What Happened to France’s Left-Wing?

Compare news coverage. Spot media bias. Avoid algorithms. Try Ground News today and get 40% off your subscription by going to ground.news/tldr
The left-wing in France has a long and rich history but these days, it appears that the French politics is focused on the centre and the right. In this video, we're going to take a look at what happened to the French left, its current state, and its future prospects.
🎞 TikTok: / tldrnews
💡 Got a Topic Suggestion? - forms.gle/mahEFmsW1yGTNEYXA
Support TLDR on Patreon: / tldrnews
Donate by PayPal: tldrnews.co.uk/funding
Our mission is to explain news and politics in an impartial, efficient, and accessible way, balancing import and interest while fostering independent thought.
TLDR is a completely independent & privately owned media company that's not afraid to tackle the issues we think are most important. The channel is run by a small group of young people, with us hoping to pass on our enthusiasm for politics to other young people. We are primarily fan sourced with most of our funding coming from donations and ad revenue. No shady corporations, no one telling us what to say. We can't wait to grow further and help more people get informed. Help support us by subscribing, engaging and sharing. Thanks!

[@cgt3704]

It LEFT the political arena

[@Banito13]

Got it

[@xtopia9758]

Duh duh duh chcc 🥁

[@NewsGuyFred]

That’s RIGHT

[@NewsGuyFred]

The LEFT lost because they are not ever RIGHT.

[@alexlehrersh9951]

Nope Macron is left

[@frederickasa98]

French left: someone named François should be president

[@maverick7291]

Or Ahmed

[@soundscape26]

@@maverick7291 Funny when the Brits have a PM called Rishi who is not exactly a leftist.

[@ASocialistTransGirl]

@@maverick7291I don’t think there is or was any prominent french leftists named ahmed

[@ASocialistTransGirl]

@@soundscape26what?

[@maverick7291]

@@ASocialistTransGirl it will be. Give it a few more years.

[@syndrathedarksovereign1609]

French elections are very candidate centric. People vote for the face more than for the party. This means that if your candidate is not popular or is a known crook, they get shit on. Which is what happened with Anne hidalgo and benoit hamon

[@penzorphallos3199]

You say that but nobody likes Anne Hidalgo and she has been mayor of Paris for over 10 years now

[@aesma2522]

Exactly. That's why Mélenchon might have been on the second round in 2022, but he would have been crushed in the second round. He's way too divisive to win the presidency. Marine Le Pen on the other hand had done a lot to soften her image, her issue is rather that of incompetence and lack of work ethic.

[@toyotaprius79]

So, superficial?

[@FairyCRat]

​@@toyotaprius79Yes, and also a product of our culture of centralization

[@yunleung2631]

@@penzorphallos3199she’s done a lot for Paris it seems to make the city more bike friendly. Paris might become the best city in the world again!

[@AMachine2020]

Président Hollande buried it with himself.

[@jean-pascalesparceil9008]

Hollande has the charisma of a live oyster.

[@damienmarion5561]

@@jean-pascalesparceil9008 I prefer the oyster, sorry not sorry

[@TheHugolob]

Kinda but wokism, immigration and stupidity were what it killed it definatly and it wasnt on holland

[@benjaminlamey3591]

yep. but they started to rot away earlier, in my view in the mid of the 80s. when they gave up the poors of the of lands to target the clientelism on the poors of the urban areas only.

[@karimabidi8312]

​@Letsthinkaboutit-mb7nnfor real. Hollande is the best example for a left party winning with a left program just to lose nearly all voters after making right politics

[@edoardoturco8780]

A little notice: Jospin was prime minister under Chirac between 1997 and 2002, and he was de facto Leader of France because, at the time, the socialists had the majority in the chamber of deputies. We can add that time as when socialists were also in power.

[@toi_techno]

Both of my grandfathers had to go to mainland Europe from the Islands to sort out their tendency to fascism I'm afraid the generation below me might have to do this as well

[@edoardoturco8780]

@@toi_techno Wait... The opposite, you mean?

[@AMachine2020]

Don’t forget the time when Chirac was prime minister during Mitterand presidency also… (The first “cohabitation”)

[@edoardoturco8780]

@@AMachine2020 Yes, I wonder why nobody talks about them... Untill 2002, the role of Prime Minister in France was almost equal to the one of the president about the executive powers.

[@FairyCRat]

@@edoardoturco8780 Technically he had more influence on domestic policy, while the president had more influence on foreign policy. That indeed all changed when Chirac made the sneaky move of shortening his own term in order to sync both elections, transforming the office of PM into a presidential puppet.

[@nickd4310]

One could also ask what happened to conservatism in France. Conservatives dominated French politics from de Gaulle to Sarkozy. They ended up with 7% of the vote, squeezed between Macron's neoliberals and Le Pen's far right.

[@michaelhauser8897]

But they are still the biggest group in the Senate and the second strongest party on the regional level.

[@randomhuman2595]

You could say Le Pen is a type of extreme conservative

[@alexlehrersh9951]

Macron isnt neoliberal. What stuff is in the water of your state that you halucinate like this

[@nickd4310]

@@alexlehrersh9951How would you describe him?

[@alexlehrersh9951]

@@nickd4310 A leftist

[@alexanderkowal5710]

I think you should’ve mentioned how the fifth republic was created partly in response to the growth of the communist party

[@toi_techno]

Both of my grandfathers had to go to mainland Europe from the Islands to sort out their tendency to fascism I'm afraid the generation below me might have to do this as well

[@alexanderkowal5710]

@@toi_techno I don't think there's much danger of fascism in Europe, just autocracy

[@Pinkhairedkilla]

French 5th republic was created cuz of the Algerian conflict for independence, the pied noir Generals took power via military coup against the 4th republic who was a parliamentary republic cuz they wanted to secure Algeria and the European population living there

[@alexanderkowal5710]

@@Pinkhairedkilla yeah it was largely due to instability caused by the Algerian war, but the threat posed by the communist party was formative in the designing of the fifth republic

[@georgesdelatour]

The Communist leader Georges Marchais had views on immigration which would today be called Far Right.

[@jochen9367]

I think that the destruction of the French left is ironically a consequence of their success, meaning that after 1945 the French left had managed to get a country that was strictly secular, with a big state-owned companies and a lot of labour rights with strong trade unions. So what else was to be leftist about? In response, most people voted right wing parties. In a sort of unintended balancing

[@maverick7291]

Non stop strikes, over saturation of union control, overflow of immigrants both legal and illegal, destroy french Christian culture. You're correct, the left have accomplished their goals. Pauvre imbeciles.

[@aesma2522]

Good analysis. Despite all the whining from the Left, France still has a very protective social net (too protective, in fact, causing issues), unsustainable spending, open borders, liberal laws regarding women's rights... Even when there are "regressive" laws on the book like a cannabis ban, literally everybody smokes it without any consequence...

[@ASocialistTransGirl]

Have you heard of the paris massacre? THAT is what there was to be leftist about. just an example

[@ASocialistTransGirl]

@@maverick7291The left has destroyed christian culture? Hell yeah!

[@maverick7291]

@@ASocialistTransGirl to be fair, there were a little bit less leftist after the massacre.

[@n0rmal953]

You could say that France is divided between the left/socialists, the center/neoliberals and the far right/conservatives. People think macron’s government is making right wing/conservative decisions, but it’s more of a neo-liberal economic policy than a conservative one. Still can be considered right.

[@AsierEtxeberria]

How is Macron right? He is by far the most pro immigration guy in Europe

[@igorlopes7589]

The "far right" is literally what de Gaulle thought about immigration

[@mariusk5360]

Funny that the left is simply called "left", while anything to the right of the "center" is somehow "far right"

[@igorlopes7589]

@@mariusk5360 Specially since the "far right" is literally what the "normal" right wingers thought in the sixties. And then they say *we* were the ones who radicalized in cultural issues... when our opinions barely changed in half a century (if anything conservatives became more progressive from the sixties to now)

[@SkinnyEMedia]

Macron is right-wing albeit centre-right. Same politically I'd argue or a tad more left than Joe Biden

[@astraydhurion7697]

We have thing common saying in France: " French people have their hearts to the left and their minds to the right".

[@tomboura8951]

Yeah, well, it's mostly people on the right who say that to relieve their guilt...

[@lucaj8131]

@@tomboura8951 What guilt?

[@iparipaitegianiparipaitegi4643]

No. They have their heart to the left, and their WALLET to the right.

[@igorlopes7589]

​@@lucaj8131 They probably think everyone deep down knows the leftist worldview is correct and thus right-wingers are guilty about being so evil. Which is a silly thing to think

[@ImtyazbhaiVohra]

That's why France has most no go zone per capita in Europe

[@aliceg6745]

I'm French and I can tell you one thing. The French are more to the left on social issues but on societal (family ect....) and sovereign issues (immigration, security, justice) the French are conservative and have taken a very right turn for years. It's not a secret. The left has lost some of its voters on societal and sovereign issues because it is too lax and flirts with Islamism. And this is why the left is more and more in the minority. She abandoned the farmers, the workers (who formerly voted left)... The vast majority of the French can no longer stand this. They are very attached to their culture, their traditions, their heritage (churches, cathedrals), their country. This is why the RN is becoming more and more successful. Social program on the left but very right on immigration, justice, security, Islamism. It speaks to the French. And I would add that Marine le Pen and her party are closer to Russia than to Ukraine than is Mélenchon's left.....

[@malogibeaux4946]

how does it flirts with islamism? Also, where do you base your all "They are very attached to their culture, their traditions, their heritage", because I am french and I can't really see it. Also the RN is just a demagogic party used to lying and changing their narrative to get more voters

[@tomboura8951]

Après si les français sont assez aveugles pour croire qu'une grosse bourgeoise qui a grandi dans une famille riche dont l'argent provient de don contentieux va mettre en place des politiques sociétales de gauche, ce peuple là se fourre le doigt dans l'œil. Quand à l'islamisation et autre connerie du genre, c'est pareil. Si certain arrêtaient de s'abreuver des sources d'informations de médias possédés par les plus gros milliardaire français qui dit que la gauche est anti tradition et autre anti connerie, peut-être que ça irait mieux. Force est de constater que ce n'est pas le cas hélas...

[@dreggman429]

Ignore the two morons above me communist like to believe they're some sort of martyr

[@erwannthietart3602]

It didnt abandon the farmers what you one about, the farmers always leaned right because the right in order to gain legitimacy tries to entertain a special relationship with the farmers, but as we can see, like all political parties currently vying fpr power, they just plain sucks

[@erwannthietart3602]

@Urlinks2420 the french are progressive and enlightened who prefers to go back to conservatism instead of stepping too far into unknown territory. We are curious and wary not stupid afterall

[@nemesisg.5348]

As a French citizen leaning on the progressive side of things, I cannot overstate how let down I have been feeling about the Left in France (especially about Ukraine), but I do not wish to vote for a center candidate interested in destroying more state institution or the neo liberal of the Right. In other words; I don't know who to vote for and whoever I choose it will be half a vote.

[@maverick7291]

If you're for having more non french natives living in France vote left. If you don't vote right. There, simplified things for you.

[@nemesisg.5348]

@maverick7291 this is not exactly true, look at what Meloni is doing, the right is not exactly interested in solving the immigration crisis

[@siddharthbector1783]

Ah, the racism.

[@Yumemaru.]

​@@maverick7291if he's not xenophobic, he should vote left. Gotcha.

[@andalilbitqueer]

​@@maverick7291 dumbass

[@mfcq4987]

One of the elements that has done the most harm to the left in France is the evolution of media supports. Left-wing ideas were traditionally supported by 2 factors in France: the trade union organizations of the working world and the public expression of intellectuals. These two factors have disappeared: economic restructuring has completely destructured the working world and social networks have made the expression of intellectuals disappear in favor of "punchline" specialists. Today, there is a real ideological vacuum in France, the positioning of voters is essentially motivated by circumstantial elements (immigration, insecurity, personal economic situation, community identity, personal sensitivity to environmental issues, etc.) which play into the hands demagogic political speeches. And the French left has always had trouble with demagoguery...

[@merlinbreaud7379]

A big aspect to understand the NUPES problematic - among other in French politics - is how balance of power may change radically depending on which election you're talking about. The "big three" situation presented in the video is only accurate when you talk about national elections - both presidential and parliamentary. In European elections, for instance, Melenchon's party really sucks, to the point of being overshadowed among the Left by the Socialists and the Green (it's another subject of bickering in the NUPES btw). And it's radically different at local scale : both the RN, the Macronist or the Melenchonist have very weak local and regional implantations. This is the scale where both the socialist and - especially - the conservative Republican party retain large parts of their former dominance, while the Green recently made a spectacular breakthrough.

[@fsbayer]

This sounds to me like France has a much healthier democracy than the UK. Here, the performance of parties in local elections largely reflects their performance in national ones - which is really weird if you think about it. In a national election, voters should care about things like what these parties say about foreign policy, defence, employment law, pensions, welfare etc. At the local level, they should only really care about what each party is proposing for the local area, not what they are proposing at the national level. If that actually happened, I wouldn't expect such a significant overlap, because I don't see how someone's stance on Ukraine, Palestine, or the pension age would be intrinsically linked with their stance on public transport infrastructure and urban renewal (for example)...

[@jean-pascalesparceil9008]

@@fsbayerAt the large city level, both Green and RN had some success, but a few green mayors applied a dogmatic agenda, and they may not enjoy a second term. The French Greens are less pragmatic and way more leftist than the German ones; popular sayings: "the greens are reds that are noy yet ripe", "the greens are like watermelons, red inside". RN mayors have increased the staff of the municipal police, trying to reduce violent crime, but not much else.

[@nicolasduhaut7331]

@@fsbayer The UK is, at least in England, a 2 party system. People do not care about any program, they are either Labour or Tory. France was like that prior to the 80s but both the Left and Right exploded into multiple parties who each took their share of the voters. TBH the UK would probably benefit from such an explosion

[@ghirahimlefabuleux8984]

​​@@fsbayerIt's more like the national elections are almost entirely carried out by their candidates instead of their parties. So you can have newcomers and untraditional power parties winning a good amount of votes in the presidential and legislative elections. Local elections are more about familiarity and voting for what party you think is better at taking care of the local administration. As a result you get good result for traditional parties in local elections because despite their national mandates being garbage in the 15 years pre-Macron. People seems to think that they are still more competent a running local governments than the newcomers.

[@danliddiard]

The I'm at section is lit!

[@GGNH1234]

Part of the reason is probably that the French Left doesn't have a solution for the migration problem in Europe. In Denmark the Social Dems shifted their immigration policy more to the right and it had without a doubt benefited them in the past elections.

[@tomboura8951]

Maybe because when we don't have a little sense and we stupidly repeat the bullshit of the dominant media we end up convincing ourselves that immigration is a problem?

[@igorlopes7589]

B-b-but if we are not overrun by foreigners that is literally fascism! Anything that avoids them becoming the majority is literally fascism. Wanting to be the majority in your own homeland is the literal definition of fascism! Either you are a multicultural cosmopolitan or you're a fascist, there is no middle ground at all

[@munaali840]

they are against illegal immigration but France being in the EU means people from the EU can live there. They would have to leave the EU to go further to the right of their position

[@Joeshapiro7]

That's because immigrants make up over a 3rd of the people who voted for Jean Luc Melenchon. They wont pivot because they can't

[@igorlopes7589]

@@munaali840 Actually you can be in the EU without being in the Schergen area

[@ikarisforever]

good attempt to try to grasp a very confusing situation. About future ... situation is a bit complex so I won't blame you for your lack of predictions !

[@MrNoobomnenie]

Please, make a video about Belgium. They are having a legislative election this year, and the polls look... interesting, to say the least

[@SSYngvi]

The real interesting thing about Belgium is that it still calls itself a democracy while systematically leaving out the biggest political party out of any government. Which is why the country will split apart sooner or later.

[@pompom8315]

​@@SSYngvi The biggest party is the NVA and it is in the Flemish government. It also used to be in the Federal government until 2018. Anyway, the NVA doesn't have a majority of seats in either parliaments, it's not undemocratic that they don't automatically are a part of government. The centre-left and centre-right parties have more seats combined than the NVA AND a majority. They have agreed on a coalition, there's no reason to let the NVA get in government.

[@SSYngvi]

​@@pompom8315 I was referring to the VB actually, not the NVA. With that being said, it took a long ass time for the NVA to be part of a government in spite of its big results in Flanders since many years. While perfectly legal, the fact that most if not all other parties are ready to do a coalition to exclude the VB (and previously the NVA) says a lot. I don't like the VB but denying any representation to a large part of Flemish electors is the best way to fuel the independentist movement in Flanders.

