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444names · 5 months

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Hello! Sorry to bother you, but I would like you to generate names starting with the letters "M", "L" and "G" that could appear in Game of Thrones, please 🙏🏼

Tricky request but very well. Will answer in several posts, each dedicated to a letter.

Names generated from The Song of Ice and Fire character names, beginning with the letter "M".

Maceford Macelloraq Macelyn Macey Maegar Maegaregis Maegart Maegaryore Maegel Maegen Maegena Maegeremund Maegers Maegons Maegorm Maegormonar Maegormund Maegorold Maegorolla Maegorollon Maegorolph Maekard Maekardence Maekards Maekarsta Maekarya Maekaryand Maekarys Maekaryse Maelis Maell Maelle Maello Maelo Maelon Maelongton Maelorandel Maelyn Maestermon Maestlings Maeston Malder Malegor Malehaerei Maler Malla Malland Mallanne Mallara Malle Mallen Mallena Mallenel Maller Mallerion Mallhara Mallharre Mallifer Mallion Mallishman Mallistert Malliver Mallo Mallorical Mallwood Mallwoody Mally Mallyrion Manda Mandam Mandonna Mandonne Mandore Mandred Mandrew Mandreyiron Mandrogers Mandrose Mands Manfredford Manfreen Manfren Manfreydon Marbert Marbo Marbreydon Mardy Maredforld Maremond Mareo Mareon Margaeron Margaerys Margan Margar Margaron Marge Margell Margella Margharys Marghen Margon Margylda Margyle Maria Marian Marianelle Mariant Maribalarys Maribald Maric Marich Marilla Marings Mario Marion Marister Mariston Marklyn Marlannel Marlanor Marlong Marly Marnes Marnold Marong Maronnifer Marqelon Marqelonnel Marqeloro Marse Marsei Marselynar Marsfield Marsmalla Marstan Marstanna Marstaya Marth Marton Maryle Maryn Mashforemy Maslynafryd Maslynard Maslynarryk Maslynessa Massa Masse Massenye Massowane Massoway Matarbardy Matargo Mataria Matariah Matarion Matarklyn Matarvlin Matayaya Mataynafryd Matayne Mathe Mathent Matheodos Mather Matherd Matheward Matho Mattha Matthand Matthany Matthat Matthe Matthea Matther Mattheuse Mattheward...

Meadore Meadorman Meadormun Medgaret Medgarstarb Medge Medger Medgeren Medrianna Medric Medwell Medwella Medwyl Medwyn Medwyne Meerl Meerlei Meerley Meerleyne Meerlyn Mehaelon Mehair Melaena Melaenorrey Melaenys Meland Melard Melardrik Melareo Melarion Melark Melary Melarys Meldre Meldrew Meldrey Meldreyne Melen Melena Melenda Melendry Melenel Melenerys Melenwood's Meles Meless Melesselmy Melestella Meley Melia Meliam Meliame Melian Melianna Melin Melind Meling Melinornis Melinter Melis Melisa Melishmanly Meliston Mella Mellame Melle Mellen Melon Melong Melorchs Meloreamsay Meloren Melorenten Melwood Melwyna Melwynafree Melwynch Melwyne Melwynt Meralf Merance Meranda Meras Merell Meremy Meria Meric Mericas Merick Merield Merio Merion Merister Merlan Merlandria Merlington Merly Merlys Merna Merndor Merne Merra Merrence Merrenmure Merret Merriane Merrince Merristouth Merry Merys Meryse Mikker Milin Miling Milip Miliperence Minis Minisan Minisand Minishman Minister Mirria Mirrigen Mirrights Mirrio Mirrion Mirrist Moholly Mohollyria Mohort Mohorwyn Molfield Molla Mollance Mollarkill Mollegory Mollion Molly Molly's Mollyn Monton Moone Moonel Moonell Mooreah Moored Mooren Moorence Moorenfree Moorenna Mooreon Moote Mopatch Mopategoron Mopaters Mordannis Morea Moreah Moreake Moreamsay Morell Morelle Moren Morenfreyse Morenkenn Morenly Morenna Morenton Moreon Morgane Morganell Morgar Morge Morgo Morgylberen Morgyle Mormon Mormond Mormonloves Mormund Moron Moros Morra Morrelle Morren Morrent Morreth Morrett Morrey Morreynara Morreyne Morreyselmy Morrhea Morrion Morry Morryn Morse Morselman Morselyse Moryam Moryndor Morys Moryse Moryssa Motte Mottyn Mount Mounter Mouther Moutheuse Mulle Mullegan Mullei Mullem Mullendrose Muller Mullerich Mullerion Mulleryd Mullerys Mullia Mullian Mullo Mullow Mullyn Mullynal Mullynor Mullyriam Mullyris Muren Murence Murenna Murenning Musgoodcock Mychelmure Mychemion Mycher Mycherd Mycherragon Mycherry Mychery Mycheryssa Mychettley Mylen Mylenwood Mylesan Mylestreams Myran Myrane Myrceon Myrceonara Myrch Myrchellett Myrchon Myrek Myrellan Myren Myriannella Myriannis Myrie Myrienna Myrio Myrion Mysana Mysandred Mysarys

