Nationalists and populists will turn in their strongest performance since the EU was established, and their parliamentary group — Europe of Nations and Freedom — could sweep a fourth of the seats in Strasbourg.Without an appreciation by these parties for liberty, free markets and free trade, they could be as bad or worse than anything they replace.
Nigel Farage’s new Brexit Party is predicted to run first in the British elections, winning two to three times the votes of the ruling Tory Party of Prime Minister Theresa May.
In France, Marine Le Pen’s National Rally is running even with the party of President Emmanuