Interesting question---why did France elect Macron instead of rw Le Pen? Why did UK reject Trump's pal Farage and the Netherlands reject rw Wilders? But the USA put Trump into power. His rw GOP is extremist by other nations' standards and the party dominates our 3 branches and most states.
Why did our famous democracy lack the guardrails it needs? We see the results now in the fierce and bizarre push to confirm Kavanaugh for the s. court.
Why don't EU countries have a similar mess in choosing their supreme court judges?
Washington Post article July 10. --“Selecting a Supreme Court justice doesn’t have to be a battle royal. Here’s how other countries do it.”
"In many countries judges are selected by legal and parliamentary committees. The court isn’t seen as starkly ideological terrain where the nation's toughest questions will be adjudicated. Trump announced a list of potential nominees before the 2016 election, with input from Heritage, a conservative think tank.”
Seems the US lacks political agreement on basic human and economic rights for citizens that other democracies have reached. Despite their political problems, their courts don’t have to decide on laws to protect voting rights, health care, abortion, labor union membership, etc. Let's discuss the contrast.
19
Here we go again, a pot calling a kettle black while looking in the mirror...
A British citizen Roger Cohen is disparaging the French people as lazy and overprotected so he is supportive of Emmanuel Macron?!
France is neither of those. Those citizens have worked extremely hard and diligently to protect their rights and benefits.
They are not working for the capital. The capital is serving them.
Does the NYT columnist know any nation that over the last four decades let the capital corrupt the elected officials to exploit the middle class and the working class to become filthy wealthy?
The bad columnists always go hand-in-hand with the corrupting capital.
Should we expect anything better and smarter from the country that let a single family rule them for many centuries, so they are still the subjects of Crown in the third millennium?
If the French citizens were lazy and spoiled, they would still live in the Kingdom, wouldn’t they?
By the way, no real Christian would ever allow self to adore and idolize any human being, with or without crown.
When you elect the president, he or she works for you, the people, not otherwise, at least in theory...
11
I have re-read the article ... and it turns out that Mr. Cohen seems just about as "tone deaf" as M. Macron.
I'm honestly not sure that an act of personal decency - COURAGEOUS, to be sure - where one individual is concerned ... is a good idea when YOU KNOW it will result in thousands of right wing votes ... when it's presented to an angry electorate.
Remember how careful Obama was NOT to feed any suspicions that he was going to be an "It's Our Time" President.
Yes, every politician who lasts more than a year takes into account "interest groups" and what interests them.... I'm sure there are many very decent French men & women who see those 2 "skeletons in the closet" precisely as Mr. Cohen does.
Objectively, there's no denying that "mistakes were made."
But just as DiBlasio - think horse-drawn carriages ... and MUCH WORSE things, like trying to water down the specialized high schools, an economic growth engine for NY if ever there was one - goes a little nuts when you put a microphone in front of him, Macron will have to learn what the elder Bush never did - "It's the economy, stupid!" It's absolutely inadequate to berate the Brits for what I agree was a dumb move ... while 2022 will roll around and the gap between rich and poor will have grown even wider.
Yes, the folks on the right talk scary "NATIONAL PRIDE," and that's far worse, but if Mr. Cohen's apologia boils down to, "His heart's in the right place," I think the French expect & demand more!
2
Macron is too good for the French. We will take him in a heartbeat.
10
Merci beaucoup, mon ami, vous avez toujours fait un excellent service a tous et nous sommes tous dans votre dette. Yours is not the only voice in this new bizarre wilderness, but it is the most prominent.
Here in the nation's capital, all this nascent nativism has been maddening. So when the Anglo-Saxon axis has delivered decisive self-inflicted blows, you are all too correct. Macron is our, for now, for this epoch, last best hope. May he succeed, for all of us.
4
Interesting, most citizens are not very happy with their EU and US Leaders.
Consider 2 conclusions these Leaders might reach about representative Democracy:
1) it's too bad citizens are so misinformed and can vote . . . or
2) maybe they don't like the decisions their Leaders are making
France: Macron = 19% approval
Germany: Merkel Christian Democrat Government = 29%
UK: May = 30%
US: Trump = 40% (Gallup)
Granted the head of the MTA has not has as long as M. Macron ... but when you come in either promising the world - a la France - or being heralded as "the genius" - Mr. Byford - you do well NOT to give too strong an impression of "learning on the job."
But what Mr. Cohen misses, because 20% unemployment is just a number to him ... who probably never ever missed a (healthy) paycheck, is that M. Macron - every bit as much as Trump - was elected with a healthy soupcon of bait-and-switch!
YES, ... a case can always be made that if workers gave their employer 150%, he/she/they might see clear to giving them a 20% raise - or more likely, a 20% bonus - the world being what it is.
But M. Macron clearly knows who his friends are - even if they're not as unsavory as most of Mr. Trump's.
Gutting labor protections ... and asking those affected to "be patient - once we're more competitive, you'll see how it benefits YOU!" ... is something that wears thin after about 6 months.
Today's Times reports that Britain's KIDS are victims of austerity. In the US, it's clear that "DO YOU FEEL BETTER OFF than blank ago?" had better not have 1 year, 2 years, 5 years or even 10 years filling in that blank!!
Saying that M. Macron is not a rabid nationalist is simply not good enough. France needs someone who understands that the aristocracy was "terminated" in 1789. Billionaires who use the tax code to ensure that their kids are, too ... cannot be rendered BETTER OFF while all the rest takes a hit!
8
So Roger - you applaud the dismissal of democracy? President Macron has begun implementing the failed Austerity ideology that has driven millions of Europeans to despair and millions of Americans to destitution.
This failed ideology enabled the attack on Greece by the European Central Bank, contrary to the ECB Charter - do you really applaud illegality Roger?
Admitting to past sins, which of course you did not commit is a trivial act; committing new sins of illegality to suit those in power
is a treasonable act.
8
"the last best hope"
Germany is the sound of the other hand not clapping. Nothing happens without strong leadership from Germany. Macron would have been useful when Merkel was strong. He barely registers in the current German climate.
1
Missing from the analysis of Macron’s precipitous decline is the French people’s aversion to enabling American neoconservative foreign policy.
Macron, alongside the US, U.K and Israel, has been complicit in the active bombing of Syrian government forces who are trying to free their country from ISIS and other western backed “rebels”.
I expected France to be FRANCE here, just as they refused to participate in Operation Iraqi Freedom, I believed Macron would put an end to the aftermath of the disasterous Operation Timber Sycamore.
The French know a lot more than average Americans do about their military engagements, and they are far more vociferous in their opposition to perpetual war and regime change.
10
Continuously put your arms around (figuratively as far as policy matters, and literally as far as bear hugs/handshakes that drone on for minutes), and you can expect your poll numbers to take a hit. (duh)
However, trying to upend a Socialist society by privatizing it (in any way) and you are going to run into resistance as well. (duh again)
7
Continuously put your arms around (figuratively as far as policy matters, and literally as far as bear hugs/handshakes that drone on for minutes), and you can expect your poll numbers to take a hit. (duh)
However, trying to upend a Socialist society by privatizing it (in any way) and you are going to run into resistance as well. (duh again)
1
I'll take Jean-Luc Mélenchon instead of the Neo-Liberal Emmanuel Macron.
