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In reply to the discussion: Please rec to show your support for the people of France, England and Greece in [View all]DutchLiberal
(5,744 posts)In Greece, a conservative party became the biggest. Besides that, the extreme-right neo-nazi party got 8% of the vote, which means they'll be in parliament for the first time in 40 years. These are politicians who wear White Pride-emblems on their shirts; have the pictures of the fascist colonels of the 1960's on their walls; and have Mein Kampf on their bookshelves. They even have fighting crews patrolling the streets. (And none of that is hyperbolic either; it's literally happening.)
Furthermore, this wasn't a conscious decision of the people in England and France to vote for the left-wing parties because they really have started to believe in them or they now underline their ideological backgrounds. No, just like in all the other EU countries, they're just voting those in power out and vote the other side in. Had a socialist been president of France, he would now have been voted out in favor of a right-winger. It's got nothing to do with an 'awakened' electorate. If the people in Europe had really been awake, they would have never elected Cameron or Rajoy (Spain) in the first place. Rajoy came into power when the 'socialists' (lol) there were voted out of office. It's just a changing of the guards; it doesn't have any other far-reaching meaning than that.