#444 names #fantasy names #dnd names #name stash #fantasy name #names #markov gen #markovgen #character names #random fantasy names

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cinquecolonnemagazine · 2 years

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“Storia di un punto e virgola” di Giovanni Margarone

La vita è un dono che non va sprecato “Storia di un punto e virgola” di Giovanni Margarone edito da bookabook non è il classico romanzo di caduta e rinascita, è qualcosa di più. Spesso si ritorna a vivere dopo terribili cadute nel buio, perché lo spirito di sopravvivenza che è dentro ognuno di noi, un retaggio atavico, ci spinge a rialzarci. Tante volte ci riusciamo e riprendiamo, ammaccati, la strada maestra, anche se, spesso, lo faccio inconsapevolmente, sorretti dal caso, dalla fortuna, dalla fatalità. Al protagonista “Storia di un punto e virgola” di Giovanni Margarone, invece, capita una strana rinascita. Una rinascita dalle ceneri nelle quali Demetrio ha vissuto per anni. La sua è una non-vita, solitaria, isolata da tutto e tutti, confortevole e sicura. Poi un giorno, per caso, accade qualcosa. Un libro tra le mani gli cambia l’esistenza e il protagonista comincia un viaggio alla scoperta di se stesso. Un viaggio che gli trasformerà per sempre la vita, e che gli consentirà di guardare al futuro con occhi nuovi, perché ha un’arma in più: la consapevolezza dei propri errori. Quanti di noi li riconoscono? In questo romanzo molti di noi si ritroveranno, percorrendo insieme a Demetrio il viaggio appassionante e doloroso della nostra esistenza. “Storia di un punto e virgola” di Giovanni Margarone si è già aggiudicato il 2° posto al Premio Letterario Nazionale “Città di Taranto” Ed. 2022, il 4° posto al Concorso Argentario 2022, la “Menzione speciale della critica” al Premio Massa città fiabesca di mare di marmo 2022 e il “Premio Rinnovamenti” come finalista al Concorso “Le parole arrivano a noi dal passato 2022” di Rogliano (CS). Come di consueto ringraziamo l’autore, che nell’intervista ci svela nuovi dettagli interessanti per apprezzare al meglio il suo romanzo. “Storia di un punto e virgola” di Giovanni Margarone Lei è autore di numerosi romanzi che hanno ottenuto diversi riconoscimenti anche a livello internazionale. C’è un aspetto che è sempre comune a tutta la sua narrativa? Sì, è quello relativo alla centralità dei personaggi, dei loro sentimenti ed emozioni; finora ho dato poca importanza ai luoghi in cui essi agiscono, sebbene abbia curato comunque le descrizioni. Ogni volta ho dato molta importanza all’introspezione, lasciando però al lettore spazio alla sua fantasia e conferendo alle vicende un corso sempre sorprendente se non inatteso. “Storia di un punto e virgola” è il suo ultimo romanzo. Lei ha detto che rispetto alle precedenti pubblicazioni qui ci ha messo un pizzico di sale in più. Di cosa si tratta? Può anticipare qualcosa ai nostri lettori? Rispetto ai precedenti romanzi, ho voluto mettere in risalto alcuni aspetti del carattere del personaggio di Demetrio, che non si allinea ad altri personaggi come è successo nelle passate pubblicazioni. Ho accentuato, nella prima parte del libro, i suoi aspetti più grotteschi che sono il fulcro per comprendere l’intera opera. Questo è il sale in più: una descrizione talvolta spigolosa, se non triste, della sua insipida esistenza che sembra volgere inesorabilmente al crepuscolo fino a un certo punto della narrazione. Il suo protagonista, Demetrio, è una persona solitaria, che vive fuori e lontano dal mondo, la cui esistenza viene stravolta dalla lettura di un libro. Cosa ha trovato Demetrio in un libro che non ha intercettato nella realtà? Demetrio, che non ha mai letto un libro in vita sua, scopre nella lettura una luce che lo ricollegherà all’amore per la vita che sembrava irrimediabilmente perduto. La lettura diviene per lui determinante per riscoprire quella realtà del mondo da sempre ignorata a causa del suo inconsapevole e insipido modo di vivere, che però si trasformerà in vita nuova; una metamorfosi che lo renderà profondamente diverso rispetto al passato. Al di là della storia, bellissima, di Demetrio, “Storia di un punto e virgola” ha altri livelli di lettura? Lei, cioè, ha cercato di stimolare la riflessione del lettore su qualche aspetto in particolare? Il senso principale del libro, al di là di altri significati che il lettore potrà cogliere, è che la nostra vita può cambiare in meglio se lo vogliamo, che c’è sempre una seconda opportunità se abbiamo il coraggio di guardarci allo specchio e di domandarci chi siamo e dove stiamo andando. Spesso crediamo che la nostra vita sia arrivata a un punto di non ritorno, che tutto sia perduto; invece no, perché se troviamo il coraggio di cambiare, riconoscendo i nostri errori, possiamo veramente trovare una nuova strada lasciandoci alle spalle un passato magari triste. La vita è una ed è un dono da non sprecare mai. Read the full article

