2017 French Election (Macron Wins 66%)

[TheWPCTraveler]

Shadow1980 said:
Isolationism. Nationalism. Nativism. Protectionism. "Our country first!" It all comes from this mentality that some "other" is an existential threat to whatever in-group a person feels part of, often a nation or ethnic group. But all this obsession over "muh sovereignty" runs contrary to the very course of human history. As societies grew ever-larger and more complex, they became ever more connected and interdependent. Isolationism and autarky are dead letter. Economies are strengthened by international trade, and nations can form a bulwark against threatening regimes and rogue elements through mutual defense alliances. We live in a global society. Globalism is unavoidable. The idea that we can ever go back is foolishness.

"Strength in numbers." "United we stand, divided we fall." "A house divided against itself cannot stand." "Union gives strength." These are principles understood by humankind since time immemorial, and the enemies of a nation or an alliance will always seek to divide and conquer.

Ask yourself, would the U.S. States be as strong if they were 50 separate nations only loosely allied at best instead of the single unified nation they actually are? Would Western Europe have been able to stand up to the threat of the Soviet Union if there was no NATO or EU, and each nation voluntarily left itself to its own devices out of some sense of isolationist nationalism? And, more relevant to today's world, would the free nations of Europe be able to stand up against the threat of an aggressive, irredentist, increasingly authoritarian Russia today if they weren't united as a common community allied with the U.S. and other free nations? In every case, the answer is "unlikely."

Any nation in today's world that wants to shut itself off from the global community and turn itself inwards is doing nothing but inviting ruin upon itself. Wrapping yourself up in your flag, touting the virtues of rabid nationalism, walling your country off, closing your borders, and telling everyone else to get lost is not going to fix a damn thing. We'll see in two weeks if France realizes this or not.

Oh, I'm sure they wouldn't want to now. But, if my hunch is right, they will regret not doing so within twelve months of Macron getting sworn in; the reason being that you will only want to abandon a sinking ship once you realize it's actually sinking. The UK didn't abandon a sinking ship, for it wasn't sinking, yet...

In any case, you sound like you're describing North Korea. In reality, that is one of many possible ways to insulate yourselves from the risk that comes with a globalized world. For instance, attaining food self-sufficiency will ensure that you are immune from any supply shocks for agricultural products from countries apart from your own. I could go on, actually. The most effective way to sell nationalism is to ensure that this is a stay clause on risks from outside the nation, which are potentially limitless; whether it be interference from US intelligence surveillance, Chinese knock-off products, or Russian vodka and so on and so forth.

Then again, we're probably talking past each other. After all, Bismarck managed to - whilst riding the crescendo of German nationalism, no less! - create an unstoppable Triple Alliance: the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Russian Empire, and the German Empire! All while maintaining cordial relations with the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire. You may state what happened after that (World War I), but it is clearly the fault of Wilhelm II's failure to adhere to Bismarck's diplomatic policies; and is not necessarily a product of "nationalism" and "isolationism," remember that World War I happened because a Serb nationalist shot an Austrian archduke...