It’s been reported that in the German elections, a far right party has made ‘significant gains’.

In the UK (at least before the scandals) Reform UK seems to have had a significant boost and has even surpassed the right-wing Conservative Party in some polls/predictions.

Even France, one or two years ago, was threatened with a far-right government due to the French far right party gaining a lot of support.

Now I’m not political, but it feels like in the last few years, the far-right has exceeded itself and had a surge in popularity. Is this the case? And if so, wtf is fuelling it?

  • Babalugats@feddit.ukEnglish
    2·
    13 hours ago

    There was an Australian man on ITV or BBC’s morning show about a year or so ago. He was a very good speaker, but I’ve no idea who he was. He reckoned (I’m going by memory) it started when the left pushed for more left leaning politics - beginning after the US started a domino effect in the middle East, and caused a surge of immigration.

    That coupled with people having their own platforms with the likes of facebook, instagram, twitter etc.

    Initially many countries had sat in the middle and were complacent, then there was that surge, with other things that angered the far right and voices started appearing in printed media and online.

    I’ve probably made a balls of what exactly he claimed was the start of it, but he reckoned it was a sleeping giant anyway.

    He had been researching it since the 80’s iirc.

    I watched it as I was getting ready for work and having breakfast. I wouldn’t normally watch TV, so wasn’t paying great attention to it, it was only a few days later, maybe a week that I was retrospectively going over what he was saying and thought he made good points. if anyone knows the guy I’m talking about, would be great if you could put me out of my misery and name him. I’ve searched a few times without success. I don’t even know if I could say what he looked like, older with thinning grey hair I think…

    • Hegar@fedia.io
      61·
      11 hours ago

      Right wing popularity is fueled by anxiety and wealth inequality.

      The idea that the right gains popularity after the left institutes left wing policies is a right wing talking point, not fact. Left leaning policies enjoy popular support across almost all policy domains because they benefit many, whereas right leaning policies benefit few.

      Blaming left leaning policies in the US is especially laughable because there are none. Not since the end of the civil rights era. Gay marriage, that’s it. And that really affects nothing compared to the impact of right wing policies like obamacare’s empowering of insurance corps, forgiving corporate crimes as “too big to fail”, forgiving US war criminals by not punishing them, etc. And that’s just obama.

      When people are scared, a slightly greater percentage will agree that taking resources from the disadvantaged is the easiest solution.

      And when the rich command far far greater resources they can use them to overcome the popular resistance to policies that benefit them and disadvantage people in general.

      Fear and rising wealth concentration.

      • Babalugats@feddit.ukEnglish
        2·
        13 hours ago

        Dunno. I’ll look him up…I don’t think this guy leaned left or right. Or at least didn’t seem to during that. He just spoke of his research. I left out tons obviously. But think that was the jist of it.

        Edit…

        Hmm… I’m not sure… it doesn’t look like him in some images (thick head of hair and thinner), but then in other images. I think this guy wrote about it, either in papers or a book.

        Thanks, I’ll look a bit more into that guy.

        • Cyril Strobe@sh.itjust.worksOP
          1·
          11 hours ago

          No problem. Didn’t think it would be him, but was literally the only gray haired old Australian political activist I could think of.