Why the French are fed up (and what it means for Macron)

The French are miserable. Normally this means defeat for sitting presidents, but Macron is still just about leading in the polls. So what's going on?
00:00 - The French are fed up
01:03 - Has Macron boosted France’s economy?
02:02 - Why are the French so discontent?
02:57 - Why do voters lack confidence in Macron?
03:52 - A deeply divided France
05:32 - Why voters are flocking to political extremes
07:34 - France’s fragmented politics
View all of The Economist’s French election coverage: econ.st/38q0gFj
Sign up to our daily newsletter to keep up to date: econ.st/3x4vdJH
Watch our film about predicting the French election: econ.st/3uf935J
View The Economist’s interactive French presidential election model: econ.st/3r5PA5w
France looks likely to re-elect Emmanuel Macron: econ.st/3v2rF7V
Why France’s president presents a cautionary tale for centrists everywhere: econ.st/3LP9Q2Z
Why Emmanuel Macron’s election lead is tightening: econ.st/3r5Jh1K
How Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is strengthening Macron’s campaign: econ.st/3ucP3Ao
France’s fragmented political society: econ.st/3DMZnCg
Marine Le Pen’s fight for the run-off: econ.st/3uVDgWl
Read our profile of France’s president who is respected but unloved: econ.st/35JsQR8
Money matters take centre-stage in France’s election: econ.st/3r5JPEQ

[@quattrobajeena8623]

It's quite strange that the inclination for younger people to support candidates like Mélenchon wasn't covered

[@drust2831]

He also won in practically every major city and regional capital, often by a large proportion

[@samvingtneuf]

Yeap strange it is ……

[@o_q]

"The Economist is a journal that speaks for British millionaires"

[@TheLily97232]

Extremely yeah. We know where they stadn

[@splentforcer1475]

my mom voted for the extrem left back in her days. I think it is kinda a young thing to vote against the system, to "rebel" in some ways. I believe Melenchon is mostly surfing on that wave.

[@kasiamastroianni6372]

I love The Economist, but after watching the video I am under the impression it’s all over the place and doesn’t really clearly state why the French are fed up. It doesn’t put the current situation in the context of the past. I would like to see a more detailed analysis including comparisons between how was France like under successful presidencies (such as François Mitterand) and now, so we can conclude what has changed. It’s not enough to just say France has a problem with immigration and rising prices (and maybe transportation lines in the heart of the country) and that’s all I have heard in the video.

[@user-km9uq3wo7f]

Read Crépuscule of Juan Branco.

[@horusdu13]

French person here, i'm 25 and i've never known a president whom satisfied the french. We will always be disatisfied. Plus, not all the french are that fed up today, but, french's vocal minority is.. really vocal lol

[@anaisberbel9299]

Oui on oublié de parler de l'emploies de faire des études c'est très compliqué pour un français ou une française et l'éducation public et les hôpitaux publics est du savoir faire français que macron à supprimer pour qu'on soit dépendent des autres pays alors la france veut juste avoir un toit en France tu as vue le nombre sdf avec des enfants dans la rue est cultivée la culture du territoire c'est le pire président de point de vue de citoyenne qui regarde aussi les anciens pour voirs on voit bien que macron et le pire de nôtre histoire le plus gros problème c'est les taxes on nous noie dedans et c'est les plus précaire qui on le plus de taxe au points ou il prend tout d'argent des pauvres et les pauvres peuvent plus aller travailler au sortir faire du sociale on meme mangé c'est difficile on y arrive plus et même avec français sont justes fatigué de voir toujours les mêmes politiciens et peut d'évolution macron nous un insulté sali et méprise les français veulent un président qui respecte nos valeurs la liberté, égalité,fraternité,laïcité mais macron a tout écraser il nous fait souffrir et il nous divisé alors que on doit ce rassembler tout les médias et les politiques dit au français c'est les faute d'un telle ou de l'autres du coup on n'ai tous séparés est on arrive plus ce parler sérieusement les français on marre de la politique actuelle et veulent tout changer et veulent participer et choisir ensemble les lois les règles .

[@michaelutech4786]

I think it should be clear why the French are fed up, it's really no different from most if not all western countries, including the USA and the UK. Our governments are systematically not supporting their people and instead allow entities to milk the people to the extend they can. Covid showed that clearly. How could lock-downs affect the economy and so many mid-size businesses so strongly if they were healthy? Why do so many people live from one pay-check to the next? The far-right benefits from that situation because it's easy to criticise obvious abuse. They will not fix the problems, but they are the only ones who did not yet get a shot at it and their message is reinforcing the outrage many feel and they redirect this outrage to parties even weaker than the average citizen. Traditional western politicians (Macron, Merkel, Obama in recent times) did not really work on fixing the real problems, they just kept going. This is not enough, thus we have people like Nigel Farage, Donald Trump and Le Pen. These idiots will not provide solutions, but they stand for change. I guess at some point, people will prefer any change over more of the same. If politicians like Biden are "our" response to this issue, the idiots will eventually win.

[@AP-jg1sb]

you're lucky to still love The Economist, I envy you. I used to 'love it' when I started my studies, now Ive realised it's unfortunately just a super fancy propaganda outlet that uses brilliant intellectual discourse to spread the ideology of the City of London. It's very biased and partial under its well polished erudite veneer.

[@eitosoul9026]

i was in France during 2007-2013, i always had the impression that there were only a bad candidate and the worse candidate, you had to pick one.

[@jacques6090]

this is an universally correct rule, isn't it ? US, UK, even in communist country, it is the same. :-(

[@GuinessOriginal]

Sounds like the U.S.

[@anaisberbel9299]

Oui la politique de macron et de copier sur les États-Unis ça ce vous beaucoup et de plus oui les français ce plaigne toujours mais si tu regardes les années tu voit que c'est toujours de la politique qu'il ce plaignent et on as raison on veut faire comprendre à chaque candidat qui passe que c'est le peuple qui décide et non l'inverse et sa commence la nouvelle génération et plus divisé mais on as tous un point commun que la Français ne soit pas des misérables en France on s'exprime beaucoup parce que c'est nôtre devoir et nôtre pouvoir de s'exprimer est dire ce que l'on veut même si ça blesse on n'aime pas ce faire diriger est sa sera toujours comme ça parce que c'est dans nôtre culture de dire stop trop c'est trop on pourrait nous voir comme des personnes qui ce plaigne mes c'est nôtre façon de nous faire entendre et de pouvoir peut-être un jour un politien pourras nous écouter mais surtout les appliquer pour l'instant aucun politien d'année en année ne mette pas en pratique ce que les citoyens veulent et nous on gueule tant que ils ne le feront pas c'est un peut amusant parce que a chaque fois les politiens pense qu'il on tout gagné mes on fait bien comprendre en manifeste en disent qu'on ait la toujours présent et qu'on va pas ce laisser faire.

[@occulte2501]

There will be a coup if he gets reelected, I won't say too much.

[@martinjenkins6467]

It's the same here in Australia. Western leadership has become A joke. Boris the Buffon is ruining The Tory party in the UK. Canada has the prince of Wokeness Justin Trudeau. The USA has the greatest embarassment that senile Old fool Joe Biden.

[@rahanm7307]

The french being angy with their leaders is like the least surprising thing i heard in my life

[@ennediend2865]

Fully agreed👍

[@rohanz9007]

@@ennediend2865 he really is the worst we had in the fifth republic tho

[@splentforcer1475]

@@rohanz9007 I thought the same was said regarding Holland?

[@rohanz9007]

@@splentforcer1475 Hollande was (according to some poll 8 years ago) the most unpopular president of the 5th, which is different from being the objectively worst. And I can tell you that it isn't the case anymore, the dislike people had for him isn't comparable in any way to the amount of hatred people have for macron right now. Macron did more damage to the country than Hollande even tho it's close. But where you are right is that Hollande is the one who introduced macron and who allowed his laws and his political ideas. He gave birth to Macron in a way, he began what Macron does today.

[@necromorph1109]

They want the migrants out. Islamic extremism has come to France.

[@fortune_roses]

" Collapsing like a *soufflé* " made me giggle

[@exnihilo415]

There should be a term for these kind of emblematic similes. Anyone?

