Le Pen, Trump and Trudeau

There is no country without its woes. Regardless of the time, every country has its own big or small problems. And of course, the process of solving the problem begins with the acknowledgement that there is a problem. Without it, the prospect of resolution is naught and hopeless. For example, if conversation ceases to be between a couple, and if left alone without proper attention and care, the relationship will continue to worsen to the point of no return. Once you acknowledge that you have problem, the next step is finding its cause. You have to have a correct diagnosis to have a correct solution.

More of often than not, the cause is found both in internal and external sources. Problems cannot be solved with approaches that only look outward or inward for culprits. For this reason, I find Marine Le Pen of France’s right-wing National Front Party (FN) and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump pitiful. They only look outward for the only possible source of their woes.

FN lost all 13 regions in the final vote counts for the regional elections a few days ago. In the first round of voting, which took place a week ago, FN was the most popular party in six regions in France. It was especially shocking because even in Nord-Pas de Calais (where Le Pen ran) and Province-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (where Le Pen’s niece, Marion Maréchal-Le Pen, ran), where it won 40 percent of the votes, FN did not win.

For Le Pen, this is the most unfortunate turn of events. She certainly can blame the tall and thick wall of mainstream politicians that are the Republicans (center-right) and the Socialist Party or just PS (center-left) for her misfortune. The French election system is a two-round system that allows for coalition between the parties, and criticisms have been made that the system cannot accurately represent the total vote counts. Based on the results from the first round of the vote, FN (with 28 percent) had already won the seat of majority party compared to the Republicans (with 27 percent) or the PS (with 23 percent). However, due to the “unholy matrimony” between the other two parties, FN failed to win any of the 13 regions. Le Pen’s criticism that such a coalition system only prolongs the political lifespan of the elites (whether right or left) without testing their abilities or examining their achievements is not without its merits.

Jean-Marie Le Pen, father and predecessor of Marine Le Pen, was able to defeat Lionel Jospin of the PS during the first round of the 2002 general election, but the PS supporters who pushed for Jacques Chirac of the Republicans ultimately defeated him. The two-round system works as the last bulwark that prevents FN’s reign and as the keeper of the two major parties in France. Of course, FN could bypass the whole system by winning by 50 percent or more in the first round, but that would be a “miracle” if FN continues to find the source of France’s woes only on the outside.

FN argues that the economic hardship France faces today is caused by the “conspiracy” of the Anglo-American neoliberals under the false pretense of globalization and the unification of Europe, followed by other outside influences, such as more foreign immigrants. Immigrants also cause the financial crisis (in reality, it’s because of the burden of social security), they argue, along with the social dissidents, who are also the result of foreign immigrants who do not accept French values and ways of living — especially the Muslims. Hence, according to the FN, the solution is to invoke protectionism, restore the independence of France’s economy and currency by leaving the EU, re-control the border, stop foreigners from coming in, and segregate or exile the foreigners who cannot assimilate in France. In other words, build the big wall and police the country in order to regain the identity of France.

Blaming outside influences for the sources of woe, removing potential outside threats and other unstable factors, and emphasizing the unity of public opinion by oppressing the opposition and the minority are the common characteristics of Nazism and Fascism. These are also the same characteristics we find in Trump, who publicly argues for the deportation of Mexican immigrants and the prohibition of entry for all Muslims.

Compared to them, Justin Trudeau, the young prime minister of Canada, takes a very different approach in governing a nation. He has decided to accept 25,000 Syrian refugees (by contrast, America is accepting only 10,000) until March of 2016, and went to the airport to personally welcome them to Canada last week. Putting winter clothes on them personally, he greeted them one by one, saying, “Welcome to your new home.”

Mainstream politicians are unable to bring about much needed to reform while they are focused on inbreeding to keep their power, and extreme right-wingers who only can see faults from the outside are nothing but the face of old and outdated politicians who represented the “nation state.” Trudeau, who is not afraid to act on the values of openness and solidarity, respect and empathy, equality and co-existence, is perhaps showing us that the possibility of the 21st century’s “post-nation state” is not an impossible height to reach.