He also represents a unique strand in French political life which has been there since the 1950's - that of the populist maverick who doesn't like foreigners. His programme has shifted back and forth over time but not on that point. And given the street crime which is disproportionately committed by immigrant youth - the average François is apparently fed up with socialist piffle in reply.
Regards, Ivan
Well, but hasn't that--with the exception, perhaps of Bastiat--been pretty much French history? France lost her chance to achieve the Anglo-Saxon/Celtic economic miracle, when she expelled the Huguenots in 1688. (While that has been attributed to religious intolerance, it really reflected, in my opinion, economic jealousy.) She has never really been willing to trust a truly entrepreneurial class. I don't mean to be overly critical. I love the food and the pretty girls in Paris. But is there any real movement in France equivalent to the renaissance that Maggie Thatcher worked in Britain?
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