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jaytherabbitofficial · 4 years

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วันนี้ น้อง Tip Therd เสนอมาการองทีรน่ารักที่สุดในโลกค่ะ #fanmade #jaytherabbit #margaron https://www.instagram.com/p/CHpID4fBVv4/?igshid=55hq6qlo5cl0

#fanmade #jaytherabbit #margaron

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steliosagapitos · 3 years

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~ This ca. 1760 pearl and diamond aigrette (hair ornament), also known as the pearl flower brooch measuring 10.2 cm x 7,4 cm (quite a significant size), once property of Catherine the Great of Russia (reigned from 1762 until 1796) illustrates here a few words on pearls. Natural pearls occur in various molluscs, notably in the ones popularly known as pearl oysters with a nacreous interior, namely species from the genus Pinctada. In Greek and old Persian, pearl sounded like “margaron" or "margatit” and this is the origin of the name of Isla Margarita in the Caribbean, of the taxonomic term “margaritifera” (meaning pearl-producing) and of all Margarets, Margaridas and similar lady’s names. In Latin, pearl was called “unio” and in Arabic it may have many names according to their qualities, but “lou lou” is a general term for pearls. In this aigrette, we see rare pear-shaped pearls, which shape is behind the origin of the word “pearl”, from “pirula” the Latin word for little pears.By the way, note the fact that no metal is seen in the construction of the jewellery piece fully set with brilliant cut diamonds of most probable Brazilian origin. ~

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histoireettralala · 4 years

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Composition of the French Army at the Battle of Austerlitz

The French forces numbered 73000 men.

The Emperor, Napoléon I, Commander-in-chief

Berthier, Major General

I Corps, Marshal Bernadotte

1st Division, Rivaud (Brigades: Dumoulin, Pacthod). Rivaud, born the 10 February 1766 from a family of magistrats in Poitou, fought in Jemappes, Neerwinden, Hondschoote, distinguished himself in Montebello and Marengo.

