Sarkozy, the embargoed icon of neoliberalism

1. Mutation. A year after the election of Nicolas Sarkozy as President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Todd published a book, After democracy, in which he already warned about the character and the era that was dawning: "He has not reached the top of the state despite his intellectual and moral deficiencies but thanks to them: respect for the strong, contempt for the weak, love of money, desire for inequality, need for aggression, pointing out sycophants in the narcissistic neighborhoods, staging of emotional and, implicitly, sexual life." The advantage of having been elected, said Todd, "by embodying and accompanying the worst among us is that it forces us to face reality." Eighteen years later, Nicolas Sarkozy, that man who seemed to take over the world, arrives at the court, emerging from his controlled house arrest, to receive notification of a five-year prison sentence. What happened? The fascination with money is high risk.

Sarkozy's accession to the presidency of the French Republic did not merely represent a mutation of the Fifth Republic, which has since ceased to be recognizable—from day one, it broke with the foundations inherited from General de Gaulle. It goes further: it is one of the first signs of the political construction of what will be called neoliberalism, in which economic powers—with the reinforcement of the new communications space—will gradually take control of states, blurring liberal democracies. It is the transition from industrial to the financial and digital capitalism in which we now find ourselves, and in which the signs that democracy is bothering us are reiterated.

2. Trump. A process that has reached its climax with Donald Trump, who normalizes contempt for institutions and places the president's authority above any control. To the point that it has become an act of voluntarism to declare that there will be presidential elections at the end of his term. The crisis of democracy is not an idea; it is embodied day by day, with Trump attempting to manipulate the world at his whim, seeking glory with no sense of limits. And in France, Emmanuel Macron, who had often celebrated Sarkozy as a role model, is trapped in a state of impotence at a time when the far right is capitalizing on the disorder. That is, the bewilderment of a diminished politics in the eyes of the public, which increases distrust of democracy.

Emmanuel Todd spoke of the risk of a denaturalization, even a disappearance, of democracy. And since then, many signs have accumulated in that direction. The neoliberal cycle that Sarkozy (and George Bush's America) initiated, and that didn't stop Obama, who, despite his uniqueness and empathy in his approach, left no significant marks in his wake, is now in a decisive phase depending on how far Trump goes with his destruction of democratic habits and traditions. But the fact that blatant violations of basic freedoms continue to multiply without American society reacting is extremely disturbing. And Europe is pathetically shrinking in a world where authoritarianism is on the rise.

3. Traits. The five traits that Emmanuel Todd highlights in Nicolas Sarkozy's mental disorganization are not uncommon: "incoherent thinking, intellectual mediocrity, aggressiveness, a fascination with money, and emotional instability." Together, they create a composite portrait often found in prominent public figures, a portrait made especially visible by Donald Trump. One of the unknowns is to what extent the Trumpian delirium will continue to spread or will it at some point become trapped in its most manifest form: a lack of empathy, an ego bursting out of his hair. And when the world is lost from view, once curiosity has passed, unexpected reactions can arise. Could too much Trump end up being Trump's grave? Or can such unempathetic arrogance prevail indefinitely? Sarkozy ushered in the neoliberal cycle in Europe; Trump has adopted it with rage and arrogance as a way of being in the world. What are the future plans of its beneficiaries, those who truly rule?