9
Macron has "cut taxes." Yes, for billionaires, while at the same time raising taxes for poor pensioners. Admirable & brave, according to Mr. Cohen. The French will eventually throw him out as he deserves.
17
I cannot support Macron and his "center"-right, megacorp-friendly, anti-worker regime, which will dismantle the safety net and comfort that French workers have long had for no reason but a fatter salary for the management; but I do applaud that he was able to prevent the hideous hate of Le Pen from making France stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our "covfefe" regime during this General Assembly as two disgusting laughingstocks in a pod.
You coulda had a Mélenchon V8, though.
8
Vive Macron!
3
As a very- soon French citizen (moving there), I plan to vote for Macron. Many people have soured on him--it's the same kind of cynicism you see here--he's an elite, everyone sucks, he did something bad. Yadda yadda. I tell every last one of them, you have no idea how lucky you are to have him, wanna swap a Trump for a Macron? My French husband and I will do everything in our power to get him re-elected, and sensible people there like him. They're very reticent there to talk politics, they'll get an ear-full from us, the cautionary tale from America.
13
I have 2 reasons to join Mr. Cohen and all those applauding the French President: Mr. Macron remains one of a rarity of politicians who continue to inspire hope everywhere in the world -just like the days after his election, and one who exemplifies courageous leadership. For him to lead a diverse and often fractious people, in the face of self-interested and self-righteous ennemies all around, requires true patriotism, in addition to intelligence, knowledge and a healthy dose of other good qualities.
Rightly or wrongly, one could choose to believe any opinion left, right, or center about him. Perhaps many blame him for everything he and his team do, or do not, but fifty years from now les Français will salute him as a true national hero of a generation, of the calibre of General de Gaulle, if not bigger.
13
@Tan I courageously support his opening up of France to make it less like France and more like US.
1
If God came down from Heaven and started handing out €500 notes on street corners, the French would still find something to complain about.
11
@Jonathan This is true. However, there is some cultural context you are missing in regards to your statement. The French education system teaches the French to question/critique everything and to always look for flaws in a situation (for the purpose of constant improvement). It also teaches them how to argue their point and that "arguing" is to be seen as a good confrontation and not as a negative confrontation. In French school, it is IMPOSSIBLE to get a 100% grade on exams because the French view perfection as unattainable. With that being said, this is why the French get this reputation as "complainers" in my opinion. Being able to criticize something/someone is viewed in a positive light. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but this is definitely a matter of cultural differences.
Side note, I'm pretty sure they EU is phasing out the 500 note, so I don't think Macron will be able to hand those out lol :D Guess they'll have to settle for 200s HAHAHA
13
Cohen fails to recognize the strong feelings held through out the west about the abuse of money power. I am reminded of a recent column from Cohen in which quotes Jaime Diamond as fearful of the Democrats wanting to regulate too big to fail banks and tax corporations and individuals in a fair manner. The election of Trump the Plutocrat and Chief while not the only selling factor, such that he is a shameless purveyor of racial bigotry, but the stock market soars when a truly greedy person became president. Macron tried to come as a white knight and some of the reforms probably are needed. He wanted to make a big splash as a type of B. Clinton middle way type. France sees the international plutocracy that has grown up. They don't like Macron saying me too.
3
Roger Cohen is right on the mark. President Macron is our best hope, perhaps our only one, for the preservation of democracy and the values of decency, inclusion, tolerance and real civic participation. I have French family in Burgundy and their support of their president is very strong.
17
Thank you, Roger Cohen, for understanding Emmanuel Macron. The president of France has absorbed one of the most important lessons of the Roman Empire: lean on your ancient bones to propel you into the future. He embraces all aspects of the great and sometimes flawed culture that he represents and he has the energy and brilliance to move it forward. As a woman in America, I need only to consider his steadfast insistence on gender parity in all levels of French society to wish he were president of the US. We in the US can only dream of such an evolved leader. I have faith that the French will soon begin to realize that their president has their best interests at heart and works tirelessly for them. I believe that as President Macron's policies come to fruition, the French will begin to realize that their futures are hopeful and more open-ended. It's only scary until you take the first step. Vive la France.
159
@Dr. Joanna Dezio We had such 'an evolved leader' for 8 wonderful years. His name was Barack Obama.
2
While my understanding of French President Macron's policies and his personal 'popularity' in his native country is extremely limited, this American applauds Macron's courage in standing up to America's cartoon president. His rebuke of Trump's laughable nationalist rant at this week's U.N. General Assembly was masterful.
24
Count me in! Macron is more and more becoming the leader of the free world.
14
The NYT columnist Roger Cohen likes the French president Emmanuel Macron because the latter “cut the taxes”.
It is impossible to cut the taxes. You just collect the money to pay for the services provided by the state.
It means that you can only cut the people’s benefits and then just ADJUST the amount of the collected taxes.
If you cut the taxes without reducing the related benefits, you just pile up the national debt. A few decades later when the colossal national debt becomes enormous and burden to the society you are forced to cut the benefits...
Is it possible that somebody who worked in the USA for a decade is unable to understand the gimmicks behind the tax cuts?
When you publically confess that you like an unpopular president then you admit that you don’t like the people either.
9
This is a ridiculous article full of stereotypes about the French. I have been to France several times and found them to be very well informed, which I cannot say about the the US. The average US citizen is ill informed, and is easily led by the ruling class.
Take the Iran deal which is supported by every major country in the world including the UK (mother country) , France, Germany, Russia and China. Just because Obama signed it and Israel objects we have to obey Mr Trump. There is no argument that makes any sense regarding Nuclear Proliferation. Nuclear Proliferation started with the US sharing technology with the UK and France. We then indirectly funded both Pakistan and Israel to have nuclear weapons. Now we have decided that we in the US will decide who will have nuclear weapons. I understand that throughout history the most powerful country makes the rules (colonial period) . It will be interesting to see whether this will work in a nuclear weapons filled world.
Maybe we should try to negotiate instead of always using ultimatums and the threat of force (bullying). There is nothing we cannot achieve if we make peace and love of humanity our goal!!
16
@Sankaran
I lived in France for ten years, after spending 20 years there part-time. Roger Cohen's descriptions of French contrarianism, risk-aversion, and dark secrets about Nazi collaboration and colonial brutality are spot on. The French are well-informed, far more so than most Americans, as this tourist noticed. That does not undercut any of Cohen's analysis.
13
@rlschles France is a little bigger than Oregon. A quarter of Americans are from another country. Americans have enough to learn as our country morphs into whatever its quickly becoming... a genderless, open borders mix of feminist natives and old school third-worlders.