2d Division, Drouet d’Erlon (Brigades: Frère, Werlé). Born in Reims the 29 of July 1765, in a family of craftsmen, was a volunteer in 1792; he was aide-de-camp to Général Lefebvre.

Division of Light Cavalry, Kellermann (Brigades: Marizy, Picard). Son of Marshal Kellermann, born in Metz on August 4, 1770, and fought in Arcole, Rivoli and Marengo.

III Corps, Marshal Davout

1st Division, Caffarelli, temporarily assigned to V Corps (Brigades:Eppler, Demont, De Billy) . Born on October 1766, in a noble family of Languedoc, he has four brothers who will have brilliant careers. He was part of the Army of the Pyrénées, the Sambre-et-Meuse Army, and fought in Marengo.

2d Division, Friant (Brigades: Heudelet, Kister, Lochet). Son of a craftsman and trader, born on September 18, 1758, in Picardy, Friant fought in Fleurus, Maastricht, the Pyramids, before standing out in Austerlitz where he had three horses killed under him; he had arrived on forced march and kept up with the austrian army pushing on him. His contribution to the victory of Austerlitz was major.

Division of Dragoons, Bourcier. Born in Alsace on February 21, 1760, fought in the siege of Mayence, the siege of Kehl, and in Elchingen.

Brigade of Light Cavalry, Margaron. Born on May 1st, 1765 in Lyon, fought in Novi and Marengo.

IV Corps, Marshal Soult

1st Division, Saint-Hilaire (Brigades: Morand, Thiébault, Varé). Born September 4, 1766, in the Aisne, son of a cavalry captain, he fought in the Antilles, was in the siege of Toulon, in Castiglione, Lodi. He stood out in Austerlitz when taking the Pratzen Heights with Vandamme. He was wounded during the battle.

2d Division, Vandamme (Brigades: Schiner, Savetier de Candras, Ferey). Born in the North the 5 November 1770, son of a surgeon, fought in the Antilles, in Hondschoote, Ypres, and was remarked in Austerlitz.

3rd Division, Legrand (Brigades: Merle, Levasseur). Born on February 23 in the Oise, he fought in Vendée, in Fleurus, Hohenlinden, Hollabrunn. In Austerlitz he held up in Telnitz and Sokolnitz for ten hours against the left wing of the Russian army, made 3000 prisoners and took twelve cannons.

V Corps, Marshal Lannes

3rd Division, Suchet (Brigades: Claparède, Beker, Valhubert). Son of a silk trader, Suchet was born in Lyon on March 2, 1770. He had a good instruction. He was in the siege of Toulon and took British general Charles O’Hara prisoner. He fought in Lodi, Castiglione, Arcole, Rivoli, and married a daughter of a Clary lady, and was close to Napoleon by alliance. At Austerlitz, his division, at the far left of the French army, faces Bagration. On the evening of the battle, Napoleon invites him to his table.

Division of the Reserve Grenadiers, Oudinot and Duroc (Brigades: Laplanche-Morthières, Dupas, Ruffin). Oudinot, born in Bar-le-Duc on April 25, 1767, from the lower bourgeoisie, fought in Zurich and in Italy, before organizing in Lannes’ Corps the famous column of the Oudinot Grenadiers. He took Vienna and was wounded in Hollabrunn, which didn’t stop him from taking his part in Austerlitz. Duroc, born in Pont-à-Mousson on October 25, 1770, from a noble family originating from Gévaudan, was Napoleon’s aide-de-camp in Marengo, and often sent to diplomatic missions.

Imperial Guard, Marshal Bessières

Commanding the Infantry, Soulès. Born on August 24, 1760, in Lectoure, he began as a simple soldier, fought in Dego, Castiglione, Arcole, and stood out in Marengo. He became a Brigade General in 1804.

Commanding the Cavalry, Ordener, born in Lorraine on September 2, 1755, a native speaker of Platt, was the one ordered to arrest the Duke of Enghien, but he didn’t take part in the trial and execution of the young prince. He was very good in Austerlitz.

