France rejected fascism today.
Education, pro-people capitalism, and a modern election system triumph.
Why did France reject Marine Le Pen, and USA didn’t reject Trump?
In short:
(1) Education: High literacy rate in France: higher than the U.S.
(2) Capitalism and corporate media are both much more humane in France, compared to USA. Income inequality is at a moderate level in France, directly related to social and health problems of the country. The U.S. has the highest rich-poor divide among all the developed, capitalist countries, and social and health problems are also the highest, because of it.
See graph below. From: The Spirit Level, Wilkinson and Pickett, 2010.
(3) France has a much more modern electioneering system, compared to USA. They have a two-stage presidential election: the first among the top candidates of major parties, followed by a final, run-off election between the two top candidates. This is very different from USA’s pre-historic election system, where a candidate such as Trump or George W. Bush could win the presidency, even when their opponents such as Hillary or Al Gore got many more votes than they did.
(4) Labor unions, environmentalists, and progressive student and women’s movements are much stronger in France than USA. They took a big role to defeat Marine Le Pen.
France not only defeated fascists today. It trounced them.
The people of France also elected the youngest president in its history.
Vive La France!
Sincerely,
Partha Banerjee
Brooklyn, New York
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Humanity College 