The longstanding effort to keep extremist forces out of government in Europe is officially over.
For decades, political parties of all kinds joined forces to keep the hard-right far from the levers of power. Today, this strategy — known in France as a cordon sanitaire(or firewall) — is falling apart, as populist and nationalist parties grow in strength across the Continent.
Six EU countries — Italy, Finland, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia and the Czech Republic — have hard-right parties in government. In Sweden, the survival of the executive relies on a confidence and supply agreement with the nationalist Sweden Democrats, the second-largest force in parliament. In the Netherlands, the anti-Islamic firebrand Geert Wilders is on the verge of power, having sealed a historic dealto form the most right-wing government in recent Dutch history.
Meanwhile, hard-right parties are dominating the polls across much of Europe. In France, far-right leader Marine Le Pen’s National Rally is cruising at over 30 percent, far ahead of President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance party, according to POLITICO’s Poll of Polls. Across the Rhine, Alternative for Germany, a party under police surveillance for its extremist views, is polling second, head-to-head with the Social Democrats.
Race and religion are absolutely just smoke and mirror scapegoats and panic-triggering red buttons, for the far-right.
People vote far right because of strongman propaganda (Great Leader will solve it all!!!), combined with feelings of anger, frustration and powerlessness.
Any country that keeps it’s people poor and/or let’s rich fucks get rich enough, will get a blooming field of far-right politicians, vying for the privilege of getting more power, to suck the rich people’s dicks better, and get richer themselves.