The West was moving to the right — and then Donald Trump got elected again
…
Something is happening among America’s allies, and it’s a tremendous relief. For some years now, we’ve seen the MAGA-infused global right gaining a foothold amongst western democracies, largely driven by the same demagogic, nationalist, pseudo-populism that has fueled Donald Trump’s dominance on the American right.
Some countries like Hungary have served as a sort of experiment for the kind of post-democratic autocracies dreamt of by the modern right wing in which government co-opts, intimidates and de-legitimizes the political opposition to create an authoritarianism that dominates the culture and the politics without a lot of overt violence.
But the rise of the far right among the Western allies seems to be stalling out.
And no mention of Italy?
Yes, Italy, Hungary and others are already well down the fascist path. Romania just went fascist. Austria is struggling not to be wholly under the far right’s control, depending on a coalition to hold them off. The far right has significant power in the governments of Slovakia, Netherlands, Finland, and Sweden. Portugal and Belgium are also dealing with surging far right movements.
It’s absurd to conclude it’s over because centrism squeaked through in Canada and Australia. It’s like everyone relaxing in 2020 because the US public were sure to see sense under Biden.
I heard that Poland is also cheering for some MAGA guy in the next election… Troubling times ahead.
For Romania, there might still be a chance in the run-off. However, the difference between the two candidates was quite large (20% difference; 1.8 million votes). Similarly, the other candidates seemed to have voters that would rather vote for the nazi. Most likely all hope is lost, but that 1% chance is still there.
And Portugal overthrew fascism in the 1970s, too…
Italy has always been a joke, Hungary too
Greece was coming frighteningly close to nazism a few years back
It’s so frustrating to see