[@pompom8315]

@@SSYngvi The VB is second in Flanders in the last elections. Third in federal. It's not the biggest party. And yeah, maybe it's not totally democratic because we don't ask people to form the coalition they would want. But as of now, I doubt that Flemish people who vote for centre-right to left-wing parties want the VB in coalition and they represent a majority. VB and NVA are a minority together but they would probably form a coalition if they were a majority. People who vote for VB are not represented much in governement, ok. But what country doesn't have an unrepresented opposition? Want an undemocratic country in the EU? Look at France, government is in minority in parliament and overall population but Macron can still do pretty much whatever he want.

[@HrithikSD4368]

Done✅

[@benkb326]

You forgot to mention that the breakthrough of Emmanuel Macron in 2017 is probably responsible of the downfall of PS. the majority of French people that used to vote for moderate Parties were searching a new leader after being disappointed with hollande. Macron was young, seems to be brilliant and charismatic. Major part of Socialist electors became Macron electors. You can add that Macron won thanks to the Fillon's scandal just weeks before elections.

[@Jobyz-zd4lr]

It's also because left wings prefer to vote for Macron for having immigration, and then telling the opposite and saying why you don't do anything for the climate change. Macron is selling cars, phones,... to all new immigrant coming there. Increasing climate change! But left can't change their ideology and see things practically: "Climate change is more important than equality or ideology".(Or every one is equal, but we all die in a sunny burn and flods) Macron is always using the same technic from Chirac: L:33%, R:33%, ER:33%. You have to let the ER win the second position in first round. So you raise people against fachism, racism, whatever fake situation that may affraid people. Then you are in front of so call "Extrem right"(conservative) on second turn and you win the election. That why he was elected with ony 15% of the people. And two times in a row !

[@Jonas_M_M]

I have seen this title before...

[@cheesebiscuits6323]

7:10 he looks like a Bond villain. And not a fun one.

[@cheesebiscuits6323]

“I’ve been expecting you mister Macron”

[@soundscape26]

Exactly! 😂

[@merlinbreaud7379]

Newspaper call Bardella the "perfect son-in-law" due to his clean and bland style. He's also known for the extreme calculation he puts on communication and public image. I see how this can turn into a James Bond vilain.

[@nicolasduhaut7331]

Fun Fact : Bardella was the boyfriend of Le Pen's niece. He's a nepo baby with little to no political experience but he's part of the Family

[@szoenzsoenmiles62]

​@@nicolasduhaut7331 i like your fun fact but opposition loves to shit on them with genetic bias But omit to say one of their was a drug dealer that claims himself to not have finished his studies so he doesn't know what he's talking about but that's not his fault he's just ignorant, oh also with Mélenchon, Rousseau and Coffin, they agree to be litteral tyrans and not consider oppositions or straight up calls arms against them The "nepo baby" fact falls with that one alone i can cite their saying if you want too Meanwhile to get voted in Mélenchon did an alliance in "NUPES" and wanted to disband it right after being elected, that's called a fraud Now we can mock them for their situations, do association or genetic bias to evilize them even more and discredit them but its easy to not remember what their opposant are either Frankly if the right is so hated and called trash, the left should be called garbage container, if anyone asks why the left is falling, simple, they betrayed their voters and are radicals, stupid, or lying blatantly Just like any politician you'd say, yes, but others don't do moral and impose themselves while being worst or blame others of consequences of which they are the cause, cause its the far right we dont allow to do anything and it is the left that has the overton window and can do things

[@thepax2621]

"NUPES" 😅... That's an unfortunate acronym...

[@juimymary9951]

Why?

[@Apocalypse21OG]

There are just one misspelling away to be called "NIPES"

[@thomastakesatollforthedark2231]

​@@juimymary9951 because they're one letter away from both NUDES and NOPES

[@ladymorwendaebrethil-feani4031]

@@Apocalypse21OG or "NUDES"

[@mikaelsza]

​@@Apocalypse21OGfrench U sounds a little like I

[@jeanchiraq4606]

French leftist, I’d like to add a few things : - Holland’s presidency is considered a shameful one for more or less all leftist voters. He had Macron as his minister of economy. And that’s the reason the center-left is dead, cus everybody understood it’s more center than left. - The médias have been saying that Mélenchon is finished since more than 10 years, and yet his presidential score only grows. - Mélenchon is bad at the EU elections, cus there is much less participation to the elections, especially his voters : the youngs and poors. When the poors don’t vote the socialists are the strongest left party, makes one think … - the same thing happened 5 years ago, Mélenchon did 19.5% at the presidential elections, and at the EU the greens did a much better score than Mélenchon, yet at the next presidentials, Mélenchon was still at 22% and the greens at 4.5% - The NUPES is dead because the small parties only used it to get congressmen. Without the alliance, the communists, socialists and greens would have 0 congressmen and would be more or less dead parties.

[@merlinbreaud7379]

Mélenchon would also do better in European elections if he had a serious European program. Also, relying on voters who don't care about Europe isn't speaking in his favor.

[@frenchprint]

​@@merlinbreaud7379the EU doesn't care about Mélenchon's voters is a better way to phrase it

[@bretonneux3389]

son score a augmenté, mais il est trop vieux. Il ne gagnera pas en 2027, et la FI éclatera quand il se retirera (il aura 81 ans en 2032). De toute façon, la FI s'est construite un "plafond de verre" plus épais et infranchissable encore que celui du RN. Je ne sais pas si ce plafond de verre du RN existe encore, ou si Marine Le Pen veut réellement le pouvoir. Mais je sais que l'ex-NUPES en tant que bloc ne prendra pas le pouvoir à court et moyen terme.

[@alexialang8656]

I fully agree. Hollande betrayed the leftist voters by doing a right wing politic. It's weird that the video doesn't even mention it, relating his failure only to some personal scandal and high unenployment rate.

[@karakarakiri9568]

Young and poors dont vote for melenchon, tho. Migrants and young champagne socialists do. Not even sure melenchon is first for migrants vote, when you see RN vote oversea.

[@ShimobeSama]

Seems like Le Pen's party could also win if the Zemmour faction just combined with them.

[@penzorphallos3199]

They agree on immigration and security policies but Zemmour is a market liberal like the elder Le Pen grandpa

[@gs9140]

no they cant because zemmour is not pro EU and is actually very extremist, Le pen have been working on changing the party and kicking out everyone who would be considered far right, She is closer now to the republicains

[@loganleroy8622]

I know, they completely ignored Zemmour getting 7%.

[@ShimobeSama]

@@loganleroy8622 I think this channel tends to use a lot of subtle reverse psychology. 🤣Glad you noticed that too when he pointed out the graphs. It was almost as if they deliberately set that up so everyone would notice that Le Pen + Zemmour would completely trounce both Macron and the theoretical left-coalition.

[@armygamer1842]

@@ShimobeSama While most of the left in France disagree quite a bit amongst themselves, zemmour and le pen are miles miles apart, on women's rights, abaortion and lgbt rights, le pen is pro choice while zemmour is not.

[@geraldmerkowitz4360]

As a French leftist who doesn't want to vote left I'd say it died around the moment I was born in the early 90s

[@tomboura8951]

From the moment you no longer vote it is certain that the left is not progressing...

[@munaali840]

Glucksmann's father worked for the CIA during their time infiltrating and trying to destroy the French left CIA released 'France: defection of the leftist intellectuals' report. Does his son follow him? I'm suspicious because he pops up in all American colour revolutions like in Georgia and Ukraine supporting the americans when historically the French left wanted to get away from american wars and american military. It seems the french left is dead since infiltration during the cold war and never recovered

[@SomeOne-uh8ox]

Ouais c’est absolument malheureux vu que la France basait son succès sur un éventail politique divers, maintenant on a en gardé quoi ? Une gauche américanisé et dans un cadre plus large la politique française en a souffert de cette américanisation et pour la droite on en garde que l’extrême. La politique française est morte à partir du moment où les gens se laissent trop influencé par les réseaux sociaux et le point de vue américain qui est sans nuance, méchant vs gentil et je trouve ça triste

[@algardaus]

It's too late, France will be subsumed into the foreign sludge the rest of Europe is fading into. Being French will almost be as meaningless as being British very soon. Your country is just a passport and some welfare benefits now.