The French have the unfortunate tendency of saying that they want change and reform, but not really meaning it, or not really meaning it if it somehow affects their individual perks and special negotiated deals. Macron has made mistakes for sure, but he is trying to jump start the economy, which has been stagnant for years. It's too bad that the French can't see how much better France looks than Italy, Hungary, and the UK, which has voted itself into a right old mess, to cite just a few examples. Not to speak of the disaster called the United States of America right now.
21
I agree with Mr. Cohen that Emmanuel Macron should be applauded for standing to democratic values and for his condemnation of torture. However, and beyond the French legendary grumpiness, Mr. Macron was never really popular to start with, his core voter base is the 24% who voted for him in the first round. He beat Ms. Le Pen in the second round largely due to the French rejecting her and her values. Mr. Macron sits in a special place as a president, he was elected on an assumed centrist program and largely runs a conservative economic agenda (displeasing the left and the center left), and is more progressive on social issues than the right would want a president to be. Believe it or not, his condemnation of torture in Algeria is resented by many in right-wing aging circles. Mr. Macron staged condescendance is not helping him either. More fundamentally, the question the French have is where Mr. Macron is taking them, there is a muffled but profound disbelief in French society that the extreme capitalism values at play in the world are not helping us live happy lives, but Mr. Macron has not shown that he is heading in another direction. The relative homogeneity and social safety net of French society have contained the gains of extreme parties, but it may be one of the last chances before France falls into that trap. Wake up Emmanuel!
5
I, too like Macron, I applaud his statement on Algeria. I admire his desire to make France more welcoming to entrepreneurship. I don't doubt the relationships with unions need overhauling. But Mr. Cohen's take on France reads like American right wing anxiety about a society that actually does try to make life better for its citizens, not just the the wealthy. I lived in France. As an American, I found how the French discouraged ostentatious displays of wealth to be very refreshing. I also admired how everyone got to take a vacation every year and the easy access to affordable, good quality childcare. I didn't find them lazy.
According the OECD, the French workers are more productive Americans! They also work more hours per week than the Germans. And the French live longer than Americans. Macron has failed to bring his electorate along with his thinking. They worry that France will end up like us.
28
With the expectation that my comment will generate negative comments from most readers of the Times, I salute Roger Cohen for this piece. What the USA needs at this time is a Macron type revolution that pushes both parties into the minority. The GOP, lacking coherence among five distinct factions, has been devoured by Trumpism (“whatever sells”). The Democrats are being overpowered by their own revolutionary guard pushing against the remnants of centrism in the Party. Their focus on identity politics under Obama led to Trump’s election. The centrists remaining in each party should find common cause, and some patriotic billionaires should help to fund a serious centrist agenda between now and 2020. Serious leaders should select a serious candidate for President against the results of our flawed primary system that is driven by the likes of the Koch Brothers on the right and George Soros, the Hollywood elite and Tom Steyrer on the left—fueled by CNN, MSNBC and Fox News which make big bucks across the primary season.
6
“What the USA needs at this time is a Macron type revolution that pushes both parties into the minority.”
You’re absolutely correct. Unfortunately, that won’t and can’t happen in the U.S., since we don’t have ranked choice or runoff voting, so winner takes all (regardless of majority), and thus our system can’t practically support more than two parties. We need a constitutional amendment to replace Congress with a Federal Parliament and replace winner-takes-all voting with ranked choice. But, it won’t happen.
8
@REM Obama was exactly the type of centrist that you claim to want, but he was always criticized for being "divisive" simply because Republicans didn't like him. Seriously, what is the policy difference between Macron and Obama?
6
President Macon has shown he is a great political figure by telling the truth even when it was inconvenient. That's how we shoud judge people who aspire to be our leaders. They are not there to please and to take the easy way with voters which do not want to be reminded the world changes and which always think their past was always golden. I admire courage when I see it, specially in people who are supposed to lead us. Macron is our best hope in Europe.
Why should popular surveys always be a measure of the truth? i.e. Brexit
I theerefore completely agree with Mr. Cohen
29
"[Macron] has called the French “resistant to change,” even “lazy.” As Bloomberg reported, the president told an unemployed gardener that he, Macron, could “cross the road and find you” a job immediately in a bar or restaurant. That’s taboo in the can’t-do country par excellence."
Roger Cohen's dripping contempt for the non-rich, which he displays eagerly and often, is easily more repulsive than even Macron's.
I lived in France for years and when I read Cohen, who apparently has also, writing about France, I feel like I'm reading a right-wing American tourist loudly giving the Trumpian view of Europe, a bunch of lazy, do-nothing, oh you know the rant. It's right there in the last line I quoted from Cohen.
NYT, really you can do better than this.
21
So please explain why can't the unemployed gardener take another job?
6
@Donna Gray
Because the French are “resistant to change” indeed.
While Americans may be ready to travel from Iowa to California in order to make a living, the French are reluctant to leave their historical roots (Normandy say) to go to Alsace (or the other way round).
@Jeo
The "lazy" epithet was a reference to ancient and ineffective politicians (think Chirac, Sarkozy and Hollande) not the people. Macron may seem aloof but he is no fool and don't try to alienate his potential supporters and voters.
Thank you, Mr. Cohen, for showing us what Americans have missed. Much as people of my generation mistook license for liberty--which requires "heavy" homework, today's Americans mistake celebrity for quality. This is why we have a mentally-challenged, incompetent TV huckster whose actions are like the proverbial bull in a china shop (and could have been placed there by the actions of a hostile power) as president, embarrassing us both at home and abroad and diligently working to trash the promises of our Constitution.
5
I and many other Americans are now looking to France to defend and preserve what is best in the West. On our side of the Atlantic, every day brings a fresh embarrassment from our own ignorant and bumbling leader. Looking across to France, we see President Macron standing up for the dignity and respect every human being deserves, and calling out the stupidity of xenophobia and small-mindedness where he sees it. We see a man living in the 21st Century, rather than walking backwards gazing nostalgically into the past. He is willing to acknowledge French failures, while assuring everyone in the West that France has much to offer to to show the way into the future.
I hope my friends in France will have patience with President Macron, and give him the backing he needs to lead the West. Right now, he is standing between us and the chasm.
20
Why no mention of Macron’s spirited rebuttal of Trump’s unilateralism at the UN?
13
Courage, mon ami, in a world where neither are now common.
1
The key problem with the NYT is the hiring of the columnists that don’t understand the essence of the troubles. That’s why after almost 150 years of the NYT existence the problems we face are larger and worse than ever.
The true intellectuals have the shared common trait – they are capable of understanding the cause of the crises. They never dwell at the individual level of Brett Kavanaugh or Emmanuel Macron.
Just remember the endless list of the politicians this editorial board endorsed. All of them have betrayed and abandoned the voters. No NYT columnist has ever recognized this fact and strongly advised the NYT against this silly and stupid habit. Why should we in perpetuity endorse any politician and destroy our credibility?
All of them lie in our face and promise the things they cannot deliver. That’s the reason for the deep disappointment and sense of betrayal. The politicians promise the federal budgets would be balanced and the national debt dramatically slashed only to double up in size buy the end of their mandate.
