Observing the French presidential election with foreboding, I thought of parallels with a favourite author of mine: Edmund Burke, the famous theorist of conservatism.
You wonder why the Conservative movement has co-opted radical-right ideas. I don't know about France, but in my own country, the UK, it is surely largely about Thatcherism having run out of road - there just aren't many more Thatcherite reforms to be made because Thatcher already did them all, and so populist ideas fill the policy vacuum.
Conservatives are about conserving traditional order and institutions, yes.
Le Pen is all about conserving France as a nation for French people -- she's all about preserving demographics and culture (as opposed to the US multi-culture example.)
What institutions does she want to erode or destroy?
Seems to be she's working for conservative ends, entirely within the democratic process and established institutions. Just because bureaucrats aren't happy with it doesn't make it non-conservative!
Understand the objection, but I think that a Le Pen presidency would be pretty disruptive, seriously undermining bureaucracies to achieve ideological goals, as Orban has done in Hungary. Given the likelihood of this disruption, I find it difficult to consider Le Pen a conservative.
I guess your main point regards NATO as an institution. I don't know, I don't see an international military alliance as either conservative or anti-conservative.
It's really just a foreign policy question. A nationalist would regard an international alliance as good to extent that it benefits the nation, and not good, to the extent that it draws a country into extra entanglements (WW1?)
Furthermore, it's not like she's actually anti-NATO, this seems to be just speculation. (Similar ala Trump, who in the end actually pushed harder than anyone for NATO spending *increases*)
What worries me about a Le Pen presidency is that it will repeat Trump’s feat - the strange swerve of the left into identity politics. We currently see much less of that here and maintain a much more ‘authentic’ (to me) brand of socialism than the anglophone world. Her ‘France first’ policies also potentially threaten my personal well-being, so I have selfish reasons to hope her programme is rejected.
You wonder why the Conservative movement has co-opted radical-right ideas. I don't know about France, but in my own country, the UK, it is surely largely about Thatcherism having run out of road - there just aren't many more Thatcherite reforms to be made because Thatcher already did them all, and so populist ideas fill the policy vacuum.
Not convinced here.
Conservatives are about conserving traditional order and institutions, yes.
Le Pen is all about conserving France as a nation for French people -- she's all about preserving demographics and culture (as opposed to the US multi-culture example.)
What institutions does she want to erode or destroy?
Seems to be she's working for conservative ends, entirely within the democratic process and established institutions. Just because bureaucrats aren't happy with it doesn't make it non-conservative!
Understand the objection, but I think that a Le Pen presidency would be pretty disruptive, seriously undermining bureaucracies to achieve ideological goals, as Orban has done in Hungary. Given the likelihood of this disruption, I find it difficult to consider Le Pen a conservative.
Yes, but: to achieve deeply conservative ideological goals.
Conservatism doesn’t mean “non disruption” to people, it means preserving traditional values and ways of life.
And that’s why the vast majority of self-described conservatives support Le Pen.
I guess your main point regards NATO as an institution. I don't know, I don't see an international military alliance as either conservative or anti-conservative.
It's really just a foreign policy question. A nationalist would regard an international alliance as good to extent that it benefits the nation, and not good, to the extent that it draws a country into extra entanglements (WW1?)
Furthermore, it's not like she's actually anti-NATO, this seems to be just speculation. (Similar ala Trump, who in the end actually pushed harder than anyone for NATO spending *increases*)
Le Pen has a got a long history of explicit opposition to NATO. In previous campaigns, she's advocated taking France out of NATO.
What worries me about a Le Pen presidency is that it will repeat Trump’s feat - the strange swerve of the left into identity politics. We currently see much less of that here and maintain a much more ‘authentic’ (to me) brand of socialism than the anglophone world. Her ‘France first’ policies also potentially threaten my personal well-being, so I have selfish reasons to hope her programme is rejected.
Agree - the French left could react very badly! Didn't know you were based in France - here's hoping for a Macron victory!
Indeed, although try saying that to my younger friends who probably won't vote again now Mélenchon's out.