[@MarcelPichault]

""leftist""

[@GrosPointRouge]

Indeed, there is a significant divide among the French left, mostly related to geopolitics. The Communist party and France Unbound share a similar stance, which involves calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and Ukraine (compromising with Russia), opposing American hegemony, supporting Taiwan's reunification with China, and ending Françafrique. On the other hand, the socialists tend to support Macron's policies, which include offering unconditional support to Israel, possibility of sending French troops to Ukraine, being pro-America, maintaining the status quo in the China-Taiwan relations, and supporting Françafrique. The Greens, however, do not have a clear stance on these issues.

[@tomboura8951]

Wouah un commentaire pertinent !

[@jean-philippebobin3732]

Macron never fully supported Israel or the US, I don't like the guy but you're comment seem misleading.

[@catmonarchist8920]

Not editorialised at all 😂

[@GrosPointRouge]

@@jean-philippebobin3732 Yael Brau-Pivet (president of the national assembly), and her entire group in parliament, vowed unconditional support to Israel and shamed those who did not. She even travelled to Israel to show support, accompanied by the extremist zionist Meyer Habib, while Palestinians were getting bombed. This could not have happened without Macron's approval. As for Macron's attitude towards America, he's one of the most pro-American and Anglophile presidents that France has ever had.

[@jean-philippebobin3732]

@@GrosPointRouge Was he so anglofil when he said Nato was brain dead, when he saided that EU should no follow the US in any war for Taiwan and Saw Xi Jiping, France has stop any weapon livraison to Israël

[@milansnirc9667]

Issue with the ruble transfers..

[@_honestly_7015]

I guess that's what happens when you do things the majority of your country doesn't want

[@davidladjani108]

If that were the main factor Macron wouldn't have been reelected...

[@szoenzsoenmiles62]

​@@davidladjani108"Twice"

[@thomaslequesne5475]

​@@davidladjani108 except very few people actually voted for Macron's programme so there isn't much to be disappointed about in the first place, and the left doesn't have the overwhelming support from the media that carried and still carries Macron.

[@aaronpaul9188]

Every major left wing party unifies to barely beat out RN isnt a sign of strength. It shows how weak the french left is. At their strongest they are between the 2nd and 3rd buggest, and at their weakest utterly irrelevent. Also, Melechon is strongly euroskeptic, moreso than le pen at this point. Meaning that two of the three largest forces in french politics are solidly euroskeptics.

[@erwannthietart3602]

And Lepen ironically chilled alot about Europe by now too like before she was for a Frexit, post Brexit she is simply for reforming the EU, probably into what De Gaulle wouldve wanted aka a union of collaborating but fully sovereign states over our current form. My sole real problem about the far right is that like many other parties they have debts to Russian magnates, NOT a good idea to throw them in power during an invasion

[@sirpaillasson2671]

​@@erwannthietart3602 Not a good idea if you want to fight them. If not, well... Who cares ?

[@miriamweller812]

Always funny that people don't get how elections aren't about which party wins, but if the countr wins. Elections are about YOUR life. And voting for slaveholders = rightists, means that YOU lose.

[@socialistrepublicofvietnam1500]

I spilled my cereal on the floor😢

[@alexandernico8930]

I was in the same live stream as you over a year ago in Living Ironically In Europes stream !

[@socialistrepublicofvietnam1500]

@@alexandernico8930 i have lost count of how many people have recognized me from those streams lmao

[@dragon_nammi]

Damn i hope you can recover from this i know losing a bowl of cereal can be devastating

[@thejollygreendragon8394]

@@dragon_nammi Well if the floor was clean, it shouldn't be so devastating

[@BarryStanton1488]

COMMUNISM TO BLAME!

[@etbadaboum]

You completely omitted that Jospin was PM between 1997 and 2002... 🙄

[@DanteAngeli]

and he retired after being crushed during national elections.

[@tepesobrejac4360]

Could you make a video about Romania's political landscape before the 2024 European and local elections (which will take place on the same date)? A LOT has been happening recently. A grand-alliance between Romania's two largest parties, an ad-hoc alliance of opposition liberals and conservatives and two right-wing populist parties have formed, competing for a victory. An international court-rulling in Romania's favour on a controversial mining project, was allegedly used by the government parties to manipulate the stock market in Toronto and the Bucharest's mayor's office is in shutdown because one of the parties in the previously mentioned grand coalition is blocking the vote on a budget, allegedly to sabotage the incumbent mayor, supported by the previously mentioned liberal-conservative alliance.

[@meneither3834]

For the french left to recover, Mélenchon needs to get out of the picture.

[@732daven]

no chance sadly, even if Mélenchon disappears, he will be replaced by someone else, maybe even worse....since there is a large population that is anti-France, anti-business, pro-islamisation / charia law and expert in victimisation

[@maverick7291]

For the left to recover they need more immigrants. The immigrants won't vote for the right.

[@Spallding75]

For the french left to recover, they need to stop being pro immigration and tolerant towards islamists groups

[@toyotaprius79]

Sounds like the same trick that worked in getting rid of Corbyn for his stance recognising Israel as an Apartheid state, aye?

[@user-tv6or7lm6s]

Why?

[@supersuede91]

Gone, reduced to atoms.

[@tlnhdm3376]

Us French have found out that there policy doesn’t work.

[@a.d.clarke4990]

2:15 didn’t that dude have a ridiculous income tax rate too? 80%? 🤦‍♂️😂

[@vxl]

No one cared about Hollande's "personal scandal" as this is his personnal life. The issue was hi Les right wing policies appointg people such as Valls and Macron.

[@thematthew761]

Hollande just pissed everyone off

[@Rainforestdelight]

Don’t forget about the numerous terrorist’s attacks that happened under his term.

[@matthiasdarrington3271]

@@Rainforestdelight how is that his fault ?

[@Ethan_Fel]

@@Rainforestdelightthere's been more under macron

[@karakarakiri9568]

@@matthiasdarrington3271 Maybe dont let half a millions refugees coming from terrorists fertile grounds come in, in one year. Maybe dont declare the far right as the most important thread to the country and use half the agents that were watching for islamic threads focus on non existent far right threats. Maybe start to deport people that are making public threats for years. Maybe give means and funding to fight say threat instead of destroying police and intelligence further. Maybe dont fucking start a war in the middle east with ISIS when they never focused France or french interests before just to suck american dicks and get a pat on the back from them. Maybe just dont be totaly stupid ! FAFO is all Hollande have done.

[@ArthurVL]

Small correction : Melenchon has never had a favorable position towards Russia. He is for the liberation of Ukraine. But what differentiates him from the others is his anti-war position which means that he does not want France to send weapons to Ukraine. He believes in resolving conflict through dialogue and that is what he is most criticized for.

[@AlexC-ou4ju]

Being for Poland but not standing up to Germany does not make you pro peace it makes you an appeaser. It’s selfish. Peace in our time isn't better than a devastating war once you’ve fed the crocodile.

[@Anonyomus_commenter]

So he’s like Corbyn?

[@AlexC-ou4ju]

@@Anonyomus_commenter yeah he's quite similar to corbyn.More left than labour/socialists, more propped up to some extent by the migrant vote and the younger left wing voters,staunchly opposed western imperialism more willing to accept on non-western imperialism.

[@romin7255]

A good work, thanks. No "baguette" or "bérets", no frog bashing / despise. A rare sight in anglo-saxon culture. Anyway, for a french, Macron's election has been, truly, a revolution. We were in a system not that far from the USA two parties configuration. The PS (centre-left) and LR (centre-right) basically exchanged power at each election (since we always hate our ruler and kick him out after one term !) The absolute collapse of the PS brought down half a century of balance of power in our political arena.

[@mfcq4987]

Macron's election confirmed a trend that had begun with the "austerity turn" of 1983: a part of the left, the socialist party, moved towards the "center-right" from a ideological view, with Jospin who affirmed "my politics is not socialist" in 2001, which cost him his place in the 2nd round, until Hollande's mandate with this prime minister, Valls, who was never a man from the left. Macron has just clarified this development where center-left and center-right in fact share the main political lines (economic and “societal” liberalism, notably embodied in the strong adherence to the economic ideology of the EU). But by creating this strong “centrist” pole, he radicalized the right and left opposition to the liberal politics that he embodies. In truth, the same thing is happening in the USA; with Trump, the right wing is radicalizing and becoming more and more far-right, and Biden embodies a centrist position where the whole issue is whether he will succeed in mobilizing the left wing against Trump or not. ..