[@potapotapotapotapotapota]

@@exnihilo415 Meal metaphors

[@exnihilo415]

@@potapotapotapotapotapota I was hoping for something more grandiloquent than that.

[@potapotapotapotapotapota]

@@exnihilo415 hmm how about Degustation Devices

[@exnihilo415]

@@potapotapotapotapotapota I don't mean just food. Collapsing like a soufflé is clearly more interesting and emblematic in context because the soufflé itself is French. That's what I mean.

[@finze1]

There is an air of presumptuousness about Macron's victory across the media, as there was before Brexit, as there was before Trump.

[@iliyashapirov7720]

I think that it's important to consider that since 2016, the election models have improved significantly. Of course this doesn't at all mean Macron is guaranteed a win, in fact I wouldn't be surprised either way this election goes

[@louisdesp]

Yes, there is many trump alike possibilities...

[@braxxian]

The MSM are corrupt to the core. They are a primary reason people feel so pessimistic these days. Their non stop hysteria over anything and everything trying to drum up endless headlines wears on peoples nerves and tolerance.

[@fredfreddy8684]

Let's hope the French don't do anything dumb like vote for the National Front.

[@Embassy_of_Jupiter]

Don't worry I'm sure the media and social media can quash any and all dissent

[@butcherchip6868]

This is an insult to what is actually happening and why most people are fed up with the current state of the country.

[@claudebagarry2734]

It is a Fraud Macron should not be president again asked to MCKINSEY, yellow vest , people who loose their job because unvax

[@uwu-fm2kj]

care to explain what you think the issue is?

[@CrannTV]

@@uwu-fm2kj high immigration. Paris is in a disgusting shape.

[@siphonight8385]

@@uwu-fm2kj Lies about masks in the pandemic (how the government said "they are not needed" when they where...), the decrease in unemployment is a lie, they've mistook unemployment and "chômage", a state of unemployment where you can receive government financial help. But the conditions of access to it have changed, so that less people can have it, and the economics just thought that it was the global unemployment. There are plenty of sketchy cases like Banhala, the lost 500K worth of assets from the presidents financial declarations, the payments he made to McKinsey for their worthless advices when the government agencies can do the job for free, and the fact that McKinsey haven't paid any french taxes for 10 years (the financial inspection suspects that the government and McKinsey made an agreement on that one actually), his insults against unvaccinated and poor people... Macron is in fact the worst when it comes to "care about people". And the rich ones have gained a lot since he's in charge.

[@uwu-fm2kj]

@@CrannTV they already talked about this. Also i dont think paris is "in disgusting shape" atleast not when i was there not that long ago, care to elabore? are you french?

[@Lugermorph1497]

I feel like this video and these comments don't reflect what's actually going on in france

[@dorianka60]

If you can see it you too... i think it's the prouf that yesterday France died...

[@KA-rp5uh]

@@dorianka60 you should give up communism. Its a waste of time.

[@fauxnom9384]

@@dorianka60 Le petit collabo.

[@nicolaspicard1501]

not at all of course, it's the economist.. What would you expect lol its only puprose is to lure people, to feed smooth lies

[@pauldingkuhn1073]

It's insulting how this video simplifies the French political landscape. Especially at 5:36. So it's Macron vs populism, and people who don't support the former are uneducated grumpy people from rural areas? FYI, the candidate who got the most votes in Ile de France is the "populist" Mélanchon. Take a look at his programme and the sociology of his electorate before you call him that.

[@backintimealwyn5736]

and so 53 % of french people have a "nostalgic view of their country" ... if it's 53% , it means it is present. I can't stand those globalists, they decide to destroy a culture, without consulting with the people who are this culture, they think they can decide what's in the past, it's like some sort of death penalty.

[@adoscz9812]

Yes he is. He talks populist nonsense that could never work . Basically every leftist, their policies are meant to help poor, but they make them poorer and everyone else aswell .

[@hayleylongster4698]

Newsflash: Populism is not a solely right-wing phenomenon. And that's what's wrong with the world. To be 'populist' is now to be 'right-wing', and to be 'right-wing' is to be 'parochial, small-minded, bigoted'. These words and phrases now mean nothing.

[@Arcaryon]

​@@hayleylongster4698 Do you even pay attention to the details of French politics? Marine le Pen promises the world but what does she realistically offer? Very little. Same with the far-left populist candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Not that all they represent is bad, of course, it's far more complex than that, it's just that what both of them want is downright insane internationally and economically alike because essentially, what they say is "we will fix everything" and point to well-established problems. Macron is not the ideal candidate, it just happens that his two major opponents are worse when you actually make the detailed comparison. He is also popular with the international press due to having the overall sanest international long-term goals which is a very big factor in foreign correspondence. It's not that his opponents don't have their moments but with positions like "Domestic policies proposed by Mélenchon include a 100% income tax on earnings over €360,000 a year, full state reimbursement for health care costs" ( Mélenchon ) or Marine le Pens extreme closeness to Russia, they simply are not going to gain any support by moderate observers. Again, I really want to stress that, not all that they propose is bad and often, their criticism is justified but overall, what they propose lacks realism. Macron's internal positions are often fairly "brutal" but they are far less unrealistic or strategically nonsensical than what his proponents propose overall.

[@legrandduca687]

He's a disgusting communist who has been in politics for 40 years yet changed nothing. He would clearly be nothing but a corrupt marxist authoritarian

[@marielasserre2218]

In France lots of people are calling Marcon "the president of the rich". Lots of his actions are seen as gifts for the riches part of the population (ex suppression of solidarity taxes) followed by reduction of social services because they are now too expensive. During his term he also made a lot of humiliating comments toward the lowest income people

[@willrichardson519]

Class war from the "radical" "centre"?

[@timwhitford6855]

We have the same problems here in th UK with Boris and his Toffs. People will always want more regardless of where you are.

[@xxxmxxwm1564]

But at least he is anti-Russian. Other candidates are pro-Russian which is absolutely concerning.

[@ewanlaux4591]

Your last sentence can be summed up by his quote about people we see in the Gare du Nord (Paris’s biggest railway station): "Here we see those that have succeeded, and those that are nothing"

[@ev.c6]

I’m sure Le Pen will be much better if elected. Just like Brexit was for England. The sheer absurdity of stating “France is in decline” shows how ignorant people are.

[@bgraham1958]

Everyone neglects to mention Macron's condescending attitude toward huge portions of the French population. He has made innumerable statements saying that certain French people "'are nothing" or that the unvaccinated are "not citizens." The traditional attitude in French politics has been that the president is the leader of ALL French people, not only of those who share his views. To understand the arrogance of these young technocrats around Macron, one must understand the Ecole nationale d'administration (ENA) from which most top level bureaucrats and politicians come (including Macron and many of his closest aides). Outside of Paris (in what has been dubbed "La France périphérique") Macron has relatively little political support evidenced by his party's terrible showing in every election since Macron was elected nearly five years ago.

[@engineeringvision9507]

The same attitude the remain campaign had towards working class people in Britain. They doubled down on it too!

[@user-fb9sm7nn2x]

Et la phrase sur les fainéants, et la phrase sur "je vous trouve un emploi en traversant la rue", le "qu'ils viennent me chercher", toutes les affaires douteuses autour de lui ( benalla, alstom, mckinsey, ), ses clowns de ministres, le délire du ruissellement et du premier de cordée etc

[@nalalin8835]

he's an investment banker.

[@franzderpinand2715]

@@engineeringvision9507 and the same attitude the rich brexiteers had lying to the working class and treating them like dogshit. Couldn't make this stuff up brexiteers literally took from the working class a system that was benefitting them in this country. But go on about remainers condescending them

[@ryankirwan925]

@@franzderpinand2715 the working class people voted for brexit because the E.U have destroyed Europe with open borders especially working class areas.

[@terryhollands2794]

Hats off to the French. They really know how to expres their grievances.

[@danielma179]

like a souffle

[@braxxian]

Yes, but then they will turn around and vote back in the joker they have been protesting against the last few years. Courage and cowardice in equal measure.

[@playerpaul5509]

Iam french,je suis français j'habite à lyon

[@2_mutch]

They know how to throw royal families out aswell to be fair to them

[@milas2000]

They should learn how to express positive, constructive ideas and to be grateful for the great lives they have in comparison to others.

