Why the English are complacent and the French apocalyptic

 In the 2017 election, a divided pessimist vote let Emmanuel Macron’s small optimists’ party into power. 

Yet each strand of the French spectrum still nurtures its pet apocalyptic scenario: neoliberal hegemony for the left, Islamist takeover for the far right, climate apocalypse for greens, end of national grandeur for Gaullists and Présidente Le Pen for Macronists.

Simon Kuper FT 13 May 2021


https://www.ft.com/content/f11a1c21-4744-4b7d-afdb-f361c1d3a319

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