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Should we be worried about right-wing populism?

(532 Posts)
whitewave Tue 24-May-16 10:17:41

Following on from the Trump thread.

It seems that right wing populism is growing with its anti-immigration stance, and its racist and fascist undertones.

The evidence I suggest is the following.
Trump in America
50% of Austria voting for a fascist president
Polands "Law and Order" party.
France Marine le Pen
UKs UKIP
Other European countries have growing right wing parties.
Eastern Europe has seen the rise of authoritarian nationalism, fascism and anti- minority populism.
They all share the same model as what we see in Russia, Putins government can be described as authoritarian, and socially conservative nationalism.

Some of our parents generation lost their lives fighting this evil. We can't let it slip back into our lives.

whitewave Sat 04-Jun-16 09:39:48

That is exactly how the single market is supposed to work - absolutely logical when you come to think if it.
Growing economy = more jobs. Free movement of people does this efficiently. Contracting economy = less jobs. Push/pull factors.

Gracesgran Sat 04-Jun-16 09:32:43

I will also add a comment on the "Or needed a much larger workforce". We did and we do. If you sent "home" all those you think should not be here because we "don't need them" who do you think will do the jobs.

Perhaps the old, or the infirm because this government has found there are few areas of benefits they can attack without hurting these groups. They have actually proved there are very few who are not working deliberately - we don't have that flexibility in our population.

Have your views by all means; we are all entitled to them but do find out whether they are based on fact or fiction. If you still want to believe what you believe even though you learn the facts do not uphold those views then you have to ask yourself why you are so anti immigration.

By the way the best way to get the people who have come from the EU and elsewhere to go is to wreck our economy. When Ireland was going through it's Celtic Tiger stage they had many immigrants; when the economy tanked most moved on to the next good economy. It is not a case of immigrants being anyway parasitic on a country; immigrants and a good economy are symbiotic; they help sustain each other.

Gracesgran Sat 04-Jun-16 09:21:37

Why do you think we didn't Obieone It will be true of all countries where life is improving. You improve health and you have a growing aging population to support. You improve education and you have a falling birth rate so fewer of working age to support the growing group who use the NHS on a growing basis and need care and income. I know many will choose not to believe this because they want to justify an anti-immigration stance, but it is the case. No immigration and we could have a very sad old age. Add to this the fact that the pressures on the most able of the young will cause them to leave the country and where are we?

Those who put their head in the sand will bring a very different sort of Armageddon on us to the one they are predicting. Why, oh why do you ignore the facts?

Just Google "birth rate problems in the UK" and you will find even the much loved paper of the anti-immigrant group, the Daily Mail, bemoaning the low birth rate in this country up to a few years ago. We are now beginning to raise the birth rate - women in the UK are giving birth at an average rate of 1.9 children each but even the least statistically minded should be able to see that will not replace 2 parents. To do this you need an average birth rate of over 2. In Germany they have tried to encourage women to have more children but their birth rate is only 2.4. Educated women do not want to be trapped by large families and they want to give fewer children more. They have many women who have chosen not to have any children. We may not have the problem to the same extent but that is because of immigration; 1 in 4 mothers have been born abroad and we may well be very grateful for that when some of their children care for us in our old age or design new medicines to keep us fit.

obieone Sat 04-Jun-16 08:39:57

I dont get why older people especially hadn't expected all this sort of thing to happen. Perhaps everyone actually did. It is not exactly new is it.
If this country and others needed a bigger population that would have been different. Or needed a much larger workforce.

whitewave Sat 04-Jun-16 07:58:18

Oh joy! It's all going pear shaped everywhere.

petra Sat 04-Jun-16 07:57:21

I see in the paper today that Marine La pen is doing very well in the polls in France.
If she wins the election next year, the French will have a referendum.

daphnedill Sat 04-Jun-16 00:35:38

I don't think it's ironic at all. The Daily Mail still peddles the same xenophobic and racist messages.

Mosley was totally against immigration and wanted West Indian immigrants to be repatriated.

durhamjen Sat 04-Jun-16 00:17:21

"Wherever these “East Europeans” come from, you can bet it was somewhere that saw horrors Britons would find hard to imagine, even in the murderous 20th century. We cared about that in 1939. We should remember it now. But we choose our memories carefully. We edit out the altruism of our own past and the suffering of others. We are offended at this apparent slur on memory, but forget the history that should make us proud to be generous and welcoming."

durhamjen Sat 04-Jun-16 00:14:02

Found it. Just what I said. Presumably this is what you mean.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/01/britain-eastern-european-migrants-london-memorial

11 months ago, so not that recent. Has it happened since? Are your papers full of it? This is the only one I can find.

durhamjen Sat 04-Jun-16 00:04:36

Agreed, daphne. The problem is that so many people have tunnel vision about immigrants in this country.
The difference is that if I saw it in my newspapers, they would be asking why these people were homeless.

daphnedill Fri 03-Jun-16 23:22:21

Sorry! I don't get your point. Just because something has always been so, doesn't mean that it shouldn't be challenged. It's not an excuse.