Cavalry Reserve, Marshal Murat

1st Division of Cavalry, Nansouty (Brigades: Piston, La Houssaye, Saint-Germain). Nansouty, born in Bordeaux on May 30, 1768, from Burgundian nobility, fought on the Rhine, in Hohenlinden, and was a Division General in 1803.

2d Division of Cavalry, d’Hautpoul (Brigades: Saint-Sulpice, Fontaine). Of old Languedocian nobility, tall, with a powerful voice, d’Hautpoul fought in Fleurus, Biberach, Hohenlinden. At Austerlitz, his cavalry charge crushed the russian center on the Pratzen Heights.

2d Dragoon Division, Walther (Brigades: Sébastiani, Roget, Boussart, and Brigade of Light Cavalry Milhaud). Son of a lutheran pastor, born in Alsace on August 20, 1761, enlisted in 1781 and was rapidly General. He was famed as a cavalryman. He fought in Jemappes, Neerwinden, Zurich, Hohenlinden, and was wounded in the battle of Austerlitz.

3rd Dragoon Division, Boyé (replacing Beaumont, who was ill) (Brigades: Boyé, Scalfort, and Light Cavalry Brigade, Treillard). Born in the Electorate of Trèves (in Germany) on February 11, 1762, he fought in Neerwinden, Hondschoote, Fleurus, Zurich, and Biberach.

[Sorry, I couldn’t find a portrait of General Boyé.]

General Direction of the Artillery, Faultrier.

Sources:

Alain Pigeard, Histoire de la Grande Armée

Various Wikipedia articles

#napoleonic #battle of austerlitz #focus on #the generals #généraux de division de la grande armée #alain pigeard #histoire de la grande armée

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art-now-italy · 3 years

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Ghandi, Carmelo Margarone

A Portrait of Ghandi with acrylic paint on high quality canvas.

https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-Ghandi/1072888/4177709/view

#expressionism #fineart #figurative #modern #CarmeloMargarone #portraiture

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detournementsmineurs · 4 years

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Exposition “Fred Deux : Les Noces de la Couleur et du Trait" à la Galerie Alain Margaron dans le cadre de la visite-guidée “Une Plongée dans l'Univers des Galeries : Le Bas-Marais” par Des Mots & Des Arts, février 2021.

#expos #illustrations #peinture #Deux #GalerieAlainMargaron #DesMotsDesArts

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amargarone772 · 5 years

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Expert Interview: Discussing France’s Political History and Current Events with Professor Elizabeth Carter

https://www.unh.edu/unhtoday/expert/carter-elizabeth

The following interview is an interview conducted with Professor Elizabeth Carter, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of New Hampshire. Carter has been a member of the UNH faculty since 2015, and has received her PhD in political science at the University of California Berkeley as well as her M.P.A from the University of Washington. Her postdoctoral research was done at the Max Planck Institute of the Study of Societies in Cologne, Germany. Carter’s areas of focus are European politics, political economy, and food politics.

Carter provides insight on France’s history and the Front National Party. She also examines the current refugee crisis, the political system under President Macron, and the yellow vest movement that has been taking over France since last November. Carter discusses the media’s role in Macron’s presidential election, and compares the current day issues of France to those of other European nations and the United States. Carter’s educational background and personal affiliation with France provide her with the ideal qualities to discuss these critical topics.

We also discussed the Front National Party under Jean-Marie Le Pen, whose goal was to protect French identity and defend the fundamental values of our civilization (Betz, 2003, p. 196). In the past, immigrants coming to France were able to assimilate easier because they mainly came from other European nations (Betz, 2003, p. 197). However, most new immigrants came from African, Middle East, and Asians regions and had cultural backgrounds that the Front National claimed would threaten the French culture (Betz, 2003, p. 197).

Interviewer: Ali Margarone, senior Communication student at the University of New Hampshire

Interviewee: Professor Elizabeth Carter, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of New Hampshire

Interview Transcript:

Refugee Crisis

A: What are your opinions on the current refugee crisis?

