vijaya
27th May 2014, 14:53
I know most people on here aren't in to parliamentary politics because "it doesn't change anything" and for ideological reasons, which is right, but I thought a discussion on near future of Europe would be enlightening from you folks. What do people think is the political road Europe, individual states and continental community as a whole, is going down?
In the aftermath of the Euro-parliamentary elections we have seen a clear shift to the right in many western European states such as with UKIP in England (largely in the south, but many UKIP MEPs also in the North and one each in Scotland and Wales), France's Front national, Hungary's Jobbik, and perhaps most scarily Greece's Golden Dawn. Here in the UK, due to Ukip's success, we've seen the major parties pandering to UKIP and it's far right agenda in order to try and avoid people drifting from their own parties and to Ukip.
On the other hand there has been some success for the 'left' with Syriza, the arguably successful most left-leaning Green Party of England and Wales although only gaining one extra MEP; had the highest voting record per minute of TV airtime of any party and also beat the governing Liberal Democrats into fourth place, and the European United Left group gaining +9 seats have been on an upward trend since 2009.
Is it simply a smack in the face of the European Union itself as many of these successful parties are notably eurosceptic? Is it genuine fears about immigration and the political elite? Do Europeans fear the death of their 'cultures'? On the left, are climate change and the successive global capitalist crises finally starting to concern people politically?
Is it just a trend? Midterm blues for the ruling parties?
Personally, with economic crisis, austerity, climate change, high unemployment, blatant elitism, constant betrayal of the working class; people are clearly completely ticked off at the financial-political elites. However, since these elites also control the media, the working class and the 'squeezed middle' class has been subjected to a sh*t-storm of xenophobic, poor-hating, misogynistic rhetoric through the printed and televised media leading us to look to right-wing demagogues. More economic betrayal and climate inaction will follow, immigrant scapegoating and welfare shaming on the front page of the right-wing media will continue and in a decades time Europe's politics will be irredeemably polarised.
Thoughts?
In the aftermath of the Euro-parliamentary elections we have seen a clear shift to the right in many western European states such as with UKIP in England (largely in the south, but many UKIP MEPs also in the North and one each in Scotland and Wales), France's Front national, Hungary's Jobbik, and perhaps most scarily Greece's Golden Dawn. Here in the UK, due to Ukip's success, we've seen the major parties pandering to UKIP and it's far right agenda in order to try and avoid people drifting from their own parties and to Ukip.
On the other hand there has been some success for the 'left' with Syriza, the arguably successful most left-leaning Green Party of England and Wales although only gaining one extra MEP; had the highest voting record per minute of TV airtime of any party and also beat the governing Liberal Democrats into fourth place, and the European United Left group gaining +9 seats have been on an upward trend since 2009.
Is it simply a smack in the face of the European Union itself as many of these successful parties are notably eurosceptic? Is it genuine fears about immigration and the political elite? Do Europeans fear the death of their 'cultures'? On the left, are climate change and the successive global capitalist crises finally starting to concern people politically?
Is it just a trend? Midterm blues for the ruling parties?
Personally, with economic crisis, austerity, climate change, high unemployment, blatant elitism, constant betrayal of the working class; people are clearly completely ticked off at the financial-political elites. However, since these elites also control the media, the working class and the 'squeezed middle' class has been subjected to a sh*t-storm of xenophobic, poor-hating, misogynistic rhetoric through the printed and televised media leading us to look to right-wing demagogues. More economic betrayal and climate inaction will follow, immigrant scapegoating and welfare shaming on the front page of the right-wing media will continue and in a decades time Europe's politics will be irredeemably polarised.
Thoughts?