PS. There have also been stories of British whites defecating and urinating on monuments and on graves, not to mention stories of British tourists abroad.

The fact that this has even been brought up at all on this thread shows xenophobic prejudice.

Granny2016 Fri 03-Jun-16 23:12:58

Durhamjen....re eastern europeans.I haven,t seen it myself,it has been visually reported across the media.In london parks,and disgustingly around the memorial erected to honour victims of recent London bombings.
Of course there shouldn,t be racists and Xenophobes,but sadly history shows us that it is not an uncommon trait.

durhamjen Fri 03-Jun-16 23:10:50

Has the EU stuck to its agreement with Turkey?

Hope you are lying down, GandTea.

GandTea Fri 03-Jun-16 22:59:33

DJ asked "How many have you seen" not pictures of them. I have never seen one and we live in an area with a high immigrant population.

GandTea Fri 03-Jun-16 22:55:39

OMG, DJ, I agree with you 100% -- must go for a lie down smile

petra Fri 03-Jun-16 22:54:39

dj There were pictures just recently of these people doing just that.

durhamjen Fri 03-Jun-16 22:33:30

How many people from Eastern Europe have you seen sleeping and defecating round our monuments, Granny2016?
I haven't seen any.
There shouldn't be racists and xenophobes. We should be better than that as a nation. It does not have to be accepted.

daphnedill Fri 03-Jun-16 22:23:29

Why is there such an inevitability?

I'm afraid I don't believe that everybody is aware.

petra Fri 03-Jun-16 22:21:03

What's going to happen now that Germany have upset Turkey over the Armenia genocide. Are they going to stick to the agreement Re holding the migrants in Turkey?
I don't think so.
The boats will start again, crossing to Greece. These people will have to go somewhere. The Germans will do a deal with Macedonia to get them to take down the wire on the border and they will once again walk into Austria and Germany.

Granny2016 Fri 03-Jun-16 21:41:17

daphnedill...I,m afraid there will always be racists and xenophobes.It is a fact that we are all aware of.

Granny2016 Fri 03-Jun-16 21:23:05

durhamjen...Surely anyone within the EU has free movement across borders.Isn,t that why we have groups of people from eastern Europe sleeping and defecating around our parks and monuments ? Syrians and Afghans do not share that privilege,even though many of them would be far more desirable.

durhamjen Fri 03-Jun-16 17:08:57

Agree with you, daphne.
However, there is no such thing as uncontrolled migration anyway. Even the poor Syrians and Afghans are controlled in the way they are admitted to the UK.
Racist groups need have no fear.

daphnedill Fri 03-Jun-16 00:55:40

@Granny2016

I think you've misunderstood ME.

I'm not in favour of uncontrolled immigration either and I don't think the majority of people who feel the same as I do, are right wing.

However, I know for a fact that some people who claim to have the same views ARE racist and/or xenophobic. I know some of them personally.

In the 2010 election the BNP, an undoubtedly racist party, had just over half a million votes. The BNP has collapsed, but its supporters haven't gone away. They've joined Britain First or one of the other right wing groups and they're still here. They all exploit people's genuine fears and grievances.

The BNP wasn't even the worst. There is a network of extreme racist and/or nationalist groups operating in networks in the UK.

Granny2016 Fri 03-Jun-16 00:38:37

Durhamjen and daphnedill....Let me clarify my post,it may have been misunderstood.
I am not anti-immigration,but pro controlled immigration ,which is sensible.I pointed out that many of the protesters being labelled right wing are actually moderate people who feel overwhelmed by their current situation in Europe.A situation which is undisputedly out of control.
It is unjust that they be labelled far right wing,which we view as extreme, when they are not.
I stated that they believed they were making a stand for their childrens future,with no mention of the EU referendum at all.
I am sure that all parents ,voting remain or leave,feel that they are doing the best for their children.

Anniebach Sun 29-May-16 13:37:47

Yes I really do whitewave, no way would they allow him to run the country but they want power again , why did I say Democrats , meant republicans sorry