And there are specific reasons why French youth might be angry: Youth unemployment is notoriously high, for example. After all, while youth unemployment is at 23% today, it was only a few percentage points lower in 2002, when French youth enthusiastically turned out against Le Pen’s father. In fact, political scientists and survey-takers have been warning for some time that we shouldn’t assume that young voters will usher in a new age of social and political moderation. Ultimately, the aura of inevitability that liberalism has chosen to surround itself with over the past few decades may be its worst enemy. Liberalism is not a default option; it has to be fought for, generation after generation.

Source: Mint May 15, 2017 02:37 UTC