[@nickfinan6031]

Paris Commune heads sound off

[@xbirdshorts5075]

👏Socialist👏and👏social-democratic👏are👏not👏to👏be👏used👏interchangeably👏

[@_xeere]

Social-democrat is literally just a type of socialism. The only reason it seems otherwise is because a lot of people with liberal views call themselves social-democrat for some reason.

[@andybrice2711]

Yes. I wish people would make that distinction. Though often, the parties themselves do not.

[@ASocialistTransGirl]

@@_xeere??? Social democracy is a type of liberalism. It believe in free market economics and not worker control of the means of production.

[@ASocialistTransGirl]

Europeans will name their party “The Soviet Communist workers’ party” and then be centre/centre-left, honostly.

[@_xeere]

@@ASocialistTransGirl What do you think the "social" bit stands for? Social democracy is the belief that society aught to be taken towards socialism by democratic means, rather than by revolution as is the belief of Marxists. As I have said, these waters have been muddied by people who are liberals calling themselves social democrats. The issue here is that their definition of social democrat is the same as what liberal means. They are just appropriating the term.

[@geraldcormeraie1009]

The socialist party has a tendency to destroy itself in France since the late 90s. Jospin should have been President after Chirac in 2002 but Chevenement decided to break away from the party, and ran on his own and got 10% of the vote, making Le Pen go for the second round instead of Jospin. Chirac wouldn't have won again Jospin as he was extremely disliked at that time ("super menteur" - "super liar". Then in 2007 they sent Royal who was extremely disliked by a lot of people, making an easy win for Sarkozy. Then in 2012 they sent Hollande. Yes he won but that's because a house fly would have won against Sarkozy after what he did during his presidency. Hollande was the least qualified candidate in the socialist party. Stop me if I'm wrong but he didn't have a people mandate at the time, he was just the leader of the party by default (because of what happened to Strauss Kan). It was a mess. Macron gave the final nail to that coffin when he created his own party (believe it or not Macron was a socialist minister at the time). And now the leader of the left is an anti EU pro Russian far left guy who would leave NATO as soon as he is elected. France is still very left at heart, take all the left wing parties scores, add half of Macron's and you go above 50%. It's just that there is nobody capable enough to emulate a proper party anymore. Le Pen will most likely win in 2017.

[@sidp5381]

I mean, the problem with the whole NATO situation is that it’s future is Unknown even macron himself said Nat is pretty much obsolete. It’s on borrowed time.

[@darth3911]

@@sidp5381Yes and no as if NATO disbands it opens doors for major conflicts.

[@tonysoprano..-]

@@sidp5381 I might've accepted this response pre 2022 but I don't think people feel this way anymore

[@user-uo8gw2li2q]

NATO was created in the Cold War to be a military alliance against the communist bloc, which created the Warsaw Pact. It turns out that since the end of the Soviet Union, NATO has become a relic of the Cold War, and today the only reason the United States has antagonism with Russia is for more cultural than ideological reasons: the generation that is in power, the Baby Boomers, were taught that the USA would fight against the Soviet Union in a Third World War (in an almost prophetic way). The only reason the United States still cares about NATO is because of elderly politicians like Joe Biden (who is almost 80 years old). Americans of younger generations who did not experienced the Cold War see NATO as a waste of time... for them, the United States' attention should be on China, that is, East Asia, especially because the Americans have islands in the Pacific. Some politicians from Biden's generation, like his rival and former president Donald Trump, have already realized this: "NATO is a relic of the Cold War, the United States is not obliged to babysit Europe"

[@alexlehrersh9951]

Finaly someone telling the truth that Macron is left

[@mwittmann68]

Good 🙏🏻

[@KMO325]

Probably should’ve started this with the Fourth Republic to understand the instability of the French Left in the post-WWII.

[@claywolf8878]

6:39 What people have to understand is the falling domination of the two traditional parties (UMP/Republicains and Socialist Party) have only been failing on a national level, it is shown that major left wing and right wing parties, such as La France Insoumise and the National Rally are popular because of the people in charge, at the top, it's the faces that count more than the party, as such when it comes to regional, municipal and departmental elections (and as such the French senate elections), the Socialist and the Republicans continue to dominate because those 2 are parties that are recognised for the party, and not because of one person in charge of it, as such, on these levels where the candidates are less recognisable faces, voters, even those who would vote for LFI or RN (or even Renaissance to a lesser extent) on a national level continue to vote Socialist or Republican on a local level because they trust the candidate more, all you have to do to see that is look at the Senate results (which are based on the results of the local elections). That's why the Parti Socialiste continues to dominate the european elections, people still trust the party, they just don't trust the faces. That's why the traditional parties have yet to crumble in the face of terrible results in the presidential elections and why they will most likely never fade away, continuing to influence french politics on a local level. It's an interesting dynamic that I can't wait to see how it will develop in my country.

[@merlinbreaud7379]

Things on local scale too rely a lot on local figures. Both the republicans and the socialist have plenty of strong local figures, while the big three don't. At European scale, the Macronist are already recognized as a mainstream party and the socialist small advantage is mostly due to circumstances : they picked a good figurehead and Macron is shipping them his center-left voters with a stupid right-drifting communication. In the last European elections, the Green where the leading Left party while socialists had a bad time.

[@user-ry2om8wu5f]

Macron isn't from center, but from right.

[@sans_hw187]

Lol. Macron is neoliberal, he is center-right wing on economical issues (Taxes cut, more power for the rich) but left wing on societal issues (LGBT, immigration, abortion...). Le Pen is left wing on economical issues and right wing (but not far right) on societal issues. Zemmour is right wing on both economical and societal issues.

[@user-ry2om8wu5f]

@@sans_hw187 Bro. Macron is making exactly what the extreme right want him to do. Le Pen is extreme right on both sides. Trying to look like left doesn't make you from left. Zemmour is extreme extreme right.

[@sans_hw187]

@@user-ry2om8wu5f mdr ça se voit que tu ne t’y connais pas. Le programme économique du RN est en effet de gauche, c’est pour ça que le partie est aussi populaire chez les ouvriers. Marine le Pen c’est du socialisme, mais du socialisme seulement pour les Français: du socialisme patriotique. Macron n’est pas de droite, c’est un opportuniste qui fait des beaux discours mais ce n’est que du vent. LFI c’est par contre la gauche ultra extrême.

[@astralp4292]

The three main blocs aren't the left, the center and the right, but rather the left (From a bit of the center-left to the radical left), the right (from what remains of the center-left to the right) and the far-right (from a significant part of former LR voters to the far-right).

[@ekd5213]

It flew away😅

[@rick_sog]

Finally

[@mab9614]

Melenchon himself has made his alliance with the Communists a hard pill to swallow. He constantly traded blows with Roussel. I remember reading a comment on Franceinfo or Le Fiargo, “His(Melenchon) ego is the same as Macron or even worse.”

[@matthiasdarrington3271]

I'd say Roussel is more of a problem than Melenchon. He's consistently been pressing some hard-right speech, which doesn't go too well when you're head of the communist party...

[@astrovisionbroadcastingunion]

Mélenchon at the head of France is, in my opinion, a way bigger threat than Le Pen. Guy wants a new constitution so that he would put whatever he wants in it (= threat for full powers), he has no plans for French people and only seems to focus on welcoming as many immigrants as possible, he has no kind of geopolitics plan, he is pro-anarchy as he's shown in every recent uprisings in the country...

[@radiscalisation6194]

yeah and the real drama is that roussel's ego is almost as enormous, and that is the result of larger parties relying on ego and media-oriented public image rather than ideas, democracy (in its more noble sense) and social struggle. roussel is one of the least communist figures inside his own party, but to be fair, his position is not entirely his fault, the french communist party has a history of not really making the best decisions and not fully letting the workers express themselves (in part, it originated in the cold war and their relationship with moscow).

[@mab9614]

@@radiscalisation6194 Some Frenchmen I know of are already saying that if the left wants to have any chances of succeeding in the next election, Melenchon must leave the political sphere and give spaces to Ruffin. To a foreigner like me, I was also left with an impression that Melenchon holds more animosity toward the PCF and PS than towards Macron…

[@lbgamer6166]

Amazing

[@SirSX3]

It's not Centre vs. Right vs. Left, it's Centre vs. fringe or what Tony Blair described as Open vs. Close. Macron's party is a coalition of centre-left and centre-right lawmakers, not just strictly centrists. The opposition centre-left and centre-right have collapsed because the centre-left and centre-right are generally ok with Macron, so they became part of his coalition. When Macron leaves, his coalition will break apart, and traditional centre-left vs centre-right blocs will return.