[@DJSouthFlorida]

As a French individual you only cover 5 percent of what is truly happening in France 🇫🇷 and it’s obvious who you are bias for. The data shows 55+ people will turnout big for Macron but the other age categories will mostly support Le Pen and that’s not my words we have the poll numbers to back that claim.

[@esmirkucevic9001]

When I was in France in 2019, I spoke to some younger people and a lot of them expressed anger and even sympathy for the far right. I'm not surprised cause there's a huge political vacuum in France since the establishment parties are pretty much dead. I don't get agree with the people supporting the far right but I think we have to listen and try to understand why they're angry. Don't make the same mistake we made here in America

[@guyandre4946]

@Amun Ra, The “data” shows that 55+ are more likely to go and vote than the younger population who are mostly fed up and disenchanted by politicians, and won’t bother to go to the “urns” “parceque ça sert à rien”. The over 55 are not necessarily voting Macron, to the contrary. There is a difference between wishful thinking and reality on the day.

[@JinMeowsoon]

@@esmirkucevic9001 The core issue is that France is deeply corrupted. French people pay the most tax in the world, and yet we still “spend too much money on social aids”. Fast forwards to the monthly embezzlement scandals commited by politicians who get at best a slap on the wrist. We were taught the revolutions in school, that we can take freedom and equality if we fight for it. But frankly our ancestors were manipulated by bourgeois to switch the political environment. Everytime the people fought for themselves the revolts were extinguished. It’s still pretty much a nobility regime in the sense the country is ran on the shadow by ultra rich families, and Macron has been acting as if he were an actual King (he’s nicknamed Jupiter the 1st here). He call lower classes “those who are nothing” and doesn’t even respect the Parliaments, he actively prevented them from doing their job for 5 years. He gave millions of tax money to his friends for shady services. He managed to unite all parties against him. The issue is right now is we have a choice between the plague or the cholera…

[@marcsole4261]

55+ people are mainly the workers that vote for Macron all others that is majority of Frenchs are lazy, assisted people with free medical care, free dwellings and money. France is going to bank corruptly 85 Billion of deficit. For Lepen and Zemour foreigners are taking the jobs or assisted people (Africans) for Melachon said "la Merluche" far left bosses are thieves! How you can manage such country! People with money must leave after the election if Lepen or la Merluche (for parlement) is elected!

[@Jonathan-rt8dx]

protecting the country with a military alliance with Poutine ? Cause that’s in Le Pen’s programm :)

[@palmyrefevrier]

He divided the country even more in his 5 years in office & put Marine Le Pen where she is now. Unemployment has decreased because they changed how to mesure it.

[@cocguvnor1373]

What are you on about? LePen was in the runoff last time just as much as this time

[@popocucu7749]

Ain't all global leaders now work for the rich interest? The medium class is squeezed like sandwich. Time to reform.

[@tomorrowneverdies567]

The definition of employed status should be as follows: if you have a work contract on your name, at the time of the employment survey, you are employed.

[@palmyrefevrier]

@@cocguvnor1373 except that if we elected him last time to block the far right & we have the same scenario this time it’s that he did a bad job. Having a secretary of defence calling Le Pen weak during a debate is just one example that shows that Macron is not so far from her in the end.

[@realtimestatic]

She was also a top candidate last time. Stop projecting everything on your president

[@chrisvervecken3072]

Ask yourself, what did Macron did for the French citizen? Did he listens when the yellow vest went on the street? Did he really listens to the protests?

[@clashoflions7339]

You can't make all happy, you just have to make the majority.

[@Gachiya]

Les riches ne sont pas la majorité.

[@nuage3830]

@@clashoflions7339 Ah yeah, it's true that lynching them was a better idea than listening :)

[@-miami5487]

@@Gachiya Et les gilets jaunes non plus.

[@Gachiya]

@@-miami5487 c’est vrai.

[@jorisnouvellon7400]

I don't get how this video does not give a word about JL Mélenchon, the third candidate, that almost took the place of Le Pen ar the first round of the election. There are three blocks in France today. The right, (Macron 28% at the first round of the election) during his presidency he revealed to represent authoritarian-liberalism, hard right (Le Pen 23%), nationalist, and the left, social ecology (Mélenchon 22%).

[@tchop6839]

@Bernard Taupe Each block has multiple candidates, these are just the main politicians/parties for each one. The right also had precresse, the hard right Zemmour and a few other small candidates, and the Left had several smaller candidates too

[@jorisnouvellon7400]

@Bernard Taupe Zemmour had 7% if we go this way, we should say that the hard right forms a block of around 30%, the left forms also a block of 30% if we count all the little candidates around Mélenchon. It does not change the fact that this video did not mention a block that constitute the third of the French political landscape. And this video was released before knowing the result of the first round. Meaning before knowing who would won the second place between le Pen and Mélenchon. In fact the left, the moderate right and the hard right form 3 blocks, each of them with more or less 33% of the landscape.

[@luisandrade2254]

Mechelon is actually far left he’s even worse then Bernie sanders

[@marie-laure.]

C'est un magazine de grande réputation mais avec un point de vue très spécifique, un biais, la gauche est son ennemi, entre autres

[@marie-laure.]

... ils considèrent que c'est un vulgaire mouvement populiste, comme je l'ai dit par ailleurs la gauche doit disparaitre, leur point de vue, par le mien

[@guillaumeparola]

Macron has failed to: . Protect small companies and businesses . Protect women's rights against rising domestic violence . Protect the frontier against mass immigration . Profit from Brexit (as he himself said he would). On the contrary most companies that moved from the UK went to other European countries where it's much easier to do business (Netherlands for example)

[@kyni87]

He also comes across as terribly arrogant

[@danielsenna9666]

Why do you think that a lot of people try to immigrate to France?

[@guillaumeparola]

@@danielsenna9666 because it used to have a great quality of life and it's victim of its own marketing machine.

[@danielsenna9666]

@@guillaumeparola I agree completly with you. Very objective :)

[@Captain-Sum.Ting-Wong]

Macron is not very exciting, but he's tolerable. And Le Pen certainly doesn't offer anything better.

[@chandradekeyser]

The Economist is also disconnected from the real issues facing the struggling middle/low income EU & US classes. They are in the same "bubble" as Macron & Co

[@elpatator]

For those interested, even polls hadn’t anticipated Zemmour’s results to be this low last Sunday. A couple days prior the first round he was given about 9%, and he ended up at barely 7% (after having skyrocketed at almost 18% at some point a few moths ago). Le pen didn’t gain that much votes from him (she was given 23% on average, which is what she got). The real surprise was Melenchon, a far-left candidate, who was given mayyyyybe 17% a couple day prior the first round and got 22% in the end.

[@douglasmacarthur702]

Melenchon gained b/c Hidalgo’s support collapsed. The fact is that the right-wing vote was split between three candidates while in the end, the left was barely split.

@@douglasmacarthur702 Not really, Hidalgo was predicted as low as 2%. She wound up with 1.7 %. Prominent politicians such as Segolene Royal had announced her intention to go for the "useful left-wing vote" in the form of the Melanchon ballot. The polls got Zemmour, Pecresse and Melanchon wrong by about 5 percentage points each, in one direction or another, outside the margin of error. Pecresse 4.7 %, Melanchon at 22.1 %, when they'd been polling respectively at 9 to 10% and 17%. Zemmour was fluctuating around 10 to 13% in the last month. As for the left, you're omitting the Communist candidate Fabien Roussel (2.5 %) and Green candidate Yannick Jadot (4.7%) who are getting death threats from Melanchon supporters for allegedly failing to rally him in the 1st round.

[@tarukaja8]

@@douglasmacarthur702 Hidalgo had no support to begin with. The real place where Melenchon gained votes was because thanks to all his work, he led the youth and working class neighbourhoods (who usually don't vote, but this time a lot have come forward to say they didn't want Le Pen's racism or Macron's disastrous policies (also leaning on the side of xenophobia to attract Le Pen voters) to be their lives for the next 5 years. That's how he went from 10% to 22%

[@thewokefindergeneral7631]

It's not who votes that counts, it's who counts the votes.

