You're viewing a single thread.
Lots of criticism for Macron calling snap elections, but I actually think that's the right move. He needs to break through the cynicism and get people to recognize the threat they really face. Waiting won't help; it just breeds complacency.
It's been 7 years that Macron and his minions did all they could to divide french society in order to stay in power. They criminalized the mostly peaceful ecological and social protests, they (over)used all the least democratic powers (49.3 and others) they had to push through socially unjust reforms, they have cynically and with the sole aim of winning votes, lumped together the parties of the left and the far right, and have deliberately blurred the political field. They refused to stand in the way of the far right in the last parliamentary elections, allowing a few hundred of them to become MPs and giving them prestigious positions in the parliament, simply out of political expediency. They have constantly pushed far-right themes such as security and immigration into the public debate, again simply to try and divide people and win votes. For these european elections, they snubbed all other parties other than the extreme right and even gave them more credibility (and publicity) by sending the Prime Minister to debate with their representative (and with no one from any other party). Macron, who said a few years ago that he would do everything to ensure that people no longer had any reason to vote for the far right, has been playing with fire in an attempt to divide the country and keep power. He is guilty of the current situation, and the dissolution of the assembly is not a clever or courageous move, but rather a cynical act of impotence by a lonely man who now wants to play the "it's me or chaos" game. To think that if the far right wins these next elections and a PM from their ranks is appointed, this would be an opportunity to prove how incompetent they are and destroy them, is to becompletelyy delusional. It's forgetting that this would put France in a catastrophic situation for years to come, with social and ecological ruin, and above all that its main effect would be to open the Overton window even wider, making it even more likely that the far right would soon gain to the real power with no real counterweight, the Presidency.
Is this an accurate assessment of macron’s intent or did he make a mistake and this is the cope? Because the US coped this way in 2016, and it only emboldened the masked nazi militias currently demonstrating and plotting in clear view.
did he make a mistake and this is the cope
No this is a 'whole loaf' move, when in US politics its always 'half a loaf or less'.
It will either succeed or it will fail. If successful, he can turn the tide on the right and get things moving in the other direction.
If it fails, well, good luck Europe.
No this is a ‘whole loaf’ move, when in US politics its always ‘half a loaf or less’.
Can you explain what you mean by this?
I mean the difference between "Half measures" and "Full measures". I think a good example of this in metaphor are the two episodes of breaking bad:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half_Measures
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_Measure_(Breaking_Bad)
Its metaphor, but since we're talking strategy here, I'm going to use it. The basic idea is that if you don't fully commit to a strategy, your half-commitment becomes the source of why it fails to work.
Its the same in business or any other kind-of sport or competitive enterprise. Macron isn't acting in half measures. He's demanding either the full thing, or nothing at all, which I think is the right strategy. A half success gives Macron nothing.
Dude please explain the whole loaf thing we need to know 🍞