PC: When I think about the refugee crisis, I first think about Germany and Chancellor Merkel’s response. There is the Syrian refugee crisis that relate to the German history. Angela Merkel is the Chancellor and the leader of the center-right party, the Christian Democrats. She took a pretty contested stance in her party, which was to welcome the refugees with quite open arms. The rhetoric that was said, not by Merkel directly, was other people took in German refugees at our darkest hour, now we can do this and step in to help others. At that time, she was in a Grand Coalition with the Socialist government that would be to the little bit to the left, so she may have been a bit more influenced in some ways by that party. Overall, Germany had a really exceptional stance on integrating migrants. So I think the question is, what is the effect of that in France?

A: Do you mean how is France being affected by what Germany is doing?

PC: Yes. Because it’s not like France is a peaceful place that had good immigrant relations and then there was the refugee crisis in about 2013.

A: In regards to the refugee crisis, do you know exactly what French President Macron’s stances are?

PC: I almost want to say centrist, because I was following the situation that was going on in Calais with the camps being taken apart. He tends to be an ally with Chancellor Merkel, and I think he wants to be the pragmatic centrist. But he also wants people in France to be happy. France has a ton of immigrants, but the thing you hear people talking about in Germany is the Syrians; in France, it’s not. There definitely have been Syrian refugees in France, but again I think its like pressing on the already sensitive spot of the many Muslim immigrants. There’s still an influx of refugees from Tanzania, Algeria, and Sub-Saharan French former colonies. You walk around Paris, and there’s boulevards full of tents, at least 10 sleeping bags on one block. I’ve been going to France for 20 years, and this is something I’ve never seen before. They do often seem to be refugees who have come to France because they think they can get a better life. France has a really strong identity that’s tied to being French and having French values, language, being Catholic but secular. They aren’t open to people, especially Muslim immigrants, who they feel won’t take on the French culture.

A: Some research I’ve done showed that it’s the way you look that greatly affects the way in which you are treated. The French tend to be more accepting of other European refugees rather than those from Africa or the Middle East. Do you think this is true?

PC: I noticed that much more in Germany, who only considered Germans to be those with German blood. France’s take on nationality is that you are French if you are born on French soil; anyone can be French, as its about liberty, equality, and brotherhood. You have to speak French and adopt the liberal values of the French Revolution and the French state today. France’s issue with the hijab was interpreted as Muslim women rejecting French culture. However, when I taught in public school in France, I noticed my students would wear bandanas on their heads to get around the law that banned the hijabs. It was their way of protesting they would not allow France to push this law on them. Even though France has this identity of liberty and equality, they fall short of their ideals. In France, there is no hyphenated identity. If someone referred to themselves as Algerian-French, it’d be considered a threat because it weakens your French-ness. As a result, there are no statistics collected on what the ethnic backgrounds of people in France are because they don’t ask.

When it comes to being hired in France, you put your photo on your application. If your name is Mohamed, you will not be hired. While not everyone discriminates and is racist, I have a friend in France who does sales that claims he won’t hire anyone with the name Mohamed because he knows other people are racist and would no longer buy from his company if they saw this. While the issue of discrimination is so prominent, they can’t even diagnose the issue because they have no idea how many people of color or of a certain religion there are in a certain school because they don’t have that data.

History of the Front National Party

A: How do you think France’s history has led up to what is going on now?

PC: That’s everything. So if we want to talk about it, we have to talk about Jean-Marie Le Pen and the Front National Party. The party has now changed names, but we will call it the Front National because that is what the party had been called for decades. Understanding Jean-Marie Le Pen involves understanding his really complicated and long history.

A: This is because he was very racist and said a lot of things about the Holocaust that he claimed didn’t exist and didn’t allow France to take responsibility for it or didn’t think that they should.