[@RealWatch1]

nupes, i know its in french but in english it sounds like dupes/duplication

[@ermin2248]

More like noobs (jk)

[@user-gr3uv7wy9f]

As a french I'd tell you, we live in a special country. Everyone is real life will say they are socialists to look like heroes or be cool in front of the society. Behind closed doors they vote the reverse😅

[@quelquun1849]

We don’t have the choice, you can lose your job or your life if someone know your not a « good social guys ». Mais oui ça met un petit bulletin Z ou Marine dans l’urne. 😎👌🏻

[@DanteAngeli]

being right winged in france is indeed dangerous.

[@cafes5610]

As a non french left winger i can tell that melenchon happened

[@iamothemakhnovist20]

What do you mean?

[@Candycruche]

Great video ! I like how you summarized it, not an easy thing to do... A disagreement on one particular point : regarding the "three blocks" you described at 5:38 it's not "left, center and right" it's "left, right and far-right". Of course some people (especially the far-right) would say that Le Pen is not far-right but right ; although in that framing Melenchon would be far-left and not left. Macron's party originally they were beyond left and right, but as years go by they themselves acknowledge being a right-wing party.

[@LightKnight_Age_Of]

It's ok to call it centrist. He's slightly more right than left, but it's really debatable; to rightist people he looks leftist. We recently got the constitutionalisation of abortion.

[@LightKnight_Age_Of]

.

[@Candycruche]

@@LightKnight_Age_Of and yet that doesnt change anything about the accessibility of abortion processes. On this particular point you could easily point out that the successives cuts in healthcare budget made under macron's governement have led to increasing difficulties in access to abortion, therefore if you consider access to abortion to be a progressive or liberal thing, then macron's government is not so progressive or liberal as it claims to be

[@peter-xw1mu]

Take a look at all the major cities in France and you know why

[@niamhturner1451]

Sadly the UK is trying to follow their footsteps in more cities

[@bunnystrasse]

Muslims

[@herroberbesserwisser7331]

Police brutality and the horrible "Banlieue" Situation in france shows why right wing politics are insanity and why you need left wing politics to help the people. If it weren't for right wing tax cuts and billionaire boot licking the retirenment age would not have been raised. Especially the ecological situation make it a choice between either left wing or death, which is what many people do not get. Looking at french cities makes a need for left wing politics obvious, so i don't get what you mean with it being the reason the left is weak.

[@twentyfivemelody]

@@niamhturner1451 From our vision in France, the UK seems in front of us, we don’t have massive prayers outside and Muslims in our institutions. How are you doing in the UK?

[@TheLastAngryMan01]

@@twentyfivemelodyYou’ve had several terrorist attacks in the past decade, a state of emergency and a warning of more terrorism during the upcoming Paris Olympics.

[@karlbarks2219]

It's a Left falls apart over foreign policy issues episode.

[@philipmilner9638]

Preident Hollande, spent more time with his misstress, than he did trying to run France...

[@SiriusXAim]

The problem is similar to the UK's left. It's too divided. Same reason why the majority of Brits voted for pro EU parties in 2019, but Farage pull out of the race, leaving the Tories unchallanged on the right. Left/remain vote got split, and the biggest minority got to rule.... again.

[@erwannthietart3602]

Tbf in your case, one thing. STOP FIRST PAST THE POST. Its an outdated as hell system that only works with an american system of "2 parties are the only thing that will ever matter"

[@arthurschildgen5522]

Very possible that European politics is shifting permanently, so that the EPP in European Parliament becomes the center, and Macron (and his Renew party in European Parliament) becomes the Centre-Left.

[@Arigator2]

Europe is very far left. The only further left are Communists.

[@Arigator2]

@Letsthinkaboutit-mb7nn he's a neoliberal. There are tons of those in America. They center right on economics and war. They're center left on social issues. Most of the Democrats. They love the alphabet people and want to drop bombs everywhere. Clinton, Obama, Biden.

[@twentyfivemelody]

Macron is right wing and neo liberal but without any vision for the nation like the conservatives have in France (LR). He only seeks to apply EU’s liberal principles, and doesn’t care about the nation.

[@yoroshikuonegaishimasu8649]

Renew party is supposed to be a liberal one

[@Anonyomus_commenter]

It won’t be permanent- political shifts never are. We shifted left as a continent after ww2 but then have been slowly shifting towards the right for a while. The left will be back eventually, just as the far right have done now. The far right will take power, maybe things will work for 5-10 years, maybe they won’t, then things will start to fall apart and the left will point to the state of everything and say “look at how much the establishment has failed”, and as the party least represented in the establishment they will win big.

[@FairyCRat]

French leftist here, we still exist. The socialist list led by Raphaël Glucksmann is currently polling 3rd highest of all French lists for the EU elections, beaten only by Macron's and Le Pen's parties. We do hope to edge out Macron, but that's highly unlikely, and even then, something huge would have to happen in the favor of socdems to let us secure the EU commission leadership. So I'm not really optimistic for the elections.

[@ASocialistTransGirl]

the video talks about the european election polling

[@turtle926]

edge out Macron? 😮

[@FairyCRat]

@@turtle926 or more precisely, the list from his party, which is actually run by Valérie Hayer.

[@iparipaitegianiparipaitegi4643]

The European elections are value less. You’ll see the level of non voters

[@FairyCRat]

@@iparipaitegianiparipaitegi4643 Not our fault if they're clueless. They simply don't understand what the EU really is and does.

[@plokoon4130]

One name and a title of the book: Didier Eribon and Return to Reims. Read it to know great in-depth take on what went wrong with French left over last 50 years.

[@Barbuffetism]

Bro, get a locution coach 🙏

[@mur4s4m3]

I'm French. Imho, NUPES and leader Melenchon were much too "requiring peace in Ukraine" (when it's attacked so basically can only defends itself, so we help). They lost A LOT of credibility due to that. Other left parties have never been significant enough. Also, moderate left to center parties are near inexistant in terms of shares of vote. More votes go to far-right (because French, mostly south-eastern and north-eastern regions, are also quite r***ists, take it from a 37 years-old mixed person that travelled for 6 years all around the country for work)

[@mur4s4m3]

Fillon and Le Pen have ties with Kremlin and RU now put forth and instrumentalize (through informational doings) far-right movements all over Europe to induce nationalism, protectionism, and break countries apart. Look at Germany, Portugal, Slovakia, etc.

[@elishaa2273]

French are the least racist people on planet earth that's 🧢 I have african descent btw

[@chapichapo6800]

1.17: What the word "Ecologie" is doing on the logo of the socialist party of 1981 ??? This type of political alliance start only in 1997 in the government of Lionel Jospin. In 1981 talking about écologie is like talking about living on Mars today !

[@Panure]

2:30 Macron's score should be higher as he won 27,85 % of the votes in the first round in 2022

[@mmarques2736]

The analysis on how Jean-Luc Melenchon (a former member of PS) won so many votes to Benoit Hamon and Anne Hidalgo is rather wek - it was mostly about people reading the polls and switching to the most likely winner on the left, to avoid vote dispersion. Also, Jean-Luc Melenchon did not create Nupes, it started out as a proposal by Anne Hidalgo actually, in an attempt to reproduce the success that the Portuguese left-wing had in late 2015 and 2019 (unfortunately, doesn't seem to work as well in France). I tend to feel that this channel is not very strong in reporting and analysing events from outside the Anglo-Saxonic bubble... Maybe you guys should invite bilingual collaborators, able to read foreign journals, or actively seek to contact journalists or opinion makers from the relevant countries, as you don't seem to be able to manage it on your own...

[@chickenfishhybrid44]

I dont want to be rude about it, but his up and down volume and cadence is pretty annoying.

[@toi_techno]

You don't want to be rude but can't help it Very a**ehole behaviour

[@nvelsen1975]

They got stuck in time. And if you've not come up with any news points since roughly 1970, people are going to ignore your part eventually.

[@lizziemallow]

Correction. The three blocs are the Left, the Neo-Liberal Center-Right, and the Far Right

[@theghosthero6173]

To this day I do not understand Mélanchon's Russia friendly attitude. Is it purely soviet nostalgia? Should be obvious that if his nemesis, Le Pen, goes there to hang out with Putin, maybe they arent on the same page. I feel like it will greatly hurt him going forward. Far right voters dont put as much scrutiny on Russian affiliation as left wings one do.

