There was a time when being French represented the pinnacle of Western civilization. This magnificence. Everything from the neighboring country was synonymous. sophistication y desireelegance high fashion and flavors new kitchen, from Yves Saint Laurent to Paul Bocuse; Language teaching in schools until English becomes the universal language; most bookstores the Seine River, the Latin Quarter and Kiki de Montparnasse cafes; Bordeaux wine, real champagne and Normandy beaches; the magic of the Loire and Mont Saint-Michel castles; jet-set holidays in Saint-Tropez and the Walk of the Stars in Cannes; The inappropriate luxury of the Côte d’Azur, the Avenue Montaigne, and the death of an English princess on the Pont de l’Alma. “Fashion disappears, only style remains the same,” said Coco Chanel. The French even exported styles to cross their borders and watch movies in Perpignan, properly. Even Michel Platini won the Golden Ball three years in a row at a time when as a nation it wasn’t even enough for a married party.
And suddenly France has lost its style.
Where is this greatness? Torn between a genealogical centrist and Le Pen and Zemmour fascism, Vichy France 82 years later. Vargas Llosa, Peruvian and a member of the Spanish and French Academy, coined one of the biggest explosions in literary history in 1969, Santiago Zavala’s “loveless” look at Tacna Avenue: “At what point Has Peru? screwed up?» When did the same thing happen to France? Jean Moulin must be returning in his cellar in the Pantheon.
Is France richer than it was a few decades ago? Definitely yes. Economically and culturally, as confirmed by their data on the evolution of welfare, job creation or inflation, even in their time. covid and in the context of a war in Europe. French cinema, music or sport continues to be a great moment, and nothing indicates that the country’s literature and other fine arts are threatened by the influence of cultures such as Italian, Spanish, British or the ever-exportable American model.
Now, France, like many other countries in the surrounding area, including Spain, has seen such a sudden generational change in recent years, so immersed in the new social and cultural reality with the participation of these new Frenchmen from other countries that the ruling classes (political, economic, cultural) could not assimilate or interpret the world. the birth of a new nation, Not realizing that this incipient welfare state has plunged the country into a major explosion that should have caused re-greening as a reference state on the continent. Instead, and what should have been a warning to Spain (we’re already seeing the unstoppable growth of the far-right), this new anthropological scenario has taken it to the outskirts of big cities or swept through certain neighborhoods of the city. The centers are in the tribunes of the radicals on the football fields and marginalized movements that the ever-jealous Gaelic cultural elite has confined to the limits of what is historically acceptable and socially entrenched. Is France richer than it was a few decades ago? Absolutely yes, but not everyone agrees to participate equally in this enrichment. These new French do not reside in Le Marais, but are confined to the suburbs with great social benefits, but without legitimate recognition for a corresponding and therefore very hopeful future. That’s when Peru screwed up.
This the rise of the far right and the collapse of traditional parties today constitutes a still picture of a country whose x-ray is incomprehensible in Europe, a reflection of nothing to imitate. Given what’s going on in Spain, we’re a few choices away from getting the same diagnosis here. For many countries, France is like the leader others wait to take the first step. If nothing helps, sooner or later we will see Marine Le Pen sitting in the Elysée and from then on there will be an open bar in Europe. Some have already claimed the first round, as in Castilla y León. Did you hear you cook?