Opinion of "leftists" who think Le Pen is the lesser of two evils

[Barnes]

What exactly does Macron have to offer working class voters in France? Not trying to be facetious or anything, genuinely curious.

Seeing as the great achievements of local FN fiefdoms have been:

Banning primary students from having Halal-alternative school meals;

Banning the "Burkini"

And renaming a road "Rue de Brexit"

I cannot wait to see the great workers revolution inspired under the leadership of Marine Le Pen. Like seriously, what are you guys talking about?

[JustinTimeCuber]

Kinda like Clinton vs Trump, as far as my views on the candidates (not saying that Le Pen will win), but that there isn't a great choice but the center to center-right neoliberal is better than an ultra-far-right neofascist.

[Antonio the Sixth]

What exactly does Macron have to offer working class voters in France? Not trying to be facetious or anything, genuinely curious.

Seeing as the great achievements of local FN fiefdoms have been:

Banning primary students from having Halal-alternative school meals;

Banning the "Burkini"

And renaming a road "Rue de Brexit"

I cannot wait to see the great workers revolution inspired under the leadership of Marine Le Pen. Like seriously, what are you guys talking about?

Don't forget putting nativity scenes in the city halls. Muh laïcité!

[Barnes]

What exactly does Macron have to offer working class voters in France? Not trying to be facetious or anything, genuinely curious.

Seeing as the great achievements of local FN fiefdoms have been:

Banning primary students from having Halal-alternative school meals;

Banning the "Burkini"

And renaming a road "Rue de Brexit"

I cannot wait to see the great workers revolution inspired under the leadership of Marine Le Pen. Like seriously, what are you guys talking about?

Don't forget putting nativity scenes in the city halls. Muh laïcité!

Oh of course! The last bulwark of 1905!

[White Trash]

I asked a question about what good things that Macron has to offer the working class, and all I received were answers about how bad Le Pen is. Does this not seem real familiar to y'all?

[Antonio the Sixth]

I asked a question about what good things that Macron has to offer the working class, and all I received were answers about how bad Le Pen is. Does this not seem real familiar to y'all?

Does it not? How did your T***p vote work out again?

[Barnes]

I asked a question about what good things that Macron has to offer the working class, and all I received were answers about how bad Le Pen is. Does this not seem real familiar to y'all?

Yeah, 2002 wasn't great but there you are.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

I asked a question about what good things that Macron has to offer the working class, and all I received were answers about how bad Le Pen is. Does this not seem real familiar to y'all?

Does it not? How did your T***p vote work out again?

"Trump promised".

"Trump wouldn't touch this."

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I don't know, but I am confident that this will not be a fun thread for most of us to read in five years.

Are we going to get any elaboration on this SamSpade style vagueness?

[Crumpets]

I asked a question about what good things that Macron has to offer the working class, and all I received were answers about how bad Le Pen is. Does this not seem real familiar to y'all?

Okay, here's one. Macron will work to make the marketplace for French-made goods and services larger, and ensure that countries like the US will have cheaper access to those goods (of course, if Trump doesn't try to end TTIP, which I don't know if he knows exists). This is in contrast to Marine Le Pen's vague promises of putting French workers first, but which appears to just be some mishmash of import substitution industrialization with an already post-industrial economy, leading to... who knows? But probably not an increase in demand for French goods.

Then there's the issue of immigration. France, like the rest of Europe, has a disproportionately old population - the average age is 41.2, compare to the US at 37.9. In the next two decades, the number of retirees as a percent of the population is going to skyrocket. There are only two ways to make sure that the social safety net remains robust under these circumstances - higher birth rates, or increased immigration. Seeing as France already has one of the highest birth rates in the EU, immigration of young workers is one of the surest ways to make sure there doesn't need to be cuts to the social safety net. Which of the two candidates left seems better poised to make sure immigration can remain as robust as possible, while also keeping security concerns assuaged?

[Antonio the Sixth]

I mean I get why one would vote for Macron to stop Le Pen.

But if all democracy is gonna be is a referendum on the status quo with a candidate promising to protect it and goes about victory by creating blocking coalitions to stop somebody who might change it, what exactly is the point of a democracy? We should be progressing not hanging onto dear life and keeping everything relatively standard while hoping that somebody worse doesnt come along.

That's why I voted for the only candidate who had a coherent alternative to both fascism and status-quo politics. Unfortunately, 94% of French people didn't. That's democracy. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[MAINEiac4434]

Actual leftists, in that they actually care about the poor/working class.