[@elpatator]

@@thewokefindergeneral7631 the people counts the votes. Anyone can be scrutateur. Ask your local bureau de vote if they’d be interested in you attending the dépouillement next Sunday, I’m sure they’d be delighted to have you.

[@edukid1984]

The Brits are fed up too. Are you going to talk about that, my dear "Economist" who is more political than economic these days?

[@avpthegreat]

Economist is just the name. You clearly know nothing about the magazine and their content

[@edukid1984]

@@avpthegreat "Economist is just the name" But of course! That is the point, no? A neoliberal Anglo-Saxon capitalist mouthpiece pretending to be an "independent" media which aspires to take part _"in a severe contest between intelligence, which presses forward, and an unworthy, timid ignorance obstructing our progress ”_ , when, in fact, it is representing anything but "progress" (for the rest of the world) in the context of year 2022.

[@Vmvmvmvmvn]

They never claimed to be "economic", although sometimes they pretend to be.

[@Thvndar]

Those in the UK have nobody to blame but those who voted for Brexit

[@crustymoto]

@@Thvndar What about the illegals ?.

[@ednamode2881]

Lets be honest the French always seem to be fed up, have they ever had a president they don't hate by the end of their term?

[@lou0vespenger]

You speak when your Président doesnt look like a blond orang outan and your head of state doesnt get its position only by being born and puts his descendent in place by opening its legs (ths from centuries &on)

[@MessInMines]

The reality is that while france may still be performing well economically, it's actually collapsing from the inside. Unemployement actually rose during Macron's term. They just changed the way they count unemployed people to make the number shrink. Pensions are so bad that our elderly can hardly support themselves even if they worked their whole life. The lower tier education is completely crumbling, and the level of students is plummeting VERY fast. This is already starting to affect higher tier education. Public workers salaries haven't evolved in the last 20 years while the cost of living rose. A teacher salary is now barely more than minimum wage. Our public healthcare system is failing as well thanks to years of budget cuts. All the covid pandemic did is reveal the cracks. Usual indicators may show that France is doing well, but from the inside living in the french society, it's obvious that we won't be able to keep this up much longer.

[@diegoyuiop]

De Gaulle

[@jjr1728]

@@lou0vespenger mais, qui????

[@scottlehuray7062]

Never had so much external interferance neither. Aka World economic forum hijacking the countries political elite

[@cacapichi8564]

What I find astounding is that this guy has practically no program!! His only argument for reelection is “look, I’ve done kind of ok, so just trust me”. Politics is a game always looking towards the future, people forget easily the past. I frankly don’t get why centrists can’t understand this basic fact. They’ll get rolled over again and again until they understand this fact

[@stadtrepublikmulhausen4121]

He's not really a centrist he's a right wing liberal and even Conservative for some things.

[@cacapichi8564]

@@stadtrepublikmulhausen4121 I mean for me centrist = right wing liberal, so I guess we agree on that :)

[@Arcaryon]

@@cacapichi8564 "right-wing liberal" is not a centrist. Just because Le Pen is a far-right populist and Mélenchon a far-left populist, it doesn't make him a centrist. And on looking into the future: if you think he has no program, you haven't been paying any attention. Which you should never do as a citizen of a democratic country. Yes, people forget but what kind of program should he pull when all his current positions are based on real politics and not simply ideological aka, his program is currently a work in progress because he has to negotiate with so many others to get elected because he lacks a clear total majority? While I don't love what he does with France internally, internationally, he is the best Europe has gotten in many decades, that's not even a joke, I ran the comparisons.

[@cacapichi8564]

@@Arcaryon geez what a simp! very cringe take

[@michaelutech4786]

This is very much the same in most western countries. There is no longer much of an ideological spectrum in politics. There are the "populists" - basically tin foil heads or wannabe autocrats on one side and a pool of classical politicians who try to continue playing the game they are used to. There are no goals, no strategy, no political identity, just "we are not them" when facing populists and some empty promises nobody really believes.

[@erebody]

I love how this is essentially a puff piece for Macron. The economist has really changed over the last year and a half ... Or maybe I have? 🤔

[@cch312]

Look up how they tried to smear Steve Bannon and got embarrassed by him. It has become one of those media outlets that scream racism every second of every day.

[@aoeu256]

Also fragmented and politics? Can politics not be fragmented...? Isn't fragmentation an essential characteristic of politics outside of authoritarian states.

[@maclain728]

He’s just a very centrist candidate in comparison to Le Pen so the economist being centrist as well makes him seem better

[@cch312]

@@maclain728 I like how authoritarians like to brand themselves as centrists to trick people for support while they actually are deeply addicted to central planning and picking winners and losers.

[@maclain728]

@@cch312 Yes Macron is authoritarian😂 Whatever you say man

[@KentinMr]

The fact the only interviewed people are above 50 years old .. it does not show the current situation in France at all and the gap between different age groups. If you want to learn anything about French politics, don’t watch this video

[@maurjoy4104]

Complaining is a normal part of life in France. They enjoy analytical complaining, and indignant complaining, and backhanded complaining, and ironic complaining... and it's just part of life here. Give me an example of a president that the people have loved in MY lifetime (Giscard d'Estaing, Mitterand, Chirac, Sarkosy, Hollande, Macron) - they loved to hate them all while in office, regularly went into the streets to protest them all, and horay for the new guy each time, until he was in and ripe for pillory. The French are allergic to true political happiness as they only know what they DON'T want, not what they truly want, except in private, where they can be quite joyous, fun and wonderful to be around.

[@mihaelacomanescu]

I find your comment the one that catches the essence of French attitude towards their political leaders: exhaustive complaining.

[@scottlehuray7062]

Build back better

[@scottlehuray7062]

Are you on drugs original poster, where you been the last 2 years during Klaus Schwabs agenda Great reset

[@leeann6662]

Excellent analysis of the French!

[@daveevad3524]

More like people taking turns to complain Person A doesn't like current politics will complain first. When it changes to what person A wants, person B who likes the previous one will complain next. And so on. lol

[@08ryanalollipop]

The French are always unhappy about politicians.

[@zlpatriot11]

Yet here in the US, there is no accountability whatsoever for politicians.*stares at Republicans 👀

[@someguywhosmiles]

Well I guess we're not the only one, given that Joe Biden's popularity rate is extremely low and Boris Johnson is literraly considered as a low-cost Donald Trump. But indeed, our politicians are disappointing.

[@fredfreddy8684]

@@someguywhosmiles Joe Biden's 42% approval might be the new normal for any politician after the honeymoon is over. Trump's approval flat-lined at 42% for several years. The Republican virtual civil war against the Democrats has the majority locked in to party voting in presidential elections.

[@potapotapotapotapotapota]

I can attest that my French family are always complaining about politics haha

[@marcnawezi1877]

Maybe we miss the King

[@camillemartin7224]

Though interesting, this article show very little about the true ideas and ideology behind this candidate and its rivals. The management of the protests for the Pension reform and the Yellow vests, the management of the Covid crisis and now the war in Ukraine, all have revealed to the people the determination of the government to impose a neo-liberal view on society. The effects were visible by everyone in the country: no more national industries able to produce as simple items as masks or (more complex!) vaccines, sky rocketing debt, no control of the borders to limit the spread of the pandemic, or of the immigration, the sell of high end technological companies (Alstom, Alcatel, Technip, opening to competition of SNCF, EDF...), the rise of the price of energy despite the unique situation France is in thank to its nuclear plants network. French people feel less and less in control of their own political agenda in the country and more and more subjected to the EU's decisions to their disadvantage. The other candidates are (opportunistically or genuinely?) putting forward a vision promoting sovereignty and protectionism to a certain extend. If you add on top of that the obnoxious and very down-looking attitude of the current President toward many of the citizens, plus the many "cases" related to Macron himself and his surrounding, you understand better why the French are indeed, a little fed up.

[@dohanouini7671]

Bruh americans don't have the same mentality as french people so they will not complain for the things he is doing

[@ay061985]

Le Pen can resolve Ukrainian crisis. Macron can only :"blah blah, stop the war, Putin".. silly like a little kid..:)) Le Pen will create a decent new level relationship between NATO and Russia, that will stop the war in Ukraine and to resolve many other problems. She sees things deeper as a smart politician. I hope she will win.

