Julien Rochedy, 32, is a former rising star in French politics. As a member of the Front National (FN), the young Ard\u00e9chois achieved his highest responsibilities when he became Marine Le Pen's political advisor for the 2012 presidential campaign, and then became head of the FN youth wing the same year. However, the ideological evolution of Marine Le Pen and the party gradually disgusted him - as he explains in a long-form video posted on his YouTube channel. So, in 2014, Julien Rochedy gave up all political involvement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, he's fully committed to metapolitics, where, he says, the battle is fought on the terrain of ideas. To this end, he publishes books, gives lectures and posts videos on the Internet. It was on the internet, without knowing anything about his political commitment, that I discovered Julien Rochedy before asking him for an interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Julien Rochedy: I got into politics quite young, and I didn't want to become just a politician. Politics is a world that's hard to get out of once you're in: you enter it with ideals and passion, and generally lose them after a few years. But you can't leave it just because you're making money. Today, I even think that most politicians don't particularly like what they do, but are forced into it, sucked in by their milieu. I don't think tomorrow's world will necessarily be structured by politics. Politics is no more than a cash register for the great cultural and social movements taking place in Europe and the West. It is now society that prevails. Consequently, to have power over what will happen tomorrow, we need to acquire what we call \u00abinfluence\u00bb. Influence on youth, on intellectuals, on the ruling classes. Influence that's acquired more through the battle of ideas than through pure \u00abparty politics\u00bb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes, that's one of the reasons why I left the Front National. Marine Le Pen has chosen a strictly sovereignist-populist stance, whereas - if I absolutely had to be given a label, which is necessarily reductive - I'm actually closer to the liberal-conservatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let's just say that, as far as France is concerned, it's a right-wing that is first and foremost aware of the problems of identity - the most serious we have to face. It's a right that focuses on our civilizational roots, while considering the necessary reduction of taxes and social charges that weigh terribly on French economic players - particularly our small businesses, workers and craftsmen. I feel close to these ideas. I think it's the best thing we can do right now. Before promising that French society will be much better off once we've changed the world and Europe, we need to sort out the Franco-French problems linked to our omnipotent state and our very leftist culture. Of course, at the same time, we can try to breathe new life into Europe, but we can't blame the European Union for all our problems - which is what sovereigntists tend to do all the time. It's not only demagogic, it's also wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n