PC: Yes, they both he and his daughter Marine Le Pen said some crazy things, and she would argue that her father is crazier. She’s seen as relatively more moderate, but the important thing to keep in mind about Jean-Marie Le Pen is where he came from ideologically, which was a movement called the Poujadist movement that came out of the Algerian War. Algeria is a majority Muslim country in Northern Africa which used to be a part of France. The French considered it to be a French state. The Algerians decided in the 1950s to fight back during Charles de Gaulle’s presidency in France. There was a lot of guerilla tactics and some would even consider terrorist actions because they had limited resources for other ways of fighting. When the Algerians won the war, Jean-Marie Le Pen and other Poujadist members saw Charles de Gaulle as a traitor, that he had stabbed France in the back, that he had let go a part of France. This is when the Front National started. It was more nationalistic than the de Gaulle Party, which was a center-right party. In the beginning, it was pro-European Union, but of course, that changed. It was interesting because the Front National wanted and considered Algeria to be a part of France that was lost, but at the same time, they were very anti-Muslim. This anti-Muslim component and this tension around French relations with the Muslim and Arab world, especially with the Algerians, have always been the cornerstone of the Front National.

If you go to France today and ask people about what’s going on with the far-right movements, you will meet people who are critical of them, especially those in academia. But I’ve been shocked by how many people identify as Fascist, who are blatantly anti-Muslim and even those trying to be liberal will say the problem is we have too many immigrants here. It’s Algerian immigrants and those from other former French colonies in Sub-Saharan and Northern Africa. There is also a huge amount of anti-Semitism in France which continues to be a massive issue that’s been reported on more recently in the press. So this is why the Front National has always been nationalist and anti-immigrant that’s been seen well before the recent crisis. I think at first Jean-Marie Le Pen was seen as kind of a crazy, out-there guy, and then people were really shocked when he made it to the second round of presidential vote in 2002. Jean-Marie Le Pen did make it to the second round in 2002 but then lost to Jacques Chirac by 85% to 15.

A: So is this when the Front National gained my attention worldwide?

PC: Yes. While people in France always knew about this movement, his advancement to the second round really put the Front National on the map globally. Although his daughter Marine has been able to situate herself definitely as a populist, but maybe less provocatively and offensive.

A: Well wasn’t that one of her goals?

PC: Yes, and she’s distanced herself. She kicked her father out of the party.

The Yellow Vest Movement

A: What are your thoughts on the yellow vest movement?

PC: I actually was in France when the gilets Jaunes movement started.

A: Oh wow, so did you see it all happen?

PC: No, the day there were the big riots I went to the London for a day and I came back and met my friend at the train station and he told me you know parts of the city are burning and I thought it was a joke.

A: Yeah, I had friends who were there for spring break and they saw all the riots going on too so it’s definitely still prominent.

PC: The thing with France is whenever the government tries to make a change there’s a mass protest. And this can even be when it comes to trying to change the benefits for the railway workers. The railways will stop. Or whoever the threatened group is will go on strike and then the government will be forced to rescind what they are trying to do. France has a really unique historical structure. France is a historically centralized country, kind of uniquely centralized. There is a lot of power at the presidency and a lot of power in Paris, and people will say the consequence of that is you don’t have very strong intermediary organizations. So in a country like Germany, if you’re trying to make reform, intermediary organizations like employer groups and unions will get together to try and work these out in cooperation with the state. In France, they don’t have those groups. They have weak unions and a strong state, and you would think that the French Unions are strong because they could have so much protest, but actually when unions are weak its because they can’t actually have a voice at the table, and when they don’t get their voice at the table their only weapon is to strike. Striking is a last resort.

The gilets jaunes started because of the proposed gas tax and there is a French culture of striking as a way to try to pressure the government. And it seems they were quite successful; Macron said okay I’m going to postpone this tax, but it was kind of like a snowball got pushed down the hill and people protesting on this movement often go because the scope of this protest has increased because people have been upset about other things for some time.

A: Do you feel the movement is different from how it started?

PC: It is, as it has become much more extreme. In a way, it’s a parallel to Brexit too, which is another thing that started off one way and then morphed into a different kind of movement with different people and different interests in it. I think a lot of people are protesting economic inequality and security more broadly. In France, they usually have really protected workers and strong benefits. And how they have tried to adapt to a changing economy is basically by having more precarious or temporary employment. So a lot of young people today are temps, along with huge levels of unemployment. They no longer have things to count on that older generations once had.