Intentional lying cannot exist in true democracy. It is either-or relationship.
Pro-business president is anti-democratic. Democracy and the capital cannot be equally important. You sacrifice one to protect the other. Only one thing can be at the top of our system of values.
We have sacrificed the future generations by piling up the colossal national debt to be paid off by them.
The capital has been more important than the people.
7
Not all of America’s Founding Fathers disavowed themselves of what they regarded as some of the virtues of the British system of governing, and some of the traditions that went with them. Alexander Hamilton, for instance, the first Treasury Secretary --- and the one person who more than any other is responsible for the development of our financial system and for putting the country on a sound economic footing by having the national government assume the debts the 13 states had incurred during the War of Independence --- was derided by some of his critics as a monarchist and for having pro-British sentiments. John Adams, the first Vice President of the U.S., was also regarded as pro-British and had once suggested that the President of the United States be referred to as “His Excellency.”
Frankly, it comes as no surprise to me that many Americans have a fascination with British royalty. Americans, in general, have an affinity for Britain and its culture that runs very deep, notwithstanding the outcome of the War of Independence.
On the flip side of the coin, there is also a deep fascination among many Americans with France and French culture. I was fortunate to visit Paris twice (July 2000 & July 2010) and was utterly charmed by it.
(I inherited my interest in all things French from my father, who had arrived in France in June 1944 - courtesy of the U.S. Army - and had travelled through a considerable part of that country. He learned to speak fluent French.)
1
"To be a serious historical figure today is to stand in isolation." To be a serious historical figure/leader anytime is usually to "stand in isolation". That's why they are taken seriously. We need more of them today, particularly in the United States which is lead by a group of sniveling sycophants and weak kneed opportunists...from top to bottom.
3
Those of you who want to watch the visit of President Macron to Madame Audin, widow of Pierre Aubin who has been tortured and killed by the French Secret Service, can do so on You Tube, search key is, for instance;
"macron visite veuve audin"
Thank you Roger Cohen for focusing our attention on that visit!
What to make of this column, Cohen oscillates between cliché after cliché about the French and fawning over Macron that borders on adoration.
First, Macron is no "wunderkind". If by "wunderkind" Cohen means a political novice who won the presidency in his first attempt, then Donald Trump is surely a "wunderman" in Cohen's book. Macron was a deceitful and lucky opportunist who won by default because nobody wanted far-right Marine Le Pen to win, who now governs like the banker he is, as Trump governs like the real estate salesman he is.
Second, about this blind declaration: "Macron remains Europe’s most vigorous bulwark against the wave of nationalism, nativism, xenophobia and small-mindedness".
One can't be a "bulwark" if one can't hold back the populist tide, and all indications show that at the European Parliament elections, Le Pen's party will bounce back and win big, all because Macron has so alienated older and working class voters by his policies that they see no one better to protect them than Le Pen.
Put away your rosy glasses (or your rosaries, so much do you adore Macron), and by the way, your thesaurus of old French clichés, Mr. Cohen, and interview some real French person today before writing, or do columnists no longer deign to do basic journalistic leg work before opining?
19
@LdV
" Macron was a deceitful and lucky opportunist who won by default because nobody wanted far-right Marine Le Pen to win" Not gonna bother with the deceitful and lucky part because that's smiply your subjective oppinion but the whole "nobody wanted him and he only won because people wanted LePen less" is a pure fabrication of yours. It wasn't Macron vs LePen, that's not how the french election system works. There was a multitude of candidates/parties of which Macron's was the most voted. 24% in the first round. His party was the first choice for a quarter of the population. Granted the second round is a head to head battle between the top two parties from the first round. No doubt Macron got some anti LePen votes there, but that's nothing new when there are two options. Same as Trump got plenty of votes that weren't necesarilly pro Trump but anti Hillary. The idea of suggesting that the party with the most votes in the first round simply won because of a vote against somebody else is completely absurd, and honestly the evidence proves that you're.
Even though you may not be a journalist you could use some leg work too.
5
Funny how the Americans and the Brits never tire of telling the French how they should live.
What it is about French society which we find so intolerable?
Could it be workers' rights? That French citizens aren't afraid of their government, like obedient Americans? Horrible precedent!
Clearly, what these people need is our system of governance, and it's heroic of Roger Cohen to propose it. Nothing like misery and obscenely unequal societies to put workers in their place.
18
Too many it was clear from the beginning that Macron was neoliberal stooge for the corporations and rich After all he was an ex Goldman guy and it was really strange that some people would expect something ecnomically progressive or even just from him.
7
For all of his laws I gladly trade Macron for trump in a heartbeat, at least Macron is not loony.
6
Right on ! Macron is currently the only serious head of state standing for democracy, the rule of law, and just plain decency when dictators, large and small (Putin, Trump, Orban, Kaszinsky and others) are threatening freedom. He's our best (and only ?) chance.
9
@Joel Trudeau seems to be doing a decent Job. Of course Canada doesn't have the same heft on the world stage.
3
Macron reflected weakness and shallow thinking as he criticized America's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear agreement. He wants to work with Iran - he's pathetic.
Iran has been exporting terror throughout the Middle East by supporting extremist groups in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and the Gaza. There is no discussion with Iran as long as they support a world of terror.
Forget Macron, he'll be gone before long. France is irrelevant.
3
Amen! Macron is not perfect but let those without fault cast the stones. Look around and pick the leader who will fight for sensible change (example: railway worker reform) and responsibility (Vichy, Algeria, colonialism). Merkel is wounded, Trump is a disgrace, England bereft.
Where to turn when “The best lack all conviction while the worst Are full of passionate intensity.”? Macron, at least for now, may help lead us to find “où sont les neiges d'antan...”
7
Thank you, Mr. Cohen. As a foreigner working in France for more than 20 years, I salute Mr. Macron.
I salute him for (1) pulling back France from the abyss into which she was about to fall in May 2016; (2) founding an entirely new party of mainly neophytes that managed its first 16 months in government remarkably well; (3) setting a clear reform agenda from which all his 4 predecessors (that makes 36 years) shied away and that contains many of the most urgent items in the view of a large majority of economists (labor regulation, size and efficiency of government, social security contributions taxed on labor, and budget deficit chiefly among them); (4) winning an important victory over the railway labor unions, the single biggest reason why his 4 predecessors shied away from any reform; (5) being steady and consistent when all the 4 big neighboring countries in Europe are in deep domestic political trouble; (6) giving Europe a courageous, clear and dignified voice on the world stage.
These are no small achievements. Especially in a country that, according to the one leader the French think was their strongest (Charles De Gaulle) is ungovernable and has become more so since. Mr. Macron inverted the "Law of the 5th Republic" according to which, until he was elected, every President of France since 1958 was worse than his predecessor. I also salute him for his personal courage.
