GeofCox1d ago

I often joke that Brittany is the most left-wing region in France - and has the highest number of cafés and bars per capita... but perhaps the two aspects are more closely linked than I thought.

This article - https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/27/progressive-paris-far-right-french-capital-food-culture-community-extremists - links the increasing number of car-free and non-commercial social spaces in Paris with its continuing extraordinary left voting record - and suggests that the well documented disappearance of such spaces in the US and elsewhere may be a factor in the rise of the extreme right.

Progressive Paris has many weapons to fight the far right, but the best? Spaces where you can simply hang out

Drop into any of the French capital’s ‘third places’ and you’ll find food, culture, community – and an antidote to the disaffection extremists feed on, says Paris-based writer Alexander Hurst

The Guardian
Show threadMmmm1d ago
@GeofCox far-right is just friendless behavior
Show threadGeofCox

@photom @rogerb @jackwilliambell

It's certainly true that the left has always depended on people coming together - solidarity - while the right depends on the old 'divide and rule'.

It's also true that capitalism in the developed world now has moved away from small, local community spaces like cafés and bars, towards selling subscriptions viewed in lonely living rooms, or paid activities in larger, remote and anonymous venues; big workplaces with surrounding housing estates have disintegrated into dozens of small businesses that workers commute to from distant suburbs.

The public sector too in many places has moved out of youth and community centres, evening classes, public libraries, etc... So where's the social life that once incubated left organisation ?

Mar 28 at 9:58pmWeb
Show threadViolet Madder15h ago

@GeofCox @photom @rogerb @jackwilliambell

This is a crucial part of WHY the fossil fuel tycoons made certain the USA was built around and for cars instead of people.

It's isolating.

Overworked, underpaid and spending a very large part of our limited free time stuck alone in a little metal box frustrated with all the other metal boxes in the way. Tagged with numbers, surveilled at every turn.

Social skills eroding. Frightened of eye contact on the bus. Atomized. Bite-sized.