[@dohanouini7671]

@@ay061985 She cannot stop it

[@markborok4481]

@@ay061985 Considering Russia financed the National Front, I hardly think she is trustworthy in this regard. And Putin doesn't want a "new relationship" with the West, he wants the old Russian territories back and wants to be the dominant power "from Lisbon to Vladivostok". Which is ridiculous, because Russia is in no position to accomplish it, but they will certainly keep trying, and that means more instability. Anyway, nationalism means one of two things: a country trying to gain independence from a foreign power (which France is not) or a country which is in decline and is in denial about it (Russia). Choosing a nationalist path is a sign of national dysfunction, insecurity and frequently a kind of collective psychosis.

[@alexkat8297]

Madam, it's not Macron's fault if French tech companies and the whole French economy as a whole is being left behind. That's actually what he is trying to chance actually, and he's succeded to a certain extent, eg unemployment falling. We live in a globalised economy, you are probably writing this from a China or Taiwan made smartphone or laptop. France cannot live forever in its own bubble. You want more sovereignty and protectionism? You will just get poorer.

[@roryonabike5863]

The French are always complaining that France "is in decline " :)

[@Valerio_the_wandering_sprite]

As are Italians since the 90's. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

[@OnACloud]

as a french guy, i don't have the feeling people complain about France declining, this is more a far-right expression, ordinary people complain about unemployment, low wages, and unfair taxes

[@sans_hw187]

French people don’t care about any decline but the one of their quality of life, what affects them directly. Nobody cares about some global rankings and numbers.

[@augth]

It objectively is though. We are ingan economic vassal of Germany. Compare trade shares in the 70s and now.

[@genovayork2468]

@pm That is false.

[@andremimoun1137]

As a French I find foreign medias point of view very instructive

[@billycohan6975]

Instructive in terms of showing which interests are talking to you through them; not remotely in terms of trustworthiness.

[@andremimoun1137]

@@billycohan6975 of course

[@maitrebug9686]

De l'instruction... surtout pour le secret des affaires.

[@beatriceanne5043]

So do I !

[@mmlas8683]

The French are always upset but have some of the best social policies and workers rights on the planet

[@ANDREW-cc4wg]

They have them exactly because of that

[@mmlas8683]

@@ANDREW-cc4wg I guess that’s true, the protesting works. I admire it as a Brit.

[@PinchHarmonic69]

I seriously think the average American would cry if they were given the same benefits that the French have.

[@FlexShortz]

We are upset because we are loosing all of that

[@Agtsmirnoff]

Maybe if you social Marxist would uncouple your economic policies from your desire for mass third world immigration, you’d make more inroads politically.

[@fhronesis]

The rich become richer and 3 Million people felt understand poverty line. Stop lying about Macron’s results.

[@MessInMines]

Yeah this video is actual disinformation it's disgusting.

[@Amine-gz7gq]

media are owned by the riches

[@Pev0Gaming]

idk much about this but don’t be too quick to say it was macrons fault when there was a fricking global pandemic which made poverty.

[@edwardmclaughlin7935]

Macron is Johnston, is Trudeau, is Scholz, is Arden, is Biden etc, etc. All of them fully on board with and subservient to the higher authority.

[@edwardmclaughlin7935]

@@iBaZiic Wrong. Subservient to the real power. Do some reading or carry on taking heed of the MSM. Your choice.

[@edwardmclaughlin7935]

@@iBaZiic Camp it up why don't you? Or you could calm down and address the issue.

[@Alphamaan]

I just voted for someone else than Macron.

[@MessInMines]

As a fellow french citizen that knows just how much corrupt Macron is : Thank you.

[@laurencerivet7521]

Me too. I can't stand him.

[@evryatis9231]

@@laurencerivet7521 Eh bah. 5 ans de plus avec lui

[@laurencerivet7521]

@@evryatis9231 Ça ne va pas être de tout repos pour lui s'il s'obstine à vouloir gouverner en autocrate. Je m'attends à de gros soulèvements !

[@Backwardlooking]

The Economist long ago ceased to be an objective unbiased organisation. It has been anything but on many important issues and cannot be used for a dispassionate discussion of events. Like our media in the United Kingdom it has totally lost credibility as regards factual neutral‘reporting’.

[@rams3955]

The economist has literally never been an objective unbiased organization. Its entire existence is to promote the pro business status quo

[@hornpub267]

The Economist are always on the side of billionaires 🤣

[@marvinamann4969]

The French are always fed up It's part of their culture 😂

[@playerpaul5509]

Iam french

[@msch7620]

The lockdowns in France were actual lockdowns. Many of them live in small appartements with no appartements.

[@gytan2221]

Wow I guess I am French too

[@andremimoun1137]

Not false

[@jeannesandner1918]

oui, c'est vrai, dons disons d'ailleurs souvent "j'en ai marre"

[@TheRealFollower]

You can't use economic growth as a campaign point if government shutdowns caused the decline in the first place. People expect the economy to recover to pre-pandemic levels.

[@andrewrobinson2565]

The G7 economies are heading back to where they were. How's the UK doing?

[@sampajam6256]

The economic conditions already worsen before pandemic

[@hayleylongster4698]

@@andrewrobinson2565 Urm... Are they Andrew? How much did the average American pay for fuel today?

[@andrewrobinson2565]

@@hayleylongster4698 No idea 💡. I don't give a flying flamingo 🦩 (or a static one).

[@hivaladeen4892]

@@andrewrobinson2565 UKs doing fine as well I don’t see your point? $3.4 Trillion by 2022e is above pre-pandemic levels

[@Present-Tense]

When are the French NOT fed up?

[@maydate86]

When the eu makes more beaureaucratic laws.

[@MessInMines]

When our government doesn't conspire to steal the people's money while making the rich richer and the poor poorer. Sadly this hasn't happened in a while.

[@guillaumepomirol8073]

when we win at football

[@englishworld7792]

I hope this time not Macron please...

[@ecoro_]

Politics and ideology aside, what did he think was going to happen after he suddenly introduced millions of people from a completely different culture. He's operating France as if it's America.

[@Throatwobbler_Mangrove]

This is happening to all of the white western nations. We have to get our people all on the same page and defend our lands against globalists and multiculturalism

[@nicolaspicard1501]

Because that's the goal, man, by the end of the decade you'll see the united states of europe fr

[@redoctproductions]

"The French are fed up " so status quo?

[@algernonsidney8746]

I love how this video and it's description describe Melenchon and Le Pen as extremists when from an economic standpoint Macron is more of an extremist than either of them due his close political association with the McKinsey group.

[@MessInMines]

When it comes to Le Pen that's just the media going witch-hunting again. As for Melenchon, he wants to make a new, less corrupt republic. Of course they will try to out him. In the end those that are being shut down the most are those they fear the most.

[@blackeyedsusan727]

Did your brain implode while writing this drivel?

[@l.sophia2803]

Ironic isnt it, considering its from The 'Economist'. ha!

[@user-xg6zz8qs3q]

And BlackRock! This explains why Macron wants to eff' up everyone's retirement so that BlackRock can sell its private pension funds.

[@andrewrobinson2565]

I'm a Macron supporter (voter). We don't need free-market think tanks. He needs to finalise his ORIGINAL PROMISE, to re-industrialise France and suppress "mondialisation".

[@e.milazzo1841]

You forgot to say that Macron maintained a liberalist capitalistic politic and has offered no response to climate and inequality issues. France needs desperately a democratic reform in order for the people's belief to be better represented. Macron just thrives from the fact that he is more centrist than the others which makes it able to win the second turn. His enemies are too much divided which is a shame. We really need to change the way we elect our president but it's never gonna happen because the people in power prefer to maintain a system that reelected them

[@luisandrade2254]

Vote for national liberation 🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷

[@no_more_spamplease5121]

How strong is the French national assembly? Aren't they able to put the government into submission? I once heard you have a Prime-Minister too. Is the president more powerful than the Prime-Minister?