12
Roger this column is naive and a weak attempt to defend elitist hyper capitalist banker rule. As far as Vichy and Algeria go you are hyperventilating a bit I am afraid. The genesis of Vichy was utterly unavoidable and very much tolerated indeed supported by the French left including the Socialists. The Algerian war was dirty on both sides. It was a war of decolonization as DeGaulle said. Algeria could have been like the Irish Free State but instead it demanded a total exodus of the French many who were willing to live as Algerian nationals. There were only 500,000 French in a population of 9,000,000. Vichy’s worst sin was allowing the deportation of recently nationalized French Jews and foreign Jewish refugees to be deported. However tragic and brutal this was it may have saved many French Jews as the National Holocaust Museum acknowledges. I’m not diminishing the suffering of victims of history, I’m just pointing out that these tragedies should not be exploited by anyone especially politicians. I’m afraid Macron is guilty of this. It doesn’t change anything.
14
@Peter
No sir. You are wrong. Vichy's worst sin was collaborating with the Nazi dictatorship. Vichy was only inevitable in the sense that the French were conquered in 1940. Petain, Laval and the vile Nazi collaborators were justly overthrown by a combination of Resistance fighters and Allied forces.
Your understanding of Algeria is equally flawed. Algeria was not a French territory, it was incorporated into France as a state. When Algerians opted for independence, French fascists and paramilitary terrorists did not want to give up Algeria to the Algerians. DeGaulle himself nearly gave his life in assassination attempts made upon him by French fascist terrorists who blamed him for losing Algeria, precisely because he was attempting to extricate the mainland from an unwinnable war.
6
@Peter So you don't think that Chirac was right to apologize for deportation of Jews during the Holocaust?
2
@rlschles
I think you are naive about the tragic reality of France's defeat and how the entire political spectrum rallied around Pétain for a significant time.
Regarding Algeria I don't know what your point is. Despite the French "fascist" terrorists in the army and pied noirs terrorists DeGaulle was in negotiations to allow French to trade their citizenship to become Algerian. Yes the army wanted to keep Algeria French but France was not a military dictatorship.
1
Thank you, Mr. Cohen. As a foreigner working in France for more than 20 years, I salute Mr. Macron. I salute him for
(1) pulling back France from the abyss into which she was about to fall in May 2016;
(2) founding an entirely new party of mainly neophytes that managed its first 16 months in government remarkably well;
(3) setting a clear reform agenda from which all his 4 predecessors (that makes 36 years) shied away and that contains many of the most urgent items in the view of a large majority of economists (labor regulation, size and efficiency of government, social security contributions taxed on labor, and budget deficit chiefly among them);
(4) winning an important symbolic victory over the railway labor unions, the single biggest reason why his 4 predecssors shied away from any reform;
(5) being steady and consistent when all the 4 big neighboring countries in Europe are in deep domestic political trouble;
(6) giving Europe a courageous, clear and dignified voice on the world stage.
These are no small achievements. Especially in a country that, according to the one leader the French think was their strongest (Charles De Gaulle) is ungovernable and has become more so since.
I also salute him for his personal courage, and for inverting the "Law of the 5th Republic" according to which, until he was elected, every President of France since 1958 was worse than his predecessor.
8
Indeed, the French seem to be systematically tackling their ghosts: Dreyfus, indifference to carnage in WWI (Paths to Glory banned until 1975), Vichy, Algeria, Rainbow Warrior; while by contrast, our own ghosts seem to be piling up: Guantanamo, torture, decision to invade Iraq, criminal elements of the financial crisis, collusion with Russian election interference.
And Macron does seem to have the peripatetic quality of a young Napoleon, who, before he embarked on endless wars, would reform the French education system in the morning and approve major archetectual projects in the afternoon from his drawing room in the Chateau de la Malmaison. I too am rooting for Macron.
And I hope he can also figure out France's greatest riddle: why second and third generation immigrants from the Maghreb aren't better off than their first generation forefathers.
25
3rd largest economy in Europe. 6th largest economy in the world with only 67 million people. Imagine what they would be like if some of Macron's ideas actually took effect - without throwing people out into the street, of course (something I would not advise any government in France to cause since the French are not known to just sheepishly accept anything their government or corporations dish out).
12
I claim no brief in the arcane world of French party politics. However, I have listened (in English) to a discussion of their situation by a panel of informed persons.
Pres. Macron, like P.M. May in G.B., has the luxury of incompetent, conflicted opposition parties. As the old saying goes, you can't replace something with nothing. Mr. Cohen, you are spot on concerning Europe, for all its bureaucratic sins and busy-body regulatory overreach. The alternative is far worse, and in the case of the nationalist parties, entities under the influence of persons with names like Putin and a rumpled Bannon, the oddest of odd couples.
3
Amen to that. Driving change is hard. Defying convention is hard. Having informed convictions and sticking to them is difficult. Trying to do all of these things as an elected politician is almost impossible. Is Macron drawing fire because he's raising taxes? Yes, he's angering the upper middle class and the right. Is he drawing fire because he's getting rid of entitlements? Yes, he's angering the socialists on the left. Is he getting closer to balancing the budget? Yes. No one likes to take their medicine, but they wake up feeling better the next day.
10
As a British citizen that used to live and work in the USA, Mr. Cohen could have tried to close the British Pandora Box.
Why should Roger talk about the French Algerian Was or their collaboration during the WWII? What about the brutal British colonial rule over the Middle East, and enormous swaths of Asia, Africa and America?
Has the British government ever publically admitted those terrible claims, looting and oppression that deprived the hundreds million people of their freedom, liber and sovereignty.
Has it ever apologized?
The British Crown is the symbol of all those colossal shameful crimes against the humanity and civilization.
They are still devoted to the King or the Queen, the symbol of prolonged tyranny that oppressed a half of the world.
As long as it is the constitutional Kingdom, the Great Britain does not belong to the democratic EU.
(By the way, the same could be said for Belgium, the country with the EU administration)
Having America publically adoring the British kings, queens, princes and princesses is a slap in the face of our Founding Fathers that fought and died for our freedom and liberty.
If we are prone to the demolishing the American monuments from the Civil War era because of the social injustice that existed during those times, shouldn’t we treat in the same way the British relicts from the same slavery era – their Kings and Queens and the British crown?!
3
I wish America had brave politicians willing to tackle out of control social and entitlement spending.
1
Macron, the former investment banker president who belittles working class Frenchmen and tears down what little protections they have. Would he ever focus on reforming his fellow bankers and financiers? Of course not! Keep chopping away at the working class and give a pass to all the corruption in the finance and banking work. He is also a fierce advocate of giving more control to the EU, an supranational organization full of unelected bureaucrats that love to dictate every minute detail to the populace but are completely tone deaf to what the people they apparently represent want, which is leading to the elections of these populist governments. I actually think he is lucky to have his 19% approval rating...
13
@Altered Carbon
I was leaving in San Francisco. Near my home was a French bakery. A few days before leaving for a family visit in France, I bought a baguette and croissants at the French bakery. The young lady serving had her arm in a cast. I met my son a few days later in France and asked him how his mother was doing. She was on medical leaves for two weeks with a cold.
