Regarding the French Elections

"Not shitting yourself" is hardly a reason to celebrate

There’s a guy at my gym who always jokes that any day his workout doesn’t result in him shitting himself is a success. What happened in France is just as much a success, because apparently “the far right hasn’t taken power yet” is the highest political goal anyone is expected to attain.

I woke yesterday, as did many of you, with the news that the Rassemblement National, the far right political party in France, didn’t win the predicted majority in France’s elections. Instead, the largest amount of seats in the National Assembly went to a leftist political bloc, called Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP).

All the political analysts, news articles, and jubilant online leftist commentators tell us we should be relieved by this. In their tellings, the rise of the far right has been stopped, beaten back by sanity and tolerance. Progress marches on, the destiny of democracy is assured, and what looked liked a reactionary tsunami sweeping over Europe was just a freak wave, and nothing more.

I’m not relieved, though.