Is France a left wing country?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

No and I'm pretty annoyed at how stupid American conservatives believe this.

[Undisguised Sockpuppet]

Yes. An example of why socialism is detrimental.

[MaC]

Yes. An example of why socialism is detrimental.

exactly.  It's a pretty liberal country economically.  Though most of Europe is...

[Undisguised Sockpuppet]

Yes. An example of why socialism is detrimental.

exactly.  It's a pretty liberal country economically.  Though most of Europe is...

Indeed. The euros need to embrace capitalism.. and let in more assimilatable immigrants(african christians, east asians(NOT south asians) and people from latin america) instead of moslems.

[Rob]

Not at all; there are quite a few French fascists.

The majority of French opinion seems to be very nationalistic, and the government pursues policies that could be seen as "right-wing" (i.e. nuclear testing in the South Pacific, bombing of the Rainbow Warrior).

I'm not an expert, obviously, but France would appear to be more xenophobic than anything else.

[Hatman 🍁]

left wing? no
anti american? yes

Americans have to realize the two do not go hand in hand.

[MODU]

They are recovering socialists, so yes.

[Speed of Sound]

no, France is the Soviet Russia of socialism.

[Max]

exactly.  It's a pretty liberal country economically.  Though most of Europe is...

It is more liberal than the US, not liberal at all.

Everything depends on your definition of the political center.

As an American, Europe seems to be very liberal to you.

As an European, the US seems to be very conservative.

And who is right?

[opebo]

No, it is a centrist country overall, but it does have a left-wing, unlike the U.S.

[MaC]

exactly.  It's a pretty liberal country economically.  Though most of Europe is...

It is more liberal than the US, not liberal at all.

Everything depends on your definition of the political center.

As an American, Europe seems to be very liberal to you.

As an European, the US seems to be very conservative.

And who is right?

Considering the hundreds of entitlement programs, welfare and other redistrubtive programs, free services, government run or funded services, and regulations in our country, I am right.  We're too far left, France seems to be even moreso with the health care scenario.

The center would have some regulations, and social programs, but not as much as there is now.

[afleitch]

No it has, at least since the war, been statist.

[minionofmidas]

What the hell is "a left wing country"? The very notion doesn't make sense.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Lewis is o/c right about this. Still there are some remarks here that shouldn't be left unanswered...

Yes. An example of why socialism is detrimental.

You know that France has one of the weakest (and possibly least influential; I think Irish Labour have had a lot of influence in some FG/Lab coalitions, although I'm not entirely sure) mainstream Socialist parties in Western Europe, right? Unless you, stupidly, define Socialism to mean "state control", there is very little that can honestly be described as Socialist in the French equivilent of the Welfare State; it is a fundamentally paternalist system. The only Post-DeGaulle attempt to introduce certain Socialist policies (in the early 1980's) failed rather miserably.
An interesting, if predictable, result of that has been the growth of a much larger radical Left than is seen in a lot of other E.U countries.

exactly.  It's a pretty liberal country economically.  Though most of Europe is...

Taken as a whole, French economic policy cannot, generally, be described as "liberal" under any meaning (European, American, whatever) whatsoever, although successive Governments (of both Left and Right) have tried (and failed) to introduce certain ultra-liberal economic "reforms" on the country, which has always been met by a public backlash of some kind. This pattern has been fairly constant since Chirac's first stint as P.M (or did it start slightly before then?) without many breaks (Mitterand's first few years being the longest exception I guess) several decades ago, and has contributed to the ever-increasing volatility of the French electorate.

[Bono]

What the hell is "a left wing country"? The very notion doesn't make sense.

Indeed. That was the first thing I thought when I read this.

[Gustaf]

Though a dumb question, the answer has to be yes. It's a form of paternalist, state-centred technocratic system that is one of the most despicable that can be found in democratic countries that I would probably term as left-winged.

[Јas]

...
You know that France has one of the weakest (and possibly least influential; I think Irish Labour have had a lot of influence in some FG/Lab coalitions, although I'm not entirely sure) mainstream Socialist parties in Western Europe, right?
...

Quite true. As with just about every coalition government here, the smaller party tends to exercise a much greater influence tahn their numbers may warrant (certainly true regarding the PDs here in recent years). Depends, of course, on the personalities and events at the time.

[John Dibble]

In some ways yes, in some ways no. I think economically they seem to be to the left, though possibly trending rightward in some areas. Socially, they may be a bit conservative if I have a decent understanding of things. Really though this question can't be answered with a simple yes or no.

[MasterJedi]

Mostly yes, as are most countries in Europe.

[Michael Z]

Compared to the neocons, pretty much anyone and everyone is left-wing.

[J. J.]

No, just disgusting.

[Tory]

Compared to the neocons, pretty much anyone and everyone is left-wing.

Actually I think neo-conservative is a decent title for France. Neo-conservatives believe in a hawkish foreign policy and interventionism where it suits their nation's interests, and France most certainly fits that description. Another hallmark of neo-conservatism is that most of its adherents came from the left(hence the term neo), economically and in many cases socially. In fact, many are former Marxists.

So yes France is relatively left wing in some regards, right-wing in others, but the definitions of these terms are debatable and constantly change, as does a nation's policies.

[Bono]

Compared to the neocons, pretty much anyone and everyone is left-wing.

Willaim hit it right on the head.
Neo-conservatism is obviously a left wing ideology, and France fits it very much. In fact, Chirac is a pure neocon.

[Michael Z]

Compared to the neocons, pretty much anyone and everyone is left-wing.

Actually I think neo-conservative is a decent title for France. Neo-conservatives believe in a hawkish foreign policy and interventionism where it suits their nation's interests, and France most certainly fits that description. Another hallmark of neo-conservatism is that most of its adherents came from the left(hence the term neo), economically and in many cases socially. In fact, many are former Marxists.

That's exactly right. Wolfowitz was a Marxist before he became an acolyte of Strauss; and neo-conservatism itself is a direct descendant of Marxism. The main difference is just that, as opposed to Marxists, who believe that the superstructure is a bad thing, the neocons think it's a good thing and that the agents of the Bourgeoisie (I'm paraphrasing, needless to say) should be strengthened, not weakened.

However, that in itself is not to say that neo-conservatism is a left-wing ideology per se, because it doesn't account for their obsession with things like gay marriage or creationism, not to mention their aim to discredit or marginalise the liberal movement (which is the reason neo-conservatism came to being in the first place - it was basically a reaction against liberalism, from people like Strauss and Kristol).

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Well said.

[Serenity Now]

Yes. An example of why socialism is detrimental.

..but to the likes of you socialism is pretty much any government economic intervention, regardless of its extent..