[@highgrounder5238]

West = imperialism, imperialism = bad and russia is anti-western, therefore russia is good and anti-imperialist

[@mordapl1641]

Its a thing with the far left and far right where they both hate thw west for different reasons so they support the most anti western country

[@penzorphallos3199]

It is because of the "muh america is bad so any opposition is good" except they espoused every woke immigration, trans, antipolice, neosegregationist, esg politics from the US Le pen goes to Russia for actual eurocentric/eurasian politics, and maybe campaign funds

[@diegoyuiop]

Anti-americanism, it's a common feature of the European left

[@ctrlzed5132]

Well according to Melanchon himself, he's model is Mao Zedong (even went as far a dressing up like him for a couple of years) that should tell you something about him loving authoritarian leaders.

[@jakubekch.3621]

Good Politics should have A LOT of small parties (that's a sign of a functioning democracy Ffs)

[@ASocialistTransGirl]

Politics should have no party with more than 3% of seats/votes

[@lif6737]

@@ASocialistTransGirl We should all be our own parties.

[@ASocialistTransGirl]

@@lif6737 Eh nah, kinda defeats the point of a party being that you know what they stand for.

[@warrenschrader7481]

That's what Germany had..... Right up until the Nazis took over.

[@ASocialistTransGirl]

@@warrenschrader7481 fact check: false, there werent that many. Also if youre trying to say that that’s why germany became nazi, then… uh.. that’s really bad

[@glittermarsian5054]

Just imagine if PS voters, among others, had voted for melenchon. May have not have won against macron (or who knows), but imagine how political discoursed would have developed. I would have learned french just to see them debate.

[@antke1472]

That's all right

[@johnjeanb]

Frenchman here. The left has been scuttled by François Hollande (a total lefty ignoramus of the French political spectrum whose only political plan was to do the opposite of what Nicolas Sarkozy did before him) and siphoned by the RN (Marine Le Pen party) who succeded in joining the far right and the far left in the same party. The other RN trick is to avoid leading a Government because that way you stay "immaculate". This was exactly true for her father Jean Marie Le Pen but still rings true for his daughter. Sadly, the French population is aging and has understood that left political views bring nothing. The left's motto: "Donne-moi ta montre, je te donnerai l'heure" (Give me your watch and I'll give you the time) sums it all

[@CesarHILL]

Yeah that motto sounds more like a right wing oriented motto.

[@astrovisionbroadcastingunion]

@Letsthinkaboutit-mb7nn That worked well in all communists regimes in history hasn't it

[@LordDoof]

@@CesarHILL Well it's not quite intended as a compliment to the left is it?

[@CesarHILL]

@@LordDoof you're talking of corruption, not of what the left really is supposed to be. Let's not pretend that the "right" in any country isn't looking to grap all the watches of all the people under the pretense that only some ought to have a watch.

[@LordDoof]

@@CesarHILL Well they both want to do that, modern politics in general is about grabbing all the watches under the pretense of supremacy or 'redistribution'. Maybe the time has come to think past left and right, because neither work in the interests of anyone except themselves.

[@thepax2621]

Wait... So it was alive at some point? 🤔

[@cristianbalan518]

OH YEAH you bet

[@texanplayer7651]

Well they were the ones who introduced the 35 hour work week and who invented paid leave.

[@J10005]

Practically since 1789. Its just been taking a nap after those protests from last year.

[@orphax1925]

why do you think healthcare and education is free here ?

[@ASocialistTransGirl]

Yeah for most of french history post-revolution

[@Bloodysugar]

Greetings from France, and congratulation for such a fair and accurate analysis. For sure the left has to face a lot of ego conflicts and is weakened by its division, but at least since the socialist party is a negligible minority this block is now mainly composed of real lefters. François Ruffin would make a great contestant for an union for the next presidential elections, he surely is one of the most genuine and incorruptible ones, and he is very appreciated for that by left electors but also respected by others. Trouble is everyone wants to be in charge after Mélenchon will go away (and biggest issue is he may not even leave his position), and also Ruffin has some pronunciation issues and is more of an ordinary guy than a charismatic leader. It's stupid to judge on that but French Presidential elections are a lot about appearances seducing the most.

[@MVHiltunen]

This might be a ridiculous analysis, but here goes: French left is tiny, bc it has no popular issues it owns. The public services are run to a reasonable degree by neolibs, and while workers issues and retirement stuff should be theirs, their communication sucks. The major problem for left in France (and Europe generally) is that people *really hate immigration.* Even most ecenomically leftists do. And left politics has yet to come to terms with this fact.

[@RenzeKoper]

Well the thing is that French is by European standards very left wing, so centrists in other countries would be normal left, French left is borderline socialists or even full blown socialists

[@herlandercarvalho]

@@DaveP-uv1ml I was about to ask the same LOL. I'm European, and I don't see that as a standard at all. I'd say the OP is just pulling BS out of their arses...

[@leechaktatotato3355]

​@@DaveP-uv1ml II believe that the European Parliament serves as the best standard because it unifies all national parties into an entity that closely resembles a quasi-federal parliament of Europe. This is one of the reasons why the French Greens and the Centre-left prefer to align with their major party at the European level. According to European standards, the American Democratic Party would be considered centre-right, while the Republican Party would be classified as far-right.

[@Lancelotxxx]

20 years ago maybe, not anymore

[@aleksisiltala8405]

Are you serious?

[@toi_techno]

Any country with some government owned utilities and a level of social welfare is socialist A very right-wing, bigoted, xenophobic state. like Hungary or Russia can have aspects of socialism What we're really talking about here is how tolerant and safe for vulnerable communities a society is

[@tahaymvids1631]

Calling Macron centre 😂

[@niamhturner1451]

ikr, he's some of the worst parts of any leftist

[@ASocialistTransGirl]

@@niamhturner1451No, he’s right wing

[@pomperidus]

Are you a big brain leftist calling him far-right mega-ultra-liberal islamophobe or a big brain right-winger calling him a covert pro-immigration socialist?

[@EM-od6yr]

Left vote totals aren't really that bad; Melenchon had 2 points less than Le Pen in both 2022 and 2017.

[@prasanthalpha]

It all comes down to which Francois you are voting for.

[@AlexC-ou4ju]

I'm French I could see myself voting for LREM or the PS but not for RN or LFI they're both too close to sering the interests of foreign powers instead of those of the French.

[@ctrlzed5132]

Like we often say with my friends, less than a century ago them being this closely tied (and financed) by foreign and enemy powers would have had them executed for treason even in time of peace

[@penzorphallos3199]

As opposed to serving the interests of the unelected EU commission and president?

[@soundscape26]

@@penzorphallos3199 The EU commission and president are elected by the European Parliament, that's how it works.

[@jukahri]

@@penzorphallos3199I'd rather serve the interests of the 'unelected' (as in, not directly elected, still indirectly elected but w/e) EU than the interests of unelected Vladimir Putin.

[@Rosbif06600]

That would be the EU commision that implements policy from the democratically elected EU parliment? ​@@penzorphallos3199

[@kirianvr]

Macron is in no way in the centre. His policies and laws have almost all been very right-leaning sometimes leaning towards the extreme right. Le pen is also not just right-wing, her party always was at the extreme right.

[@732daven]

Macron is neither left nor right..he is a bit of both, dancing to the tune of the latest trends. That's called "le en-meme temps". He is 100% woke though

[@kirianvr]

@@732daven He's introduced almost nothing that is close to be left-wing so far imo. Sure he *talks* a lot to entice people from the left but his actions are definitely not it.

[@ashardalondragnipurake]

thats why frances border is wide open, because hes so far right oh wait

[@kirianvr]

@@ashardalondragnipurake That is called being part of the Schengen area.

[@atomnia]

Oh great, another racist comment

[@henriquebregieira6523]

I’m pretty sure a video like this was made during the campaign for the 2022 presidential election, and in the end Mélenchon was a few votes away from getting into the second turn.

[@hamalakarris577]

why aren't you guys uploading podcasts anymore

[@dws49]

Lmao Macron is NOT a centrist

[@ASocialistTransGirl]

What is he then?

