Inkwell Institute
International Group
European Desk
Since the death of the Soviet union and the birth of democracy in the counties that were controlled politically by the USSR, the far right has been making in roads into the system……the most notable is Hungary…..but there is a saving grace there….the democratic process, elections if you will……..
Hungary’s Jews are worried following the stunning electoral success over the weekend of the far-right Jobbik party, which ran on an openly anti-Semitic and anti-Roma platform and accuses Jews of driving Hungary into a steep economic downturn.
“Today is a very dark time for modern Hungary,” Peter Feldmajer, president of the Hungarian Jewish community, told The Jerusalem Post on Monday. “It is a very dangerous direction not just for Hungarian Jews, but for Hungarian democracy.”
Jobbik, which has ties to a nationalist, uniformed militia called the Hungarian Guard, took third place in the Sunday elections, winning 16.6 percent of the national vote, just short of the incumbent Socialists, who collapsed to 20% of the vote after eight years in power.
It said Jobbik’s electoral success proved “that acceptable anti-Semitism, xenophobia and racism are still alive and well in parts of Europe,”
This is a growing problem in European politics……the far right has made in-roads in Switzerland and Holland and even some of the more progressive democracies….and now with the economic crisis still looming, I look for it to continue to grow as people’s frustrations grow……Nationalism is on the rise and not just in Europe….the longer the economy sucks the more popular it will become……
I realize that most Americans could care less what happens in Hungary because it has NOTHING to do with the States…..think about that……..sounds kinda like the thinking in the 1930’s and that lead to a large international problem……
I think there’s two lessons that the US and the UK – in fact (as this shows) ALL of Europe – should take from this. The first, as you so rightly point out is that the US like ALL other so-called superpowers, needs to grow up somewhat and realise that she is by no means any longer even close to being unassailable (either physically or financially) and needs to pay a whole lot more heed to the rest of the world. What happens in the far corners of the world can and most probably will affect US citizens – witness OBL, WW2, the current financial crisis and much more.
The second is that democracy is UTTERLY DEPENDENT on its middle classes for stability and tolerance and ALL THESE ASSHOLES IGNORE THEM AT THEIR PERIL!!!!
Ultimately, the elite rule by usually tacit permission of the mighty (and largely apolitical) middle classes – ignore them and fail to consider their welfare for long enough in favour of either the rich right or the poor left and they WILL turn on you! God help you if that happens, because the result is often the rise of an opposing backlash that has little or no mercy!
Ruling elite – TAKE NOTE! 👿
I agree….the Middle Class is the key to good government (or should I just say, government?) when the MC gets to feeling left out they will turn right and embrace a more nationalistic agenda….i.e. the Tea Party and all its rhetoric…..
Yes, that’s my point. But the MC in the UK has been suffering from being ignored for a whole lot longer and MAY well, if they have to continue to suffer, swing further to the right – just as they might also do in the US, if they are further frustrated for much longer.
In any event, the Tea party as you call them has already itself shifted to the right (hasn’t it) and may go further. The hard right is often the final refuge of the MC (it’s really the only place they CAN go) when no one else will listen and pay them some heed!
Like I said – beware!
I am always watching the hard right…..the Tea Party has two camps (oh crap! A future post) and the Palin camp is turning hard right…..the Paul camp seems to be the more intellectual and logical of the groups……I see the swing now…it is slow but steady and yes we need to beware…