During a recent visit to Paris, I participated in an
animated discussion among a group of French and American expatriates at lunch
about politics in the US and France.
While there are poorly informed members of the public on both sides of
the Atlantic, the French have the impression much of the American electorate
has a superficial understanding of the issues, especially foreign affairs. The impression seems to be that we Americans
are making decisions about candidates based mainly on slogans rather than a
grasp of the implications of one versus another choice. They acknowledged that isn’t very different
among a segment of the French as well.
I
had the impression that most in the group had a generally favorable impression
of Barrack Obama and thought Romney has a simplistic and somewhat dangerous
world view. They seemed very puzzled
about why Americans equate socialism with communism, which are entirely
different, and fear them equally. Though
there were divided views on the Hollande socialist government, I heard many of
the same feelings of disappointment among those on the left that I have heard
over the past four years about Obama by the progressive wing of the Democratic
party in the US.
Though there is unemployment in France (about 8%) as in the
US, our French friends don’t seem to be as overwhelmingly concerned as we are
in the US. I didn’t speak with anyone
who expressed the view that it was a serious problem there, though acknowledging
it had been a problem five years ago. I
suspect the reaction would be different among minority groups in France, such
as recent immigrants. The far right
parties (there are 12 main parties in France) are capitalizing on hostility
toward immigrants taking jobs from long time French citizens as among some blue
collar white voters in the US. The
economy is in a deficit in France pressuring the Hollande government to cut
government expenses and promote business growth, though there are strong
differences of opinion about how to do that in France, especially among those
on the Left. While Republicans are
attempting to eliminate labor unions in the US, in France national laws
prohibit firing workers except with severance pay, and workers there have many
benefits Americans would envy. So though pay is lower in France, the net result
is most French people are well off because so many basic services are free in
France. Facism exists more openly in
France than the US and there are fears among many about resurgence of a
Vichy-style movement as had occurred during WW2 headed by Marshall Phillipe
Petain, which collaborated with the Nazis.
There are similarities between the Tea Party and the National Front and
Marine Le Pen’s party. But unlike the
irrational acceptance of many Tea Party views by Republicans, most conservatives
in Sarkozy’s party in France reject the Far Right movements and find it
puzzling that so many Americans are drawn to such atavistic views.
In France as in the US, there is an undercurrent of
discourse about the functions of government, though the starting point for
those conversations is very far to the Left in France compared with the US, in
which our point of departure for discussion in the US is from a very
conservative Republican perspective. For
far to long the Democratic Party has rolled over and played dead in the US and
moderate Republicans have been like puppies running scared with their tails
between their legs as the “Big Dogs” among the radicals bark their dangerous
commands. Though the Big Dogs account
for a very small proportion of the electorate in the US, they are the tail that
wags the dog because of their vast wealth. 
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