From: E. Shaun Russell (e_shaun@extropy.org)
Date: Fri Apr 26 2002 - 20:42:58 MDT
Amara wrote:
>Technotranscendence wrote:
> >See http://news.haaretz.co.il/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=153419
>
>This part of the world (France, Italy) is in a tizzy about the
>election results.
Even where I am, in Western Canada, there has been a lot of news about
this...and rightfully so. I find it more than a little ironic that France,
of all nations, should choose a near-fascist minority leader, given the all
too recent history of '40's Nazi invasion.
However, I must admit that I don't find the emergence of near-fascist views
in a G8 country all that surprising. Since 9-11, there has been a
heightened sense of xenophobia towards visible minorities all over the
world, and some of the measures that certain world governments have
recently taken to "combat potential terrorism" have led to a slippery slope
of sorts...one which can only heighten the aforementioned sense of
xenophobia among the average person.
What does surprise me is the boldness of Le Pen's stance on a number of
issues, particularly those of immigration and citizenship (going so far as
talking about revoking citizenships for non-pureblood French stock). While
the French are generally identified by their boldness or "snootiness" as it
may be, Le Pen's stance strikes me as a slap in the face to the makers of
foreign policy in the other G8 countries, and I sincerely hope that it
provides a bit of a wake up call to the millions of people worldwide who
have fallen prey to the cultural xenophobia we are currently
experiencing. Sadly, I'm quite concerned that the opposite may be true.
While it may seem that I am overstating the significance of a minority
leader's political platform, I can honestly foresee that similar views
could spring up in other economically stable nations in the near
future. Woe to us all if they ever become a majority.
________________________________________________________
E. Shaun Russell Operations Officer, Extropy Institute
e_shaun@extropy.org http://www.extropy.org
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Hear my music at: http://www.mp3.com/eshaunrussell
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