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"Forgotten" Rural France seethes - echos of BREXIT and Trump
Posted on 4/11/17 at 12:26 pm
Posted on 4/11/17 at 12:26 pm
Yahoo News
Varzy (France) (AFP) - With its deserted streets, "For Sale" signs and weeds pushing through the pavement, the village of Varzy symbolises the plight of the depressed French hinterland, a key theme in the presidential race.
Standing at the counter in one of two bars left in the central village of around 1,300 people, truck driver Michel Cadour counts off the restaurants that have closed in recent years.
"There is nothing left here," the ruddy-faced 58-year-old said with a resigned air. "Young people don't want to start anything because there are no customers. Nowadays the only restaurant that opens in the evening is the kebab shop."
The fate of provincial towns and villages looms large over France's April 23-May 7 election, with voters in areas scarred by population decline and shrinking public services threatening to take revenge on mainstream politicians.
France's countryside, provincial towns and the area between town and country are estimated by geographer Christophe Guilluy to contain 60 percent of the population.
Traditionally rural areas in France have voted for candidates on the right, but many are now leaning towards the far-right.
For Pascal Perrineau, a political scientist at Sciences Po university, the French election, like the US vote which brought in President Donald Trump, has revealed a rift between rural communities and the cosmopolitan cities.
"If you go 20 kilometres (12 miles) north, south, east or west out of Paris you will find yourself in another France, which is far more immobile, hit by unemployment, worried about identity and marked by social and cultural divisions," he told a group of foreign correspondents in Paris.
Far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, who is running neck-and-neck with centrist Emmanuel Macron for the first round vote, according to opinion polls, has campaigned as the champion of the "forgotten French" against the "globalist" elite.
The population of Nevers, a picturesque town on the Loire river, has fallen by more than 10,000 in the past 20 years and the once buzzing centre has been abandoned by shoppers for out-of-town supermarkets and malls
Varzy (France) (AFP) - With its deserted streets, "For Sale" signs and weeds pushing through the pavement, the village of Varzy symbolises the plight of the depressed French hinterland, a key theme in the presidential race.
Standing at the counter in one of two bars left in the central village of around 1,300 people, truck driver Michel Cadour counts off the restaurants that have closed in recent years.
"There is nothing left here," the ruddy-faced 58-year-old said with a resigned air. "Young people don't want to start anything because there are no customers. Nowadays the only restaurant that opens in the evening is the kebab shop."
The fate of provincial towns and villages looms large over France's April 23-May 7 election, with voters in areas scarred by population decline and shrinking public services threatening to take revenge on mainstream politicians.
France's countryside, provincial towns and the area between town and country are estimated by geographer Christophe Guilluy to contain 60 percent of the population.
Traditionally rural areas in France have voted for candidates on the right, but many are now leaning towards the far-right.
For Pascal Perrineau, a political scientist at Sciences Po university, the French election, like the US vote which brought in President Donald Trump, has revealed a rift between rural communities and the cosmopolitan cities.
"If you go 20 kilometres (12 miles) north, south, east or west out of Paris you will find yourself in another France, which is far more immobile, hit by unemployment, worried about identity and marked by social and cultural divisions," he told a group of foreign correspondents in Paris.
Far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, who is running neck-and-neck with centrist Emmanuel Macron for the first round vote, according to opinion polls, has campaigned as the champion of the "forgotten French" against the "globalist" elite.
The population of Nevers, a picturesque town on the Loire river, has fallen by more than 10,000 in the past 20 years and the once buzzing centre has been abandoned by shoppers for out-of-town supermarkets and malls
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Posted on 4/11/17 at 12:32 pm to SirWinston
Basically all socialist societies build urban meccas and tell everyone else they're fricked
Posted on 4/11/17 at 12:32 pm to SirWinston
It is the same mentality as the iron belt in our election. The progressives and the globalists on the left do not give a rat's arse about those populations, same as in France.
quote:Exactly.
Basically all socialist societies build urban meccas and tell everyone else they're fricked
This post was edited on 4/11/17 at 12:33 pm
Posted on 4/11/17 at 12:33 pm to Scruffy
I wish I had more time to follow the French election - I would hope that Le Pen is hammering away at these small towns like Trump did with the Rust Belt.
Posted on 4/11/17 at 12:34 pm to SirWinston
She would be smart to do that. She will get nowhere with their big cities.
This post was edited on 4/11/17 at 12:35 pm
Posted on 4/11/17 at 12:40 pm to ShortyRob
quote:From a conservative perspective, what should the government be doing for these "forgotten" towns? Why are they sitting around with thumbs up their asses waiting for the government to revitalize their communities. Did the government start all those communities hundreds of years ago?
Basically all socialist societies build urban meccas and tell everyone else they're fricked
Don't mean to be callous, but that kind of is like our rust belt. Why are they sitting around waiting for manufacturing to return to their towns when, even if we close the border entirely, automation is only going to continue to erode that labor demand?