[@e.milazzo1841]

@@no_more_spamplease5121 The french assembly can be be pretty strong but if the majority is from Macron's party they will just follow him. Moreover, there is also an article called 49:3 that allows the president to pass a law without the majority, but there are risks also but I won't go into details. Prime Minister is elected from the National Assembly. So once again if the majority is for Macron, he will just follow him. However if there is a majority for the opposition at the assembly, which will not happen because the deputies are elected one month after the president, there is what is called "cohabitation" ( already happened in 5th republic), where the president is limited by its prime minister and the assembly.

[@e.milazzo1841]

@@no_more_spamplease5121 The problem is that the way the deputies are elected allows almost no representation for the small parties in the assembly, thus it is quite easy for the party that won the presidential election to win the majority of the circonscription s. That's why we need a democratic reform in order for our deputies to represent better the beliefs of the french people (we often hear of more "proportionnelle" which means that if 5% of a people are for a party, they will have 5% of deputies, which is totally not the case today)

[@RalfAnodin]

@@e.milazzo1841 Fully agree with you analysis.

It’s a number of reasons: 1. His arrogance (I know it’s funny coming from us French!) 2. The way he treated the yellow vests 3. The vaccine passport 4. He is a rich banker and 5. Despises the poor

[@tomorrowneverdies567]

And the most important: 6. He wants to replace the native French with southerners.

[@nicolaslaruaz8575]

What is fascinating in this list is that none of those reasons are relevant at all!...

[@tomorrowneverdies567]

@@nicolaslaruaz8575 which reasons are relevant then?

[@nicolaslaruaz8575]

@@tomorrowneverdies567 what actually matters when we talk about politics: foreign policy, economical reforms, social laws, public finances KPIs, state interventionism, public services efficiency, freedom of speech, corruption... There's a LOT to discuss about the past 5 years. But what not much on things as shady as "arrogance", "oh see he was a banker in a former life", or "despise for the poor" (how?)...

[@tomorrowneverdies567]

@@nicolaslaruaz8575 well the points you mentioned are obviously points as well, but the 5 points the intitial commentator mentioned are points too. I also believe you forgot to mention the most important point (in my humble opinion) about France, which is that the french people are becoming slowly(?) replaced by southerners. Did Macron stop that? Of course not.Does he want to stop it? Of course not. Therefore if I were french (which I am not) , this only point is enough for me, to never even consider Macron as being even a candidate for the presidency of France. The same is true for Le Pen, who wants 10,000 immigrants (read: southerners) a year to come into France. The french people don't seem very smart to me.

[@ryzziktrognesou1]

As is often the case, whether in Germany or in England, you focus solely on far-right populism and summarise popular anger as a simple rejection of the government. However, the results of this presidential election showed that alongside the "fed-up" vote from which Marine Le Pen benefited (or even capitalised on), we found 25% of French people ready to vote for the extreme left. At 400,000 votes, the second round was almost between President Emmanuel Macron and the leader of the French radical left Jean-Luc Mélenchon (and Bernie Sanders would have appeared to you as a nice centrist next to the programme lines of this left). Everywhere in France, there are extremely strong social demands (which can be found everywhere else in Europe), a radical critique of today's liberal economy, which is far too characterised by privatisation, relocation, capital flight, tax optimisation and other elements of the contemporary globalised economy that have contributed to destroying the social fabric of the French and more widely European landscape. Without wishing to be unkind, I find it strange that you don't really talk about this when it's all we see if we take the trouble to look. France is the illustration of a gap that is gradually becoming a gaping hole between the integrated urban world and the rest of the population that is excluded from the benefits of the latter, we see this all over Europe and at some point we are going to have an earthquake if we don't do something to alleviate if not truly respond to these expectations.

[@nebula0697]

No mention of the fact that France, like most countries currently, is subject to the blurring of left-right spectrum and the simultaneous paradoxical rightward displacement of the Overton window on the same spectrum. .

[@vidishapasari8535]

We want shorter work weeks, more pay, cheaper things. But sure, let's blame the ever changing government for not being able to pull off a miracle in a short span. Throughout the world, people are expecting some sort of miracle that will make life better, without realising that they are chasing this elusive dream sold by constant marketing campaigns designed to never make you feel satisfied in the first place.

[@unknownfrenchman5371]

Exactly. The only ways to have less work and better rewards are: 1. An economic miracle 2. Remove everyone over the age of 50 The first is unlikely and the second is inhumane.

[@jipeh]

If only people were as rational as you.

[@swarming1092]

@@unknownfrenchman5371 Absolute neoliberal nonsense

[@BHBalast]

And how it relates to the problems with no-go zones and immigration?

[@mihaelacomanescu]

You put the right diagnostic for all who think that way all-over the world while indulging their greed and instant gratification. "Après moi le déluge" is their motto.

[@OltrePodcast_Official]

I applaud the editors of this channel for allowing comments under this video, no matter how controversial the topic.

[@user-cc2it7ix5q]

they also were completely silent about Melenchon(21% or something). it's a disgrace

[@pan2aja]

Comment IS the news

[@Powerofhelp]

The French have a difficult choice for a President in a week " a plague" or " a cholera"

[@Valentin-oc5nh]

The Economist covering this without talking about Melenchon at all is odd as he is the highest in polls after LePen...

[@samtalksaboutlife464]

Yes, but they don't Like top Talk about socialist

[@philipwells2793]

I don't think the French Revolution ever really finished.

[@gl241]

They are always complaining, it’s part of their culture.

[@froglet827]

@@vivie_jones except Americans complain but are too lazy to do anything

[@w0mblemania]

@@vivie_jones No. Not at all. Americans are a much more optimistic bunch of people. They're the home of the self-help, you-can-do-it lifestyle-improvement books, videos etc. Yes, Americans whine about their politicians. But they generally think that life can be improved.

[@centralscrutinizer9591]

And complaining is the only way to crush the globalists...........pinhead.

[@aynrandfan7454]

No more islams in Europe! Lock em up!!!

[@fredfreddy8684]

That's true.

[@levanam.7748]

Unemployment dropped ?! Are u kidding ? Small jobs yes indeed. Violence dramatically increased yes !!

[@christinewatson1989]

The guy literally condemned a man for acting in self-defense. He even came out an said he was "against self-defense". I wouldn't want a president who advocates for me getting attacked in my own home either.

[@superjmm12345]

who?

[@gudetamaminiso513]

What are you talking about ?

[@flitzsdomingos]

I join to the other to properly ask WHO ?

[@Emma-tm6ii]

@@flitzsdomingos farmer who killed one of his assailants when they broke up into his home where he and kid (great)daughter were

[@alexkat8297]

Tell me you are American without telling me you are American

[@kennylong7281]

Why has it taken so long for the French to begin to wake up? Le Pen has been around for many decades!

[@othronos]

One example of why of the french are fed up: our parents taxes paid a clean and cheap electricity via nuclear plants. Now, because the nuclear plants are a state monopoly, EDF (the state owned company) has to sell this electricity at loss, to (foreign) competitors which are not producing anything and taking profits thanks to EDF. Because of that EDF lost money, and had to raise 3 bilions capital, paid by the state, which is… our taxes. So conclusion: taxes pay nuclear plants, profits are given to foreign companies, and taxes cover the losses. Voila !

[@GuinessOriginal]

EDF own the majority of the U.K. power grid and make huge profits from them

[@Gachiya]

@@GuinessOriginal ouai mais 1/4 de leur production est donnée à des entreprises qui foutent rien ! Des entreprises fantômes 😒 qu’ils revendent plus chers sur le marché européens.

[@GuinessOriginal]

@@Gachiya je suis desolate mon Cher, je n’comprents pas. Je parlez fracias suelment petit peus malheuresment. En anglais, s’il vous plait?

[@Gachiya]

@@GuinessOriginal sorry, so in English : yeah but 1/4 of their production is given to companies that do nothing! Ghost companies 😒 that they sell for more on the European market.

[@GuinessOriginal]

@@Gachiya Merci beacoup! Porquia? Definitely not to England. Why does the french state give electricity away?? It doesn’t seem to affect French electricity prices, the UK pay 4 to 5 times more than France!

[@gesswa4755]

You forgot the financial scandals that are going to rock French society; this overview is partial at the surface level, and does not take into consideration what is really bubbling below the surface. Do more research.

