• Gray@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    It’s shit like this that opens the door for fascists like Le Pen to get into positions of power by rightly criticizing the incumbent government for censoring speech. Macron is a fool, but he’s a necessary barrier to keep fascism out of France and idiotic ideas like this only hand more kindling to those fascists. The free speech ideals of left or centrist candidates tend to be one of the more important appeals that pull voters away from authoritarian fascism. Remove that incentive by implementing authoritarian policies and suddenly there are a whole lot of people far more entranced by fascist arguments.

    • ira@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      You’ve already long missed the boat for keeping fascism out of France if the sitting head of state is calling for measures like these.

      This is why people on the left are so exasperated with centrists - they’re so much more willing to take heavy-handed actions against democratic issues like “hey maybe police shouldn’t be executing people” and are so much more reticent to even speak out against extremist views that have gained a solid foothold in France like “the progressive Islamisation of our country is calling into question the survival of our civilisation”.

      For some reason, they see the latter as much more “valuable discussion” than the former.

      • Gray@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        For all his flaws I don’t believe Macron is fundamentally a fascist. I think he’s a corporate stooge appealing to the wealthy, the old, and the business types. France has indeed had fascism creeping in, especially with the likes of Le Pen. But France also has a long history of leftist movements and protests. So the pendulum could really swing either way at this point for them. Macron is shitty, but he’s not Le Pen. Hopefully at the next election, people vote leftwards and don’t fall for the typical fascist tactics of convincing people that immigrants and LGBT people are the real problem. Le Pen particularly scares me because she’s very cozy with Putin and has isolationist, anti-NATO tendencies. The west is already struggling to maintain a united front in support of democracy and in opposition to global authoritarianism. If France elected Le Pen, pandora’s box may be opened and there may be no coming back for France.

        • meeeeetch@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          He almost certainly isn’t, in his heart, a fascist. But if he increases state power and wields against the left in a time of crisis, what difference do his personal values make?

      • Thorosofbeer@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        “This is why people on the left are so exasperated with centrists”

        Are you suggesting that Macron is a centrist? Because I don’t follow.

      • ∟⊔⊤∦∣≶@lemmy.nz
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        1 year ago

        IDK, I’m pretty far center and I am absolutely opposed to abuse of power and execution by cop and definitely open to heavy handed actions to get shit done…

    • kredditacc@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      How do evil stay in power? By having an even worse evil as the only alternative.

      Same for the Imperium in Warhammer 40k.

      Same for Macron in France.