[Hash]

I'm mainly waiting for the inevitable Podemos/Syriza style consumption of both PS and FdG. Something's got to give at this point, right?

Sorry, but:

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Of course it didn't. Remember that this lousy government's 'political reform' includes reducing the number of regions because REFORM, a late ban on dual office holding which will only come into effect after 2017 and the re-creation of 'departmental councils' to be elected using a silly system (the whole shenanigans with these departmental/general councils have become a total joke, btw). We should all know better than to expect any substantial and good political reform from any French government.

[swl]

Who would win in a Le Pen vs. non-Hollande Socialist match-up?

According to the polls, potential socialist candidates are not faring better than Hollande. Still according to the polls, Hollande would lose to Le Pen in a match-up, but that's not a realistic scenario since he would simply not reach the second round.

[RodPresident]

How did Juppé get so popular?

[Simfan34]

I feel that if there was a time for the PS to split, it was sometime between 2005-2008.

[RodPresident]

Strange that Montebourg wasn't polled as PS, FG or Independent candidate.