(Offer not valid if you are an ethnic or religious minority)

[PresidentSamTilden]

I guess the left has supported politics of racial hegemony in the past. The democratic parties transition to steadfast defense of slavery in the 1850's attests to that, doesn't it? But I'm not comfortable with it, and I couldn't support a person like that.

I also find it hard to believe that Le Pen is some kind of Socialist lol, but I don't know enough about her to say more than that.

[Phony Moderate]

Just as oppressed as the leftists voting for Macron, obviously.

[Antonio the Sixth]

I mean I get why one would vote for Macron to stop Le Pen.

But if all democracy is gonna be is a referendum on the status quo with a candidate promising to protect it and goes about victory by creating blocking coalitions to stop somebody who might change it, what exactly is the point of a democracy? We should be progressing not hanging onto dear life and keeping everything relatively standard while hoping that somebody worse doesnt come along.

That's why I voted for the only candidate who had a coherent alternative to both fascism and status-quo politics. Unfortunately, 94% of French people didn't. That's democracy. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Wouldn't Melenchon be included in that assessment as well?

Not really. Mélenchon is an old-left hack with little in the way of concrete policies to create a fairer society. His position on the EU is moronic and dangerous, and he's a Putin supporter. The fact that he was the least worst of the "big four" is mostly a testament of how awful French politics are.

[PresidentSamTilden]

Relevant

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpecBkdpiK4

[Torie]

They're a populist sub-sprecies of "leftists" who have a hatred of the elites and the establishment that burns bright enough, that it "trumps" sometimes the value of civil liberties and diversity.

[Intell]

Not much worse than leftists that will vote for Marcon.

Infinitely Better than, left-wingers, that voted for Marcon in the first round, rather than Melenchon or Hamon, especially if these leftists voted for Melenchon or Hamon in the first round.

The only option is Abstenation.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Bad, but BRTD's habit of laying into these sorts of people almost to the point of dehumanization strikes me as pretty unhealthy.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Bad, but BRTD's habit of laying into these sorts of people almost to the point of dehumanization strikes me as pretty unhealthy.

It doesn't help that literally (and you know how I use that word) everything I read from the in regards to it just reeks of neckbeard edgelordism. It reminds me of when Snowstalker said he wanted to vote for Trump to "stick it to the soccer moms".

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Bad, but BRTD's habit of laying into these sorts of people almost to the point of dehumanization strikes me as pretty unhealthy.

It doesn't help that literally (and you know how I use that word) everything I read from the in regards to it just reeks of neckbeard edgelordism. It reminds me of when Snowstalker said he wanted to vote for Trump to "stick it to the soccer moms".

Well, yeah, people who fit into this category who post on the sorts of websites you and I frequent are obviously (for the most part) scum. I'm just not willing to make as harsh a judgment of, say, a seventy-five-year-old retired textile worker from Lille who's kinda susceptible to racist appeals but also kinda pining for the SFIO.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Bad, but BRTD's habit of laying into these sorts of people almost to the point of dehumanization strikes me as pretty unhealthy.

It doesn't help that literally (and you know how I use that word) everything I read from the in regards to it just reeks of neckbeard edgelordism. It reminds me of when Snowstalker said he wanted to vote for Trump to "stick it to the soccer moms".

I can probably guess how you use it, but for seriously, folks, why not use "literally" in its literal sense?

[JA]

HP.

Le Pen's rhetoric has aligned with some left-wing economic interests, but her actual positions will not. Trump also made all sorts of populist promises that echoed the left and we see how that turned out. The FN has a history of rightwing economics and most of those surrounding Le Pen hold such views as well; not to mention she has come out against labor protests not too long ago as well. To believe she will do anything remotely resembling a left wing economic agenda is incredibly naive.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Bad, but BRTD's habit of laying into these sorts of people almost to the point of dehumanization strikes me as pretty unhealthy.

It doesn't help that literally (and you know how I use that word) everything I read from the in regards to it just reeks of neckbeard edgelordism. It reminds me of when Snowstalker said he wanted to vote for Trump to "stick it to the soccer moms".

So your answer is to be just as bad as them?

[Kingpoleon]

I mean, Hitler was left-wing on economic issues. Le Pen obviously isn't Hitler, but just being left-wing on economic issues doesn't mean you're left-wing. This was a strawman argument right-libertarians used to use a lot. It's sad to see some so-called leftists buying into it.

Strasserism was an undoubtedly left wing ideology, and it is a striking case of the horseshoe theory.