Gia
20th November 2013, 00:46
Okay, so I found this article about 2 days ago and it really got me thinking about how the future could look like in this context, and given that I'm quite the pessimist by nature, let's just say it kind of made me hope I won't live to the day.
To read the whole article, go at NYtimes.com and search "Right Wing's Surge In Europe Has The Eastablishment Rattled", I'm sure you'll find it, because I'm still under 25 post count and I can't post the link myself :D.
Anyway, here are some selected parts:
HVIDOVRE, Denmark — As right-wing populists surge across Europe, rattling established political parties with their hostility toward immigration, austerity and the European Union, Mikkel Dencker of the Danish People’s Party has found yet another cause to stir public anger: pork meatballs missing from kindergartens.
A member of Denmark’s Parliament and, he hopes, mayor of this commuter-belt town west of Copenhagen, Mr. Dencker is furious that some day care centers have removed meatballs, a staple of traditional Danish cuisine, from their cafeterias in deference to Islamic dietary rules. No matter that only a handful of kindergartens have actually done so. The missing meatballs, he said, are an example of how “Denmark is losing its identity” under pressure from outsiders.
But what I found to be even more worrying was this particular part:
It is also Europe’s new reality. All over, established political forces are losing ground to politicians whom they scorn as fear-mongering populists. In France, according to a recent opinion poll, the far-right National Front has become the country’s most popular party. In other countries — Austria, Britain, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Finland and the Netherlands — disruptive upstart groups are on a roll.
This phenomenon alarms not just national leaders but also officials in Brussels who fear that European Parliament elections next May could substantially tip the balance of power toward nationalists and forces intent on halting or reversing integration within the European Union.
Now, I don't know if we have any comrades around here who are from France, because I truly wish they could have told us how the things looked like from their perspective... I mean, really? A far-right party is the most popular one in France at the moment? This actually kind of sent chills down my spine. Wtf.
What are your toughts on this? Are we really heading towards some very dark times? Does this worry you, as a leftist? And also, are we ever going to see a new, strong and determined left arise? Because to tell you the truth, seeing the system of capitalism to be clearly shaking, in my opinion, my biggest worry right now is that even if capitalism falls once and for all, what is going to come next will not be any better, but *shudders* way worse , and I'm thinking something like fascism... I don't know, with all this popularity the right wing this article claims to be gaining, can that be called a far-streched possibility? I just have some sort of uneasy feeling about this whole thing, but still, it's just a feeling. Again, maybe I am indeed too much of a pessimist.
Anyway, I would love to read your take on this :D.
To read the whole article, go at NYtimes.com and search "Right Wing's Surge In Europe Has The Eastablishment Rattled", I'm sure you'll find it, because I'm still under 25 post count and I can't post the link myself :D.
Anyway, here are some selected parts:
HVIDOVRE, Denmark — As right-wing populists surge across Europe, rattling established political parties with their hostility toward immigration, austerity and the European Union, Mikkel Dencker of the Danish People’s Party has found yet another cause to stir public anger: pork meatballs missing from kindergartens.
A member of Denmark’s Parliament and, he hopes, mayor of this commuter-belt town west of Copenhagen, Mr. Dencker is furious that some day care centers have removed meatballs, a staple of traditional Danish cuisine, from their cafeterias in deference to Islamic dietary rules. No matter that only a handful of kindergartens have actually done so. The missing meatballs, he said, are an example of how “Denmark is losing its identity” under pressure from outsiders.
But what I found to be even more worrying was this particular part:
It is also Europe’s new reality. All over, established political forces are losing ground to politicians whom they scorn as fear-mongering populists. In France, according to a recent opinion poll, the far-right National Front has become the country’s most popular party. In other countries — Austria, Britain, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Finland and the Netherlands — disruptive upstart groups are on a roll.
This phenomenon alarms not just national leaders but also officials in Brussels who fear that European Parliament elections next May could substantially tip the balance of power toward nationalists and forces intent on halting or reversing integration within the European Union.
Now, I don't know if we have any comrades around here who are from France, because I truly wish they could have told us how the things looked like from their perspective... I mean, really? A far-right party is the most popular one in France at the moment? This actually kind of sent chills down my spine. Wtf.
What are your toughts on this? Are we really heading towards some very dark times? Does this worry you, as a leftist? And also, are we ever going to see a new, strong and determined left arise? Because to tell you the truth, seeing the system of capitalism to be clearly shaking, in my opinion, my biggest worry right now is that even if capitalism falls once and for all, what is going to come next will not be any better, but *shudders* way worse , and I'm thinking something like fascism... I don't know, with all this popularity the right wing this article claims to be gaining, can that be called a far-streched possibility? I just have some sort of uneasy feeling about this whole thing, but still, it's just a feeling. Again, maybe I am indeed too much of a pessimist.
Anyway, I would love to read your take on this :D.