[@gesswa4755]

@Talk to Frank yes Frank they all disguise something... politics are about power. The question is who is able to resist temptation and who is less corrupted? Macron will end up like Sarkozy in jail so he wants a second mandate to have immunity for another 5 years.

[@MessInMines]

THIS PRECISELY. This video focuses on the very few things still going well and completely ignores the mountain of problems we are facing.

[@LaMangouste]

@Talk to Frank A Russian bank, and she had no choice since no French bank would give a her a loan. That polemic is ridiculous, she was literally forced into this situation. It's nothing compared to the billion Macron gave to McKinsey, exempt of taxes, after they helped him for free in his 2017 campaign.

[@user-xg6zz8qs3q]

@@LaMangouste Macron also received anonymous cash donations from Algeria. And that's swept under the rug.

[@backintimealwyn5736]

they are hiding it on purpose. It's censored in the anglo world , because if you start looking at this, you probably end up on global corruption that affects them too.

[@desbellessouries]

As a French person and usually fan of this economist I am disappointed by the distorted picture you made of the politic situation in France. It’s also way too superficial…

[@nicolaspicard1501]

Ce qui te fait sûrement dire que tous leurs sujets sont traités avec cet aspect superficiel et biaisé non ? Aimer " the economist " faut le faire

[@merlin1649]

Notice how all the video is taken nowhere near the no-go zones?

[@luisandrade2254]

It’s not just the French all Europeans are sick and tired of the establishment

[@JoseSantos-xh9mp]

I fully agree, we are also fed up in Portugal, Spain, Greece, italy etc. It seems that the only lucky guys are the germans!

[@Arclight104]

The French are fed up with Macron! Why that means that they will elect Macron by a comfortable margin and then spend the next few years whinging about it! Then they will go on to elect a candidate identical to Macron and proceed to whine about them as well.

[@icitlalistardust9060]

As a french, I think it’s worth saying that the populist parties, racists and often close to fascism, are more popular in the parts of the country where there is less immigrants!

[@mrditkovich5817]

Bien vu Sherlock

[@icitlalistardust9060]

@@mrditkovich5817 Immigrants do not have the right to vote….. Watson! They are not citizens! Which means that French citizens who barely see any migrant, are more prone to racist prejudice than those who are confronted to those migrants on a daily basis!

[@serenaantony4338]

Tu racontes n’importe quoi, regarde une fois la carte de l’immigration et compare la carte de qui à voté Le Pen. C’est l’Ouest où il n’y quasiment pas d’immigration qu’il y a le plus de personnes qui ont voté pour Macron. Viens une fois dans le Nord-Est pour voir si il y a des immigrants ou non.

[@sephikong8323]

Oui tout à fait, ce n'est pas comme si Le Pen notamment fait une grosse partie de ses votes dans le Pas-De-Calais et la Côte d'azur, régions qui ont une énorme population étrangère (je peux en attester de première main pour le deuxième). Et puis la qualifier de Fasciste..... Son père ? Possiblement oui. Elle ? Plutôt réactionnaire qu'autre chose.

[@Kenneth_James]

Because they are French.

[@mbluett88]

A suggestion: Get rid of the subtitles that remain after the English voice ceases because the subtitles for the french voices cannot be seen.

[@AJX-2]

Populism only arises when populism is necessary.

[@steveeuphrates-river7342]

A majority white population feels their country is in decline due in part to immigration. Where have I heard that one before? (US, UK, DE)

[@augth]

It's not about skin colour. It's about religion if anything.

[@ryeguy7941]

Minus the US, do the other 2 not have the right to remain majority indigenous?

[@littlemom2070]

When being normal is characterized as, “why are French getting so extreme?”

[@JOJOGABI20]

The report regrettably fails to mention left-wing Jean Luc Melenchon who just fell short of a 1% difference with Marine Le Pen's score in the first round (22 vs 23%). I expected you to be more impartial.

[@Ryokuchaboy]

of course they won't talk about Melenchon, they are liberals

[@klaaaudiolai]

I wish we Italians could choose our leaders instead of American establishment choosing the most accomodating towards their political views. They let us vote last time in 2011 but at the end an ex employee of JP Morgan chase got the spot. Same happens in any other European country. Check for yourself. In order to be an European leader you've also got to be an ex employee of a American financial institution

[@franklinmint7394]

So you blame America for Italys problems? 😆 ok

[@markpatolot_]

La Costituzione Italiana sancisce proprio che il Premier non venga eletta, noi votiamo i Parlamentari perchè abbiamo una forma di governo parlamentare a prevalenza legislativa. È normale che abbiamo un governo debole.

[@narceliankrisa3769]

As a french person Macron only destroyed out country. Educational system (lowering financial means, suppressing thousands of teachers, making universities even more inaccessible), the medical field (especially in the pandemic, deleting beds and lowering financial means), he's working on destroying the working condition rules our people fought for (the working codes lovers joblessness, but more people are living way under the pauverty line, around 13 million jib seekers for like only 6 millions jobs available), he insulted our people multiple times. He also spent around 2 billions of state money in a private cabinet (McKinsey), without our peoples agreement, which only made us waste money in studies that lead to absolutely no solutions for our people, destroying our quality of life just to make our state gain money. Macron is islamophobic (less than Marine Le Pen, but still) and classist. During his mandate I became joblessness, jobless, had to give up my studies because of that. Two years after I find it harder and harder to live because or his direct policies. Macron gas been condemned 2 times regarding climate/ecologic issues. Now he claims that he wants to make France an "ecological global superpower". What a joke. France has an issue with non democratic policies, especially since the existence of the 49.3 article, which basically allows the President to pass laws without even converting the assembly and such. We're living in a mess of a country. Médias undermine our most socialist, fair and respectful political candidates. Taxing them of being extremists just because they propose programs that would help the Middle and lower class, take action regarding our quality of life and our impact on the environment. Its tremendously sad to see people being manipulated to reject a chance to get better, mostly because of stigma and the médias (I'm talking about people like Jean Luc Melenchon & people working with him, Phillipe Poutou, so on) Anyways... we're not bothered for little things, a lot of us are desperate. When we protest in the streets, mostly peacefully, we get beat up, insulted, hundreds gor injured (people lost hands, eyes, so on because of grenades and other wrapons) and severed, some even killed. The police acts more and more unhinged with the support of the state, laws and justice system. Some even throw crowd grenades into apartments (one old lady died because of that). I remember being 15, doing a peaceful assembly in front of my school because the state was planning to make drastic, meaningless changes in the educational system. We didn't prevent students to go to class if they didn't want to join us, it was a symbolic blockage. Armed police came and started to charge us, hurting some kids, including me. Our government hates us. And today we're kinda forced to vote for Macron again to prevent France from seeing a way worst president (Marine Le Pen). Macron didn't even bear to make a campaign like all the other candidates.

[@quinncreel6091]

Why would Le Pen be worse? It's hard to do worse than Macron.

[@michelbisson6645]

All people on earth are fed up because of corrupt media s,game is over

[@leonardzane]

"The Economist" narrator twice states, "A recent survey shows . . ." without naming sources, so why accept that purported information?

[@ronpaulsonshow3389]

Read the articles linked in the description, maybe?

[@ryadhasanahmed5443]

Its in the description you lazy sod

[@charlesmartel2167]

4:05 Fun fact: “empty diagonal” , is the part of France where the greatest number of French and foreigners buy second homes, it is pretty, cheap and you live in security.

[@normaaliihminen722]

Why there is really huge disconnection between this video and commenters? Seriously Its almost like Economist tries to paint certain narrative which has seeds of truths but thats it.

[@Valerio_the_wandering_sprite]

2:31 One question to all French native speakers: is that noun somehow related to the verb "to bray"? The latter is translated in Italian as "ragliare" and I suspect they're by all accounts cognates.