My brother has a family business in Aix en Provence. He has been unable to find a driver for years: the few who took his offer left after a few days: tough hours and low pay. Hard to compete against social benefits complemented with income from shadow economy.
So it is about time that French people find a fair middle ground between the excesses of the US and the French models. Glad Macron destroyed the démagogues and is chalenging the status quo.
As for the EU, it is correct to observe that the bureaucrats went overboard, but Europe has no future without a federal structure as demonstrated recently.
5
@Altered Carbon
If you believe the French have relatively little work protection I wonder what you would consider to be robust then?
Additionally you seem confused about how the EU functions. All euro-representatives are elected by direct suffrage every 5 years.
2
Too bad the slavery is banned. It would be perfect for robust economy - cheap labor with no rights. What could be wrong?
There's a whirlwind of right wing (populisim?) swirling about the European Union. If you follow the money behind it, you'll find Putin and Trump and the oligarchs in each country. They are gaining strength with their lies about nationalism and racism; and they must be fought with truth about equality and compassion.
Europe is our last best hope for a society that puts a safety net under their citizens. America is losing ground fast.
I'm afraid Macron falls into the category of those who speak as a progressive but are in thrall to the oligarchs.
2
Than you Roger for this superb article. Here in Greece we are ridiculing and ostracizing our Macrons. We prefer to live in a world of fantasy with the average retirement age for civil servants still at 54 years old, while 400,000 of our most promising young university graduates have emigrated in the past 8 years and with the leader of the opposition, who will most likely become the next prime minister, promising not to fire a single government employee, so we can continue to pay for almost 1 million non-productive and privileged workers. Private enterprise is considered a crime and profit is a dirty word. One fascinating fact is that the leftist populists in Greece love Donald Trump because, in their view, he is tearing down the establishment. Destruction is what many people want around the World, without any idea of what they want the day after.
7
Macron, even with his flaws, is a true leader and one badly needed at this time of increasing populism. I hope his reforms in France will succeed and he will continue to stand up to populists in Europe and elsewhere. He should get our support as the only (or better one of the few) world leader standing tall against xenophobia and blind nationalism.
5
Totalement d'accord! Maybe it takes Americans to appreciate Macron and France. Nice to be proud of at least one current president in my life as an American expat in France.
8
I note that almost all of those readers that applaud Macron appear to be gainers of globalization... mobile, educated (ordinary French do not read the NYT), home equally everywhere.
That is not the average French, whose purchasing power is falling under Macron and who continuous to see factories move to low wage countries, notably, in the case of France, to Poland
Nor does the average NY Times reader, a publication that after The Economist and the WSJ has the most affluent readership of any weekly
8
@Talesofgenji
Ordinary French as you call them may not read the NY TImes, but they do read Le Monde, Figaro, Liberation, Les Echos, and many other publications, as well as watch the 8pm news. It is not wages that cause French businesses to de-localize - it is the high government payroll taxes, which in France are 63%, the highest in Europe.
1
Popularity is fickle and treacherous it is said and Macron is finding out the hard way. Nevertheless he received the UN environment award along with Prime minister Modi of India recently. Both leaders right now are more popular abroad than in their home countries. Another wunderkind prime minister on who their country has soured in Justin Trudeau. The trio should sit together and chill out over French wine, Canadian Beer and Mango lassi and brain storm over What happened?
4
Maybe you applaud Macron because there is no other seemingly possible alternative candidate to replace Angela Merkel in the destabilized Europe facing the consequences of the immigrants from the Libyan and Syrian miscaluculations of the West.
1
Well said. The truth will free Macron, however unpopular it will make him to the mob. Complacency is a dead knell in any society that claims rights without acknowledging the obligations it requires (which you may call 'responsible' behavior). A lazy society is not France's privilege, as it can be seen in Germany, to mention 'the elephant in the room' in the European Union (there was a book published years ago called "Die faule Gesellschaft", wie die Deutschen arbeiten). As long as Macron works hard for the common man/woman's life enjoyment, and justice for each and all, peace may yet be a foreseeable aim. If so, he may be vindicated.
8
Excellent evaluation of Macron's reforms for France and his steadfast defence of European values as expressed through the European Union. Identifying the bad guys, Boris Johnson in the UK and Viktor Orban in Hungary, Cohen rightly contrasts their nationalist rhetoric and authoritarian politics with Macron's courageous admission of France's systematic use of torture in the Algerian War.
5
Initially, Macron got a little carried away with the pomp and trappings of high office, with which he had little experience. But he is young, smart and decisive. He understands that France has been stagnant and complacent for far too long. He understands that France is not living up to its potential. He also understands that, without some fundamental changes, France - and the EU - are vulnerable to the atavistic and deeply reactionary forces currently eroding the international order that was established in the wake of WWII and which, by in large, has fostered peace and prosperity the past 70 years. It's good to see a major Western leader thinking clearly, speaking out and taking action, even as the U.S. abdicates its international responsibilities under the farcically anarchic trump regime.
13
I often do not agree with Roger Cohen. This time, I do.
We are quick to admire the qualities and abilities that motivated us to vote our elected officials into office, but not nearly as fast as we are to divorce ourselves from their failings, which are none but OUR VERY OWN.
6
As a United States citizen who hasn't lived or worked in France, I'm certain French workers will benefit tremendously from Mr. Macron's campaign to undermine worker protections. In the USA, decades of bold, courageous, and absolutely necessary efforts to roll back worker protections have led to skyrocketing working class prosperity. There's no French word yet for their citizens' envy of our lower wages, higher healthcare costs, and meager paid vacation time, but I'm sure they'll come up with one soon.
Regardless, Macron is on the right side of international causes I care about, so if he's wrong about domestic issues that don't impact my pocketbook directly, it doesn't matter. He's widely regarded to be an even more ethical, intelligent, and capable leader than Donald Trump, after all. What more could anyone want?
10
@Chris My first reaction was negative until I Recognized the sarcasm in your comment. The American way has failed us. Stagnant wages, skyrocketing healthcare, housing and education costs, lack of upkeep of infrastructure, rejection of environmental regulations, plans to rape our precious national parks.
I lived in Germany for 15 years and came back two years ago when ageist policies in Germany left me unemployed. But I must say so much about the European system are better than here. Corporate boards in Germany must have employees represented equally. Imagine if that were the case here. Healthcare is so much less costly. Education at a university costs almost nothing. 6 weeks vacation. Great infrastructure. Sad that Americans don't have this.
3
" He's widely regarded to be an even more ethical, intelligent, and capable leader than Donald Trump,"
Pretty low bar you're setting there - just sayin'.
2
@Chris The distance between American and France in terms of labor laws and proteccions might as well be the pacific ocean.
Ideally we'd find a happy median between both where we can promote innovation and investment without stifling the labor market, driving down effeciancy and preventing young people from accessing the work force. Unfortunately too many people are either wedded completely to either the capitalist or socialist viewpoint and are unwilling to compromise.
