news Far-right PVV (anti-Muslim, anti-LGBT) becomes largest party in Dutch Parliament

[SlowGinFizzzz]

On 11/27/2023 at 4:39 PM, Anthinos said:

I agree with you, but I have to disagree on one point. I think there are a lot of voters who are actually very right wing. Anti-LGBT+, anti-women, racist etc. I always hear that these right-wing parties will disappear as soon as left-wing parties or the center-right parties take care of the immigration issue. But in many countries they are already doing this and yet the right has not really collapsed, in Austria it has even grown stronger. The culture war is real and it is not just about immigration. For many, for example, the LGBT+ community is also a problem. I think it's naive to believe that these are all just frustrated voters. Many of these voters are actually on the right and the right is getting stronger worldwide. As a gay man, I find this shift to the right scary and dangerous. I think we are far too uncritical of the right. People talk more about the "woke" (who don't win elections anywhere) than about right-wing extremists. I also take a critical view of immigration from such cultures, but I do find it worrying that people vote for very right-wing, sometimes far-right parties. As someone here has already said, we have to see the big picture. Left-wing parties need a new positive and optimistic vision

I don't think looking at everybody who votes PVV/AfD/FPÖ/RN or whatever equivalent as basically a Nazi is the right conclusion to draw from this. Since you mentioned Austria – and I'm from Austria – the center/left parties have definitely not "taken care" of the immigration issue. The center-right ÖVP (that currently forms a coalition with the Greens) did adopt some of the FPÖ's rhetoric, that's true, but nothing about their actual policies or actions has changed (and they've been in power non-stop for over 35 years now in different constellations). The voters, of course, realise that, which is why the FPÖ is growing stronger and stronger in polls, whereas the ÖVP is dropping like a rock. Similarly, the Social Democrats (SPÖ) just recently elected a new leader – and instead of choosing someone with a more pragmatic approach regarding migration and refugees (who would've been able to seriously compete with the FPÖ), they picked a far-left one who still pretends like there is nothing wrong whatsoever.

 

If you look at Denmark's most recent election results, you'll notice that right-wing parties are pretty much nowhere to be seen; the strongest one barely got 8 %. Meanwhile, the Social Democrats (with a considerably more anti-migration policy than most Social-Democratic parties) are by far the strongest party, followed by the Liberals and the Moderates. Similarly, current polls from Germany show that BSW would for the most part get votes from people who would otherwise vote AfD or CDU (and that's before BSW even officially exists, I'd assume this effect will grow much stronger closer to the election once more people know them).

 

All this to show that people – for the most part – don't vote for far-right parties because they're all racist, anti-women, anti-LGBT, literal Nazis etc., but rather because it's the only option they have to voice their protest against the status quo. Of course, every country has a certain percentage that is like that, but that small number is usually negligible. As soon as people feel like their concerns re: migration are heard, they stop voting for far-right parties. 

 

tl;dr take the topic "migration" away from right-wing parties and said right-wing parties will basically implode

Edited November 30, 2023 by SlowGinFizzzz