[@kirayoshikage604]

It means contest and it's related to bray

[@EmsiYTs]

I don't think it is, the French and Italian languages are actually more different that one may think…

[@saikoo3294]

well there is indeed a similarity but « to bray » is rather translated in French by « brailler » which would mean a loud, annoying donkey-like noise, and « râleur » here would rather refer to someone’s who’s always complaining, a complainer, without this loud, brainless connotation

[@FoxTrotteur]

@@kirayoshikage604 No it's not related, cf the comment I'm writing

[@kirayoshikage604]

@@FoxTrotteur Je suis français et je vis en France, effectivement cela ne veut pas dire la même chose mais généralement on associe quelqu'un qui râle à quelqu'un qui braille

[@rachelspeicher1089]

Would be fantastic if the editors made sure the translation subtitles weren't constantly obscured by the narration subtitles.

[@xwsftassell]

We see what you're doing. The Economist is a disgrace.

[@TesterAnimal1]

And I see what you are doing. You’re a disgrace.

[@ianthesiow3013]

The (US) United States call it "Liberation" instead of "Invasion". That was what US call it in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia and the list goes on... Why the double standard? Confused... Please enlighten. Genuine question... Instances of the United States "liberated" or overthrowing, or attempting to overthrow, a foreign government since the Second World War. (* indicates successful ouster of a government) China 1949 to early 1960s Albania 1949-53 East Germany 1950s Iran 1953 * Guatemala 1954 * Costa Rica mid-1950s Syria 1956-7 Egypt 1957 Indonesia 1957-8 British Guiana 1953-64 * Iraq 1963 * North Vietnam 1945-73 Cambodia 1955-70 * Laos 1958 *, 1959 *, 1960 * Ecuador 1960-63 * Congo 1960 * France 1965 Brazil 1962-64 * Dominican Republic 1963 * Cuba 1959 to present Bolivia 1964 * Indonesia 1965 * Ghana 1966 * Chile 1964-73 * Greece 1967 * Costa Rica 1970-71 Bolivia 1971 * Australia 1973-75 * Angola 1975, 1980s Zaire 1975 Portugal 1974-76 * Jamaica 1976-80 * Seychelles 1979-81 Chad 1981-82 * Grenada 1983 * South Yemen 1982-84 Suriname 1982-84 Fiji 1987 * Libya 1980s Nicaragua 1981-90 * Panama 1989 * Bulgaria 1990 * Albania 1991 * Iraq 1991 Afghanistan 1980s * Somalia 1993 Yugoslavia 1999-2000 * Ecuador 2000 * Afghanistan 2001 * Venezuela 2002 * Iraq 2003 * Haiti *2004 Somalia 2007 to present Honduras 2009 * Libya 2011 * Syria 2012 Ukraine 2014 * Pakistan 2022 *

[@Casey_Truman]

Not related at all to the video, but I love that the bookstore owner has a manga section @8:38 Berserk is amazing!

[@sarutochigcp937]

Didn't at all answer the question in the title. Only addressed the statement that people aren't happy with him, not why.

[@jacobmarkose9679]

Simple answer. There is a term for this. Gallic gloom

[@pontosinterligados]

except for government fanboys, people commonly say they are tired of current administration but truth is things can always get worse.

[@thedirty530]

Well I can understand feeling a president is more concerned about the richest industries and share holders but at a time with so much in the balance outside of our own countries.... I dont see how breaking ties with the allies we do have is smart when we already have major powers actively trying to support division in our countries. Fueling more division is exactly what they want and I dont feel we should reward them for it!

[@Nath8010]

You actually think Macron didn't divide the country?

[@spacebum]

Actually, Le Pen has a 1% lead in the polls

[@braxxian]

Anyone looking for a savior from a politician needs to look elsewhere. I suggest the mirror.

[@mickdelapirandole2938]

The "Macron Vs The populist rest" way of describing politics in France is a pretty weak scope, considering the diversity of the populist politicians (from far right to far left) and the populist friendly positions of Macron, and as well manners. It may not show at an international scale - for Macron knows it would be unpopular in the anglo-saxon world - but he played a lot on the 'fighting islamism' card, and invested far right vocabulary, financing anti 'islamo-leftism' campaigns towards some university research, setting a debate over 'separatism' to show he can beat far right in its own field, etc... Moreover, Macron was first elected on the promise to change the old government elites, and bring to power 'civil society', using for that, not a party -as said in the video-, but a very self centered movement still in use to this day. Self centered movements represent 70% of French politics these days, and that's not an effect of populism, but mostly of the crisis of parties, and very presidential system.

[@mdsoulsounds]

Rise in incomes, where? Employment reduced? Where? Someone is not doing their homework l'Economist!

[@rhino3330]

Business friendly ? Unemployment dropped ? Strong economic growth ? Incomes have risen ??? IS it propaganda or actual journalism ?

[@alfredsun778]

It's a Fed Up culture, regardless who is leading

[@trkstatrksta8410]

When you let in enough immigrants they are going to vote for you. Same with Biden. Let everyone in and of course they will love you and vote for you

[@ericp0012]

It’s seems people are voting just for the sake of winning and not voting on basis of ideas or principals. Which is why Donald Trump and Marine Le Pen lost the elections in the USA and France.

[@soulysouly7253]

We're simply never satisfied with our presidents. Even De Gaulle, who is taught to be the savior of France in history books, at some point decided to quit because the Frenchs were fed up with him. It's part of our nature, when we sit down and actually look at our lives, in COMPARISON with other countries, we do realize that we have it easy, but that comes at a cost of constant fighting and grievance against the higher-ups. France has always been historically a country of people actively hating on their government. The only ruler that was actually liked by a significant part of the population was Napoléon, but even then, it nearly wasn't all of France at all, but mostly the military and the bourgeoisie.

[@rafaelvicho3551]

I should consider moving to France them. Here in Philippines, I hate it when people here worship politicians as if they are infallible gods.

[@Airdrifting]

He did succeed in uniting the France and turning them into US's minions. People just don't like a spineless coward.

[@francoisfournier2284]

Vive la France 🇫🇷

[@afonsords]

they've been fed up since 1789

[@farright118]

How do you spell the town that they were in the beginning of the video?

[@charlesmartel2167]

Auxerre

[@farright118]

@@charlesmartel2167 thx

[@jeremieherard2166]

We are always fed up at everything.

[@larrygerry985]

The French are a strange nation of emotional out-bursts

[@lou0vespenger]

We almost made it. Melenchon 22% Left was bursted out in 7candidates/parties, Right 3parties, Center in 3parties . Respectively additionnally scored (Left) 27.4 (Right) 35.3 (Center) 34.3 Apolitical (Rural Life) :1candidate 3%. Keeping in mind in centers I took Ecologicals/Greens into account which in my opinion were more likely to vote for Melenchon who had an ambitious program on this topic I say this was plié Had the line up been Macron Mélenchon for Mélenchon Our problem was really the multiplication of candidatures and the prévalence of fantaisist (whimsical) candidatures which I think is not a french but a mondial problem :Trump, Boris Johnson, Eric Zemmour, E. Macron and by fantasist/whimsical I mean people who did fairly well compared to the time they've been involved in Politics (or in BoJo's case just someone who organises parties during lockdowns)

[@richiesquest3283]

Viva Le Pen 🇫🇷

[@lou0vespenger]

@@richiesquest3283 Really ? Je la trouve éclatée. Ils ne passent JAMAIS le second tour -../aNYWAY. 😑😂⭐

[@backintimealwyn5736]

@@lou0vespenger du coup tu vas voter pour la retraite à 65 ans, la fin des 35 heures et les cabinets de conseils américains à la tête de l'état? Vive la cohérence.

[@vascomprendre5163]

@@lou0vespenger j n ai jamais voulu le pen, mais macron .... marionette lobbyist des usa, qui n a aucune consideration pour son pays> où est le mal et où est le pire pour la france?

[@fauxnom9384]

@@backintimealwyn5736 Bien évidemment cette petite saloperie est communiste la traîtrise est inscrite dans leur sang à ces idiots utiles, les millions de victimes du communisme doivent se retourner dans leurs tombes à la vue d’une telle naïveté.

[@pelegrino791]

It will be all right . We are not so suicidal to elect this profundly incompetent Le Pen as president ...

[@gregorymalchuk272]

What is the carrot-like root vegetable at 0:52 ? Parsnips?

[@RBuckminsterFuller]

Definitely.

[@Qlorck]

Un panais

[@merryn9000]

snipples

[@meganl3859]

Turnip