As somebody who's lived and worked in Europe (Spain) for many years now I've witnessed the serious consecuences of overegulated labor markets and how they hurt the economy and the very people they are intended to help in many occasions. With that said, that doesn't mean we need to turn it into the american system where workers have no power whatsoever.
So just to leave you at ease Macron's reforms aren't likely to move the french labor market even 25% of the way towards our American one. Maybe people will see that flexibility in the labor market brings certain benefits of course if other aspects aren't taken into account and modified then it all may be for naught. Can't expect to run a new system inside the parameters defined by the old one and expect positive change.
3
Is it possible that Justin Trudeau could be a Francophone brother-in-arms against the forces attacking international stability? In addition to their shared French culture, Trudeau and Macron are also of a similar age and temperament. Also, like Macron, Trudeau faces discontent from a variety of factions of the Canadian population.
Though his international profile may not be as influential as the president of France, I think that Justin Trudeau is also a national leader who has taken a position against the rising tide of political iconoclasm. Canada is more vulnerable to the economic effects of American belligerence. The current renegotiation of the NAFTA, demanded by the Trump administration, has proceeded under duress and threats. All of them have been met by Trudeau's representatives with a calm and measured resolve to do what is best for Canada. Trump says, "We are unhappy."
So be it.
Perhaps the French resistance can show other leaders how to stand firm while under attack.
17
I think Macron took the smart approach, pushing through the hard reforms when his legitimacy was highest and the opposition was still licking its wounds. France desperately needed to update its labor laws, just like Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and other countries have done before (not in the least because digital retail needs flexible labor). Macron would have had a much harder time today, after some of his most popular cabinet ministers already left and the opposition is gaining traction. Anyway, taking benefits away from France's government employees and big unions was always going to be dramatic and strike inducing.
There have also been needless scandals, in part fueled by his main flaw (arrogance), but one thing about Macron is that he's a man of action and soldiers on.
He said he would turn his focus now on unemployment and poverty, so let's see if he can deliver and shake his reputation of President for the rich. I think he may be remembered as one of France's greats, too.
12
@Brewing Monk
Obama also focused on the toughest, least popular challenges and while his popularity was high, unfortunately for him this all took place in a rapidly worsening recession that was not of his making.
1
I was a big fan of Macron at the time of his election, but then soured on him in tandem with the French. But having read this piece, I'm keeping an open mind. Maybe he's just what France, and Europe, needs.
10
Leaving aside Macron for a moment, Roger again presents the argument against the anti-immigrant turn in European society. He hasn’t noted the fact that some countries have been forced to try to absorb far more immigrants than in the past in a very short period of time. Angela Merkel’s about-face on uncontrolled immigration is an acknowledgement that she went too far. And Roger has ignored the fact that people are entitled to vote. His superior attitude toward the voting populations is similar to the disdain from the Brussels autocrats which rankles the European countries’ electorates. Just as in the U.S., even the Democrats now acknowledge large masses of dislocated workers were left behind without ways to cope, the votes of millions of ordinary Europeans mean something. As with the startling ascension of Trump, these large numbers of voters are ignored at our peril.
18
@Charles Zigmund
I agree with almost everything you wrote but for one line, "...even the Democrats now acknowledge large masses of dislocated workers were left behind without ways to cope...." There were and are Democrats who knew and know that.
Before Bernie, before NAFTA, before the 2008 economic Great Recession, there were voters-especially left-wing Democrats-who advocated for those kinds of workers who were enduring that kind of loss even in the 1970's and 1980's of Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. It is to the everlasting blame of the U.S. political establishment that when this problem was brought forward in political discourse, those concerns were condescendingly dismissed as the complaints of the lazy, unimaginative, unproductive...the takers. Anyone paying attention, but certainly NOT the mainstream Democrats nor the Republicans, knew free trade was not equitable or fair trade and the repercussions would be terrible for American workers and the economy. Ross Perot was correct and Al Gore was wrong: there was a "giant sucking sound going south" with all the jobs lost to global trade barriers being dropped. And now that sucking sound is beginning to be heard at the highest levels of world governments. But isn't it too late?
7
I think the strong French unions are going to have to be more flexible in dealing with government and corporate entities, though not to the point of weakening themselves against corporate globalists. It's a tough call, but accommodations can readily be made here, without eviscerating unions, as has happened i nthe USA, much to our extreme detriment.
15
Macon hasn't just governed as a pro-market liberal, but has also introduced policies aimed at reducing inequalities. These are critical to stem the rise of populism in France and elsewhere in Europe, but so far they have not had the desired effect.
Part of the problem is that it will take time for some of the measures to have the desired effect; and the recent downturn in global economic performance hasn't helped.
Improvement will probably come too late to prevent yet another populist wave at the European elections next year. The real test, however will be in 2022 when Macron comes up for re-election: if there hasn't been some form of economic rebound by then, Marine Le Pen could find herself with an easy path to the presidency.
9
In a world desperately in need of truth tellers, and true heroes, thank God for President Macron. May he and France succeed in lighting the way in this dark and foreboding time.
37
Roger -- thanks for your long stream of perspectives from Europe. Of world leaders today, I see Macron as the current voice not only of Europe, but enlightened reason. He is making changes in labor laws -- not because he doesn't favor job security in the abstract -- but because it gravely limits growth and international business in today's global economy. That message is a hard sell to those who will be inevitably displaced. It would be marvelous if he could play an even bigger role on the world stage, but is currently limited by the power of influence of France, against the titans of America, China and Russia.
25
We live in France for quite a while and believe we know the people fairly well. Roger has hit the proverbial nail on the head. France is a country that is a dichotomy, on one hand it resists change and on the other it wants results (which need changes). It's complex to try and see where it going but I would rather have a Macron at the helm trying to steer the ship of state in a good direction than the "stable genius" in America.
46
From the point of view of an American in France, Macron does seem to have his problems with his constituency. I too feel that he has been good on foreign policy before and since his election. I also understand the leeriness of the French toward his domestic reforms - and agree with their assessment. While 5th in productivity to the USA's 3rd, France ranks 10th to the USA's rock bottom in inequality. If you are a French voter which number are you feeling on a daily basis? (Ref. Wikipedia ranks.)
8
Thank you, Mr. Cohen, for your sincere words. As a German I would like to hear such sentences, as Macron spoke them, from the mouth of our own Chancellor, too. Let's hope she recovers some or her old strength to follow him in these important matters.
18
After living there for over a decade and visiting often, I learned to love France, French culture, the people and its fabulous language. I also learned that the French have a tendency toward complaining. This leads to terrific debates and lively, stimulating discussions. I love their questioning minds. But it is also true that this complaining reveals a diminished capacity for tolerance until time can straighten things out and so sometimes it shoots oneself in the foot. Don’t get me wrong, Americans have heaps of short comings. I just hope the French will give Macron more time before complaining so bitterly, and thereby opening the door to the dangerous right wing, again.