[@Pinkhairedkilla]

​@@ASocialistTransGirl I'd say right wing, Majority of his policies were right wing in nature, apart from abortion legislation, Also he is a hypocrite on the international level, he condemned the coups in mali while supported the coup that happened in Chad and gabon

[@ASocialistTransGirl]

@@Pinkhairedkilla Would it be accurate to say that he is socially centre-left and economically right?

[@Pinkhairedkilla]

@@ASocialistTransGirl Even socially he isn't left, And pension reform are the biggest proof of that, it's hard to put him on a political spectrum really, but his policies were mainly right winged in nature, biggest proof is pension reform and immigration bill that didn't pass and the ban on hijab and also statement on sending troops to Ukraine and making mosque Imams French instead of bringing them from arab countries I'd say he rides the tide, he knows currently French and the rest of Europeans are becoming right so he adopted his politics to the right, he saw what happened when USA supreme Court overruled Raw vs wade so he passed abortion law to the parliament to gain support, His policies are reactionary he simply follows the tide, but mostly he was right

[@Pinkhairedkilla]

@@ASocialistTransGirl nah even socially he was right wing, the biggest proof of that Is his pension reform, I'd say he simply ride the tide, for instance he saw how Europeans public is turning right so made a lot of Right winged policies, like his immigration bill that didn't pass, his hijab policies and also his pension reforms and his Statements on Ukraine, and also Making Imams who preach at mosque French instead of foreigners like right now he simply ride the tide, he was mainly right winged but he did some pretty left things, like his abortion Bill, he saw the outrages from raw vs wade and made sure he make abortion a right for women, he simply rides the tide, but his policies were mainly right winged

[@European-Federation]

You don’t talk about Raphael Glucksman, and the socialist party.

[@ctrlzed5132]

The reason being that right now they don't really matter, we can barely manage to exist between the center/Macron and the far-left/Melanchon

[@BzhToine]

@@ctrlzed5132 As a former partisan and militant (Hamon's tendance), if the PS don't want to become the Modem of the 2050's, it's time to stop wanting to humanise the capitalism but instead to go toward the Economy Sociale et Solidaire. (Of course it's a decades/century long shifting.)

[@radiscalisation6194]

@@ctrlzed5132mélenchon is not far left, he's a social democrat ffs ! far left means revolution, there is none in lfi's program ! stop being brainwashed by the bourgeois owned media ! glucksmann on the other hand is a centrist, he's giving socialism a bad name, but to be fair most socialist party members since the 80's (and even long before) have been doing so too...

[@Read_Heat_]

Weird to portray macron as a centrist when he's doing what sarkozy wanted to do. Hollande also applied a right policy with the help of Macron, who was minister of economy

[@FUCCP123]

le pen is mightier than the sword

[@vincentvegeta6172]

As an acurate british analyst on french politics said, ie Chesterton : "there are 2 left parties in France, one of them being called the right"

[@BzhToine]

As in France we consider liberal economic parties in other countries like USA as two right parties. ^^ But actually Macron is real rightwingm man, he's fully neo lib.

[@sirpaillasson2671]

​@@BzhToine Jamais de la vie. Plus libéral que les autres, c’est sûr, mais incomparable face à des Milei ou des Thatchers (elle est neo-lib, non ?).

[@BzhToine]

@@sirpaillasson2671 Est ce qu'il n'est justement pas dans la même idéologie que Thatchers? La situation politique en France ne lui permet juste pas d'aller aussi loin qu'il veut dans ses réformes, qui sont déjà, massivement antisociales et pro financières. L'objectif idéologique/économique est de rattraper le déficit d'investissement français par rapport à l'Allemagne ou l'Angleterre. Déficit d'investissement dû au fait que la France n'a pas fait tout un tas de ces réformes antisociales/anti services publics qui permettent de transférer de la masse monétaire du public vers le privé et l'économie de marché, telles que celles de Thatchers...

[@ronaldsimpson8890]

And there are two right wings in UK and USA, one is called Labour and the other was Tory but is now reform, in the USA they are Republican and Democrat ,both sides in hock to those with the most money.

[@focusonrevenues]

Did you ever consider the communist and socialists need to not be represented to benefit society? Thank you for sharing this and informing us of global politics.

[@nekilik7886]

Making left wing parties illegal is how you start a civil war.

[@michaelkeaton5394]

7:07 little reminder that this guy shat himself during a presentation when he was in the faculty

[@mwittmann68]

Ad personam

[@Akkkimbo]

As a French, you don't take in consideration the difference of representation of the left and right in France, it's very different from the us, Macron is not a centrist, he's a liberal, which is considered right in France, also Mélenchon isn't friendly to Russia no more, it's more Le Pen which is. Melenchon would more be considered ambigous with China, not Russia. Also, La France Insoumise have described the Hamas attacks as terrorist attacks, literally in every interview... So that's just straight false, you should have searched deeper on that. And it's not the left, the center and the right, but the left, the right and the extreme right. France's conception of the politics is differents from the US, you have to understand that. You don't even consider that the extreme right exists, wereas it's one of the most important blocks in France right now, I don't know if you do that by ideology, but just stick to the facts. And really nobody follows François Ruffin anymore, he's also pretty much out of La France Insoumise in terms of ideology. Also for the European Elections, the new Socialist Party is liberal, pretty close to Macron, explaining the easy votes. And polling are extremely bad and unreliable in France. It's great to talk about French politics worldwide, but you should take the point of view of locals, and from every party, to better understands whats going on.

[@loubertloubert]

How come no party is ever far left to you? any part right of centre is FAR FAR FAR RIGHT and Far left parties are just called left of centre. Its such an annoying game you play.

[@CarlMarxPunk]

Cope

[@ludovicartu4239]

Because there is real far-left parties in France, more left than the one in this video.

[@pz4336]

I think this might be confusing for non-French people, but Mélenchon is extremely good at campaigning and charismatic + has a well-thought and clear agenda. After François Hollande (elected on a left-wing agenda, then governed to the centre-right) he basically saved the left and gave it a new life and new hope. This is why, despite all the controversies and his radical image, he is still dominant. And if he decides to run again in 2027, you can be assured that nobody on the left will be even close to being able to challenge him.

[@diegoyuiop]

Isn't he extremely unpopular among non leftists though?

[@azahel542]

@@diegoyuiop any non left knows he's a lunatic

[@pz4336]

@@diegoyuiop Yes, but that's exactly what I'm saying. It's confusing for non-French people that the left keeps voting for him even though he will (probably) never be elected because he is hated by other voters. But this is the reason why

[@giantWario]

Françcois Hollande, the guy who wanted to tax anyone with over a million euros 75% of their revenue was ''center-right''? Guess we have very different definition of what right and left means.

[@pz4336]

@@giantWario And where is that 75% tax now? Read what I said. He was ELECTED on a left wing platform and GOVERNED on a centre-right wing platform (labour law deregulation, tax cuts for big corporations, etc.). He betrayed his electorate and that's why nobody supported him in the end

[@Kostas-ve3cz]

Same thing in Greece, our left has divided itself into multiple different parties, resulting in internal conflicts. Meanwhile, the official opposition party (the 2nd largest party), has its leader, Alexis Tsipras, resign a few weeks after losing the national election with 17% of the vote, while the majority party got 42%, which resulted into an internal havok, further weakening the left.

[@heinkle1]

Meanwhile the UK moves ever more left 😑

[@mattysav4627]

Hahahaha 13 years of the conservatives and labour not offering a left wing alternative how can you justify such a ridiculous statement?

[@tarrinpun3798]

right wing in france is equivalent to center left in US relatively speaking.

[@Polska08]

Are you dumb?

[@BruneSixtine]

@@Polska08 No he's not. Macron is a former member of the Parti Socialiste, just like most members of his government. He was minister of former socialist president François Hollande in a socialist government. Macron's party, Renaissance, is just the new Parti Socialiste. Marine Le Pen on the right, or far right if you're from the French left, would be on the left side of any member of the American Republican party.

[@Polska08]

@@BruneSixtine You’re delusional. Le Pen is far more extreme than the Republican Party. You’ve been watching to much mainstream media, my friend.

[@rando4065]

Lol, imagine thinking that Biden and Le Pen/Zemmeur are the same

[@sirpaillasson2671]

​@@Polska08How the hell can Le Pen be more extreme than the libertarian/christian/Anti-abortion (or any other thing) republicans ? No, really. In the US, Le Pen could even been considered a communist by some. The only thing she is rightist about is taxes (in a liberal way) and immigration (in a conservative way).