People are sick of this, and who are they blaming? They’re blaming their government, they’re blaming the European Union, they’re blaming globalization. Why are they blaming the European Union? Because European leaders have had a habit of everything time there’s an unpopular change they need to make, they blame it on the EU. There’s been a lot of “I don’t want to do this, but we need to do this for Europe.” And then the net consequence of this is to build up resentment towards the European project. That’s why the Front National that used to be pro-Europe, now take Europe as a scapegoat. They claim that instead of increasing French independence and sovereignty that it’s a threat to it.

MEDIA

A: What’s your opinion on the role of the media in France, in particular to the most recent presidential election?

PC: As far as the role of media in presidential elections, I think one think worth mentioning is Macron created his own party ‘En Marche!’. He had very little political background. How the French elections are structured in time has changed now so that parliament and the president are just a few weeks apart. It used to be staggered by years, and so it would be kind of like what we have in the U.S., it would always be a president that would be of one party, and then the parliament would be of the other because it would be a protest vote and they never get anything done. So, they’ve coordinated these. The president is election first, so Macron was elected with this new party, and then had like six weeks to get together this ticket of new potential parliamentarians and he was very successful with that and they were able to get a number of seats.

A: So do you feel that the media helped him?

PC: I don’t know the details of that but what we can say is that the media is different and nothing has ever happened before like with what happened with Macron in France. So, is that a correlation or a causation? I’m not going to go there and make that judgment, but someone could make a case that it is more than just correlation.

He has positioned himself as a new type of president, but the ways of protest aren’t different. They haven’t worn yellow vests before, but they taking the streets and they’re looting and rioting and they’re doing things that they’ve done quite regularly since the French revolution. But you have a new type of president and an old type of political movement, and they don’t seem to be too persuaded by the actions he’s taking. He’s spent over a hundred hours talking to people, and it sounds to me he is trying to come up with innovative solutions. The thing happening in France is that in every election, people are voting for someone very different. Like okay, we’ll vote for a socialist, we’ll vote for the center-right guy, we’ll vote for the new party. They’re trying to vote for anyone who they think can break their stalemate because they have some kind of institutionalized sick stalemate. And when it comes to kind of their economic sclerosis – that’s a word that’s used to call European political economy in general when there wasn’t any, it was called a Eurosclerosis, which would be a sclerotic economies of Europe after the 1970s – when there was no growth. So I think people are seeing that France has suffered from no growth and keep electing a different type of president thinking he would be able to fix it, but he isn’t able to fix it. They reject the president, then try something else. I think what nobody knows is that when you have institutionalized problems, you can’t just change one office and think everything was going to reform. Most French presidents, with the exception of Hollande, have been trying to move France closer to the market. And the French are trying to, they want to keep what’s considered a uniquely French model in a globalized economy, which is Anglo-Saxon. And the question is can they do it, and Macron thinks that they need to move towards the Anglo-Saxon variant, which means more ‘précarité,’ more precariousness, more people being fired, etc.

Comparing the U.S. and Trump to France

A: Do you think the discrimination and racism Trump tries to ignite within the United States compares at all to what is going on in France?

PC: What’s going on in France right now is different from Trump. It was actually really weird for me to hear Trump use all this anti-immigrant rhetoric because almost everyone here is an immigrant unless you’re Native American. Most of his wives were immigrants, and we don’t have an immigration influx. What Trump is doing is borrowing rhetoric from Europe; Trump tried something and it worked. I actually spoke with someone who was a former member of the Trump administration who claimed Trump isn’t even anti-immigrant. Steven Miller, far-right senior advisor for policy of Trump, is anti-immigrant and has a rhetoric that worked. Trump saw how effective Miller was with his demographic. Trump doesn’t really care about immigration, but he realizes that it is helping him with his base. What he is doing is very similar to what is being done in Europe, the only difference is we don’t have same issues as them. It isn’t people in San Diego on the border supporting Trump, its those in the heartland who are losing their jobs and looking for someone to blame.

Citations:

“Xenophobia, Identity Politics and Exclusionary Populism in Western Europe.” Socialist Register 2003: Fighting Identities: Race, Religion and Ethno-Nationalism, by Hertz-Georg Betz, Merlin Press, 2003.

https://www.unh.edu/unhtoday/expert/carter-elizabeth

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