The ability for the French left and right to take new forms outside of the older party structures probably is accelerating this move in a way it'll take longer to play out in the United States, still interesting none the less. Macron's first round electorate was primarily old people, who basically were fine saying "let them eat cake" to screw over slightly younger older voters who haven't retired and entirely foreclose a better future for young people. Macron cannot be called a centrist when his economic policy was to the right of the far right, outside of Zemmour. The press so over stresses cultural issues that it ignores the clear material reasons for these voting patterns.
You’re right that Republicans may not have to steal the election to win. But that won’t stop them, once all three branches are Republican, of setting it up so they never can lose again. That’s what most fascists and authoritarians, from Hitler and Mussolini to Putin, do. They win democratically and then destroy democracy. We have a lot to fear
The US is a nation of immigrants and their descendants. France historically is not. They have had a relatively stable indigenous population and culture for millennia. In recent decades they have had drastic demographic and cultural change, despite the fact that a large majority strongly did not want that and still doesn't. No one should be surprised that there are finally mainstream candidates that reflect this widely-shared preference. That is how democracy is supposed to work.
I think you’re wrong that democracy as we’ve generally understood it is not at stake. Aside from the relentless efforts at disenfranchisement by republicans, the question of who is American is up for grabs. It’s not a question of incompetent government it’s who of us have a say.
The ability for the French left and right to take new forms outside of the older party structures probably is accelerating this move in a way it'll take longer to play out in the United States, still interesting none the less. Macron's first round electorate was primarily old people, who basically were fine saying "let them eat cake" to screw over slightly younger older voters who haven't retired and entirely foreclose a better future for young people. Macron cannot be called a centrist when his economic policy was to the right of the far right, outside of Zemmour. The press so over stresses cultural issues that it ignores the clear material reasons for these voting patterns.
You’re right that Republicans may not have to steal the election to win. But that won’t stop them, once all three branches are Republican, of setting it up so they never can lose again. That’s what most fascists and authoritarians, from Hitler and Mussolini to Putin, do. They win democratically and then destroy democracy. We have a lot to fear
The US is a nation of immigrants and their descendants. France historically is not. They have had a relatively stable indigenous population and culture for millennia. In recent decades they have had drastic demographic and cultural change, despite the fact that a large majority strongly did not want that and still doesn't. No one should be surprised that there are finally mainstream candidates that reflect this widely-shared preference. That is how democracy is supposed to work.
I think you’re wrong that democracy as we’ve generally understood it is not at stake. Aside from the relentless efforts at disenfranchisement by republicans, the question of who is American is up for grabs. It’s not a question of incompetent government it’s who of us have a say.