What Happens in France

We live in a world where the entire globe has been divided into nation states, sometimes united into federations of various kinds. There isn't a place anywhere that isn't owned by one of these entities. However, the nation state as a political concept isn't very old. It's a European idea. Specifically, a French idea, developed into what we have today by the Sun king, Louis 14. Before him, kings were private individuals with great wealth, capable of waging wars against other kings, and enforcing rules and regulations through sheer personal might. After him, kings were heads of state. Instead of a personal court, there was a parliament in charge of public affairs. Parliament had in turn the power to make laws, settle disputes, wage wars and collect taxes. The structure of the modern nation state was brought into existence.

A few generations later, when the French tired of the abuses of their king, as head of parliament, there was a revolution. The aim of it was not to overthrow the nation state as a system, but to replace the king with representatives of the people. When this ended in chaos, Napoleon took charge. That in turn was followed by a new republic. At every turn, there were new heads of state, but the nation state itself was never challenged. The state lived on. It prospered. It became the political model for all the world to follow. However, something is again brewing in France, and this time it's the concept of the nation state itself that is at stake.

Voter turn out for the first round of presidential election in France has been a mere 32%.That's a clear vote of no confidence in the system. Most people dislike all the candidates, and refuse to see any of them as legitimate ruler over their private affairs. If this low turnout persists, we may see a president in France with popular support at a mere 17%, with everybody else either indifferent or directly opposed to him or her. This will in turn result in civil disobedience of various kinds. It will be harder to collect taxes. It will be harder to recruit soldiers. Police will become lacklustre and demoralized. People will increasingly solve problems locally, and give the state a cold shoulder.

If this persists, the end result will be the collapse of the nation state itself. Instead, there will be local communities, sorting things out at the local level. This return to simplicity will then spread to other nations. If France can rid itself of its own invention, why not do it in other places? Why put up with a parliament full of crooks, and a bureaucracy full of busybodies? We don't need any of this, and all it takes for this to crumble is for one modern nation to abandon the system. If France ends up replacing its state apparatus with something simple and decentralized, the rest of the world will follow, and that is the true significance of what's going on in France right now.

Portrait of Louis XIV

By Hyacinthe Rigaud - wartburg.edu[dead link], Public Domain, Link