In general, it bears pointing out that urbanization isn't a government plot. It's as much a function of human efficiency (though it's not everyone's preference) as older "organic" towns and communities. People come together to work and trade. And then they decide to live close to where they work. And that's how towns and cities flourished.
This post was edited on 4/11/17 at 12:45 pm
Posted on 4/11/17 at 12:42 pm to Navytiger74
quote:
From a conservative perspective, what should the government be doing for these "forgotten" friend towns?
Stop importing Muslim "refugees" who are on the dole at an 800% higher rate than indigenous French and who suck up much of the government assets (funding, infrastructure, training, education, etc).
Further, the rise of Muslim population in France has caused / hastened the exit of wealthy Jewish French (Parisians especially) and the job creation that Jews bring with them.
This post was edited on 4/11/17 at 12:45 pm
Posted on 4/11/17 at 12:43 pm to SirWinston
Yes, but downtrodden rural France looks like this
While downtrodden rural america looks like this
While downtrodden rural america looks like this
Posted on 4/11/17 at 12:45 pm to LSUTigersVCURams
France adding 2 million uneducated African Muslims while losing 115,000 highly educated Jews over the past 2 decades is a double whammy
Posted on 4/11/17 at 12:45 pm to Navytiger74
Well, you may be right, but, like our rust belt, they likely feel that legislation and decisions are being made that benefit those in larger cities and completely disregards the well-being of the smaller towns.
The idea behind our rust belt was the concept that the US government was purposely shifting manufacturing overseas to help businesses, i.e. the big cities, at the expense of the rural communities.
Their complaints aren't unfounded.
The idea behind our rust belt was the concept that the US government was purposely shifting manufacturing overseas to help businesses, i.e. the big cities, at the expense of the rural communities.
Their complaints aren't unfounded.
Posted on 4/11/17 at 12:46 pm to Scruffy
quote:
It is the same mentality as the iron belt in our election. The progressives and the globalists on the left do not give a rat's arse about those populations, same as in France.
and does the average person in KS care about anyone in NY? Or cali?
frick no they don't.
Posted on 4/11/17 at 12:46 pm to SirWinston
quote:
Stop importing Muslim "refugees" who are on the dole at an 800% higher rate than indigenous French and who suck up much of the government assets (funding, infrastructure, training, education, etc).
Further, the rise of Muslim population in France has caused / hastened the exit of wealthy Jewish French (Parisians especially) and the job creation that Jews bring with them.
Those towns don't sound as though they're suffering from overcrowding unless I misread the article. And there aren't a great deal of immigrants of any kind living in the French countryside (or any European countryside, for that matter).
Posted on 4/11/17 at 12:47 pm to Navytiger74
quote:
From a conservative perspective, what should the government be doing for these "forgotten" friend towns?
Is not what they should be doing, its what they DO.
They view rural areas as nothing more than extra tax base.
But, they focus government on the urban meccas.
It becomes a self fulfilling spiral. As they shift the nation's resources, populations follow.
That makes the vote disparity even greater so the government ups the ante.
Its somethingbig governments almost can't help but do.
Posted on 4/11/17 at 12:47 pm to Hawkeye95
quote:No, but they still pay taxes and vote.
and does the average person in KS care about anyone in NY? Or cali?
frick no they don't.
They should be cared for equally, shouldn't they?
And that is likely part of their complaint.
Posted on 4/11/17 at 12:48 pm to ShortyRob
quote:Even North Korea tries to make Pyongyang appear nice.
Basically all socialist societies build urban meccas and tell everyone else they're fricked
Posted on 4/11/17 at 12:49 pm to Navytiger74
quote:
In general, it bears pointing out that urbanization isn't a government plot. It's as much a function of human efficiency (though it's not everyone's preference) as older "organic" towns and communities. People come together to work and trade. And then they decide to live close to where they work. And that's how towns and cities flourished.
You don't think there are government policy actions that promote urbanization?
Posted on 4/11/17 at 12:49 pm to Navytiger74
quote:But the taxes used to support those migrants should go to the French citizens, correct?
Those towns don't sound as though they're suffering from overcrowding unless I misread the article. And there aren't a great deal of immigrants of any kind living in the French countryside (or any European countryside, for that matter).
Is that unreasonable?
Posted on 4/11/17 at 12:53 pm to Hawkeye95
quote:
and does the average person in KS care about anyone in NY? Or cali?
frick no they don't
Exactly.
The problem enters when Thor strong centralized government TAKES from everywhere but only gives a frick about places with the most votes.
The United States sort of mitigates A LITTLE with the way our government is built.
But for nations without structural impediments, its almost a certainty that governments only care about this areas are tax time
Posted on 4/11/17 at 12:53 pm to SirWinston
Le Pen could definitely win the first round, but there's no way she's winning the second round thank god. If she wins, the EU will be done. That is not good for the world or America no matter how you look at it.
Posted on 4/11/17 at 12:54 pm to IdahoTiger
quote:We will have to disagree on that one.
but there's no way she's winning the second round thank god. If she wins, the EU will be done. That is not good for the world or America no matter how you look at it.
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