35
The world laughed at President Trump's boasting and irreverence before the United Nations General Assembly, an institution, even with all its imperfections, dedicated to world peace and international cooperation. It yearns for world leadership in pursuit of humanitarianism and justice.
The patriotism in Trump's mind cannot coexist with internationalism. His America First slogan and his embrace of other leaders who find traction in their countries with appeals to nationalism and racism is a further abdication of America's historic role as a co-founder of the UN. In place of Eleanor Roosevelt we have John Bolton.
Perhaps President Macron or Chancellor Angela Merkel can fill the void.
21
Yes to exposing historical lies of humanitarian abuses, but why do we all have to be models of productivity? The greatest gift France has given the world is it’s appreciation of beauty and of the gentle pursuits of life like a leasurly stroll down an ancient street, an afternoon of people watching in a cafe or in a museum, long thoughtfully prepared meals at a country table. In France these have traditionally not just been the habbits of the elite, but of rich and poor alike. Better off we would all be to skip an afternoon’s work to indulge in one of these pleasures. This is not lazy. Nor is six weeks annual vacation to spend with friends or family doing nothing of significance. The constant hammering for ever-increasing productivity is a demand to keep .us all goose-stepping to the demands of global titans of industry.
66
As an American living in France It is a pleasure to see a president call a lie a lie and acknowledge the dark side of the country’s history in order to move forward. The length of his term will give him some space to see the results of his changes. And I believe he is doing the right things and doesn’t care about his approval numbers.
He’s also taken the measure of Trump and called him out for his turn to isolationism and “patriotism” in his speech at the U.N. Macron is clearly intelligent but I wish he would better edit his complex speeches. They wallow in the weeds.
His polling may be low but the world is not laughing at him.
Vive la France.
87
Mr Cohen tackles France or the French issues via Macron performance and dismal poll standing in an excellent way. It's not perfect because unless you are French, or a descendant of one and have experienced France in quite deep layers of French life, then it's too easy to generalize about what President Macron is attempting to do. Macron has reached deep into the shaky nerves of France by righting the injustices that France committed during the Algerian War. Unfortunately WW2 was a tragedy for France and many of it's people. Jews and many other citizens were deliberately sent to their deaths. At one point 5 million French citizens were rounded up and sent to camps abroad. Vichy was enabled this and any policy the Germans demanded. Much of this occurred from those who wished to remain or gain power/wealth in large cities. Those in the countryside - the true hero's and partisans which helped the allies beat the Germans are today's forgotten French citizens and those who feel most betrayed and suspicious of Macron. Those citizens in the cities that long depended on superb entitlements are obviously not Macron supporters. Macron must chip away at the very heart of this and he will no doubt have tough sledding ahead.
8
@Realist The U.S.A. maintained diplomatic relations with the Vichy regime. Just as USamerican corporations: Ford, GM, IBN, etc. kept operating in Germany long after Hitler rose to power.
Macron? Macron is one more French politician at the service of big capital. I was surprised that the French voted for him after protesting the "Macron Plan" while he was Hollande's Minister of Economy and Industry.
He gave a good speech at the United Nations two days ago, though.
5
Fully agree with Roger Cohen. Macron, right now, stand alone, he has done some mistakes, but he's no messiah and he's betrayed by our elites. Too many people just hate the way he succeed.
the problem with Macron is not him really, but a government too much open to lobbies (Philippe, Darmanin, Maire, farmers and so on). Their friends made Hulot totally hopeless.
Lobbies are a tremendous problem to cope with, you know that especially in US, and the french government is far too open to them right now. To be business friendly doesn't mean to be open to anything.
that's the same in Brussels and within the european assembly.
16
Below is what Thomas Piketty, author of Capital in the 20th Century , wrote in Dec 2017:
"It is customary to contrast Trump and Macron: on one hand the vulgar American businessman with his xenophobic tweets and global warming scepticism; and on the other, the well-educated, enlightened European with his concern for dialogue between different cultures and sustainable development. All this is not entirely false and rather pleasing to French ears. But if we take a closer look at the policies being implemented, one is struck by the similarities.
In particular, Trump, like Macron, has just had very similar tax reforms adopted. In both cases, these constitute an incredible flight in the direction of fiscal dumping in favour of the richest and most mobile."
(Details follow, then the conclusion)
For the first time since the Ancien Régime it has thus been decided in both countries to set up an explicitly derogatory system of taxation for the benefit the categories of income and wealth held by the most affluent social groups."
http://piketty.blog.lemonde.fr/2017/12/12/trump-macron-same-fight/
And his policies for les plus riches are continuing. Watch yesterday's French Evening News, 20hr
https://www.francetvinfo.fr/economie/impots/reforme-fiscale/fiscalite-le...
27
The tax cuts are far from similar. In France the tax on the rich is too high to the point that many leave the country. They should be reduced. No one thinks the social contract should be abandoned however. It should be made sustainable.
In the US the rich do not pay their fair share and want to pay even less. Of course their contribution in dollars is high because they have most of the income. Their percentage of tax is too low and should be increased. Unlike France, they, along with big business, do not think they need to support the social contract.
That’s for the little people.
43
@Rob Exactly. Thank you for pointing this out.
That is completely true. You are right in mentioning it
@Woof
1
Thank you Roger Cohen for this important column. It is wonderful to read about a real statesman on the world stage. I admire Macron for his intellect and his courage. I wish we could have more of this type of coverage and less Trump, Trump, Trump and DC; perhaps I should start reading the international version of NYT.
27
Roger, couldn´t agree more with your analysis!
We are d´accord with him or not, but have to be impressed by the courage of Monsieur le President. I have never seen another politician with the same boldness.
Keeping in mind the lowering of standards for politicians elsewhere, French and Europeans should be grateful to have someone like this.
73
I agree. I'm an American, so my opinion means less than the French population. But I do own a property in France and have found that this great historic culture could use some steps towards the modern age in a few areas. I applaud his character and ambition for his country. Bon chance!
49
Strange that these steps are always in one direction: tax cut for rich and cut in rights for workers.
2
As a Belgo-Californian living in Montpellier, France - I also join Roger. There are many elements of French live that merit protection against rampant globalism, but for the most part I admire Macron's courage. On the radio this morning his comment was the that environmental transition is not a fight that makes a president popular, and despite Hulot's resignation, France remains one of the brightest beacon regarding climate change. What we now need is the French, and citizens of Western nations to show that same courage.
89
As a french citizen living in the US for the past 30 years, I join Roger Cohen in saluting Macron's political courage. It is not everyday that the French elect a truly remarkable, young and energetic, and highly cultured (Macron studied philosophy with Paul Ricoeur) citizen to the Presidency. Macron has the courage to initiate and follow up on badly needed reforms of our "Etat Providence" which had always been a pretext for a lot of citizens of not assuming their responsibilities and putting the blame on the state for all their personal insufficiencies. Perhaps the French do not deserve Emmanuel Macron. sigh...
In addition, Merkel and Macron are now the last protection of the European project at a time when the US Trumpian isolationism has never made it more relevant and vital.
116