The Intercept
I'll have to disagree with this article's premise (which is its title). It was never immigration. Immigration is a... satellite interest. On election day, few are thinking about that. And the few that are, are already probably voting National Front (or other such parties).
No, the failure lies in the governance of the previous governments, overall. Extreme candidates and parties are only ever looked toward by the populace when governments fail. And that's what's been happening in France for years, now. Growing unemployment rates can do that to a nation. Unemployment leads to downward pressure destroying any sense of calm in people, because jobs are people's identities, nowadays. You don't have a job? You're pretty much garbage in society, then.
And when extreme parties begin attacking the government on a stupid front like immigration, then people start listening, even though that premise is utterly wrong on many different levels.
Immigrants rarely compete for jobs with the native population of any nation, in any case. They tend to stick to their adopted communities, which are usually full of immigrants. One might even argue immigration causes change in larger communities. They expand outward, in a sense, and then split apart and reform, and so on and so forth.
If France wants better political parties, then they have to start demanding better governance, otherwise people'll start voting for whoever promises to change everything about the government.
I'll have to disagree with this article's premise (which is its title). It was never immigration. Immigration is a... satellite interest. On election day, few are thinking about that. And the few that are, are already probably voting National Front (or other such parties).
No, the failure lies in the governance of the previous governments, overall. Extreme candidates and parties are only ever looked toward by the populace when governments fail. And that's what's been happening in France for years, now. Growing unemployment rates can do that to a nation. Unemployment leads to downward pressure destroying any sense of calm in people, because jobs are people's identities, nowadays. You don't have a job? You're pretty much garbage in society, then.
And when extreme parties begin attacking the government on a stupid front like immigration, then people start listening, even though that premise is utterly wrong on many different levels.
Immigrants rarely compete for jobs with the native population of any nation, in any case. They tend to stick to their adopted communities, which are usually full of immigrants. One might even argue immigration causes change in larger communities. They expand outward, in a sense, and then split apart and reform, and so on and so forth.
If France wants better political parties, then they have to start demanding better governance, otherwise people'll start voting for whoever promises to change everything about the government.
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