Freedom Party's candidate Norbert Hofer has just lost the Austrian presidential election, although he was generally considered as the favorite.
Europe is currently going through a terrible double crisis: an economic and an identity crisis, with permanent terrorist threats in the background.
The populist candidates (Geert Wilders in the Netherlands, Marine Le Pen in France, Nigel Farage and now Paul Nuttall in the UK, Viktor Orbán in Hungary) attract the majority of disillusioned working-class voters. They blame the immigrants (especially the Muslims), the European Union, the international financial system, the loss of moral values for all the troubles their country is facing, and offer radical solutions to these major problems: leave the European Union, turn the back on free trade, close the borders, ban muslim immigration, forbid gay marriage, increase police and military spending...
These populist/nationalist political parties (FPÖ in Austria, FN in France, AfD in Germany, Jobbik in Hungary, PVV in the Netherlands, Fremskrittspartiet in Norway) have been recognized as being far-right parties by several institutes of political studies.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...itical_parties
Most forum members seem to support these movements. Yet, only a few of them acknowledge that these political parties are located on the right edge of the political spectrum. The most educated among you, those who have excellent English communication skills, and impressive general knowledge, will always deny that they vote for far-right parties. They'd rather define themselves as ''nationalists''.
These parties are not fascist. Their leaders admit the constitutional principles and the democratic ideals of Europe.
Still, the rhetoric used by these same leaders is often too xenophobic, homophobic and trade protectionist, enough to cross the red line of far-right.
A recent poll on this forum indicated that most forum members consider themselves as centrists. Only a few of you voted for the far-right option. Yet I read so many racist and homophobic comments on the various threads, that I'm quite skeptical.
I'm pretty certain that most of these conservatives, centrists, liberals or left-wings are far-right extremists in deny.
I don't want to stigmatize anybody. Everyone has the right to think and have a political orientation.
With that being said, I read so many anti-Muslim propaganda in
the Apricity, that this forum should deserve to be renamed into
the Atrocity.
Sometimes, I get the feeling that Muslims are to our western society what Jews used to be to Europe during the interwar years: scapegoats.
I don't need to tell you my choice. Everyone can guess it. Please, don't thumb me down too much
I'm also afraid to see the results of this poll.
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