2013-10-14

More on the FN Victory

This article comes from a U.S. right-wing viewpoint, but it is a pretty good summation of how the media and political establishment react to anything on the right.

Something Smells Vichy in France
t seems that in the twinkling of an eye, France’s “far right” has become its center, which may throw Europe’s entire political checkerboard off-balance. Time to recalibrate everything. It might even be time to panic.
This article is written humorously, but there is a lot of truth. I don't think the left is as paranoid as he portrays them because if the right were to win power, the social mood induced shift in politics would put a party such as the National Front squarely in the center of the political mainstream. It is today's establishment who will be in the position of the radical outsider. Even today, Hoover wears the stain of the Great Depression, but the coming decline in social mood will be far greater.

The modern triumphalist leftist mindset, despite its arrogant gloating that history is on its side and that their ideological opponents have been forever crumpled up and banished to history’s dumpster, remains comically paranoid that the slightest victory from anything deemed remotely “right-wing” will immediately usher in a Fourth Reich and a sequel of the Holocaust. It might even bring the Hitler mustache back in style overnight.

Therefore, news that the National Front is polling ahead of the pack and winning regional victories led to hysterical op-eds about an “ominous” and “frightening” resurgence of fascists, racists, xenophobes, neo-Nazis, and all the other two-dimensional murderous cartoon goblins that haunt leftist fever dreams.
The establishment ideology is very extreme when looked at across time. It is only over the past 50 or so years that it appears mainstream. Since the establishment holds power (and thus the center), they do not realize their position is so far from the center. The Soviets collapsed rapidly when change swept through Russia, even though Gorbachev tried to begin a reform process. The Chinese communists have changed with the times and maintained power. Today, the elite of the West are moving against the tide, becoming increasingly disconnected from the center.
France is the country that originated the practice of using the terms “left” and “right” to denote political orientations. But by modern standards, its national hero Charles Martel would be a far-right extremist serving time for Islamophobic hate crimes. And people who merely want to keep France, well, somewhat French are demonized as barbarians at the gates rather than the gates’ defenders. That’s a complete inversion of reality. It’s not far right or even far out—it’s completely upside down.
The term "far right" does include some actual far rightists, but it also includes the historic and traditional center. It is because the mainstream today is so far to the left that even centrist ideas appear to be extremely far right. This is why the political process is at risk of great volatility, because when the public demands a return to the center, they cannot tell the difference between the parties on the right. France is lucky to have an established alternative party that has worked its way into the mainstream. In Greece, the public elevated a young party with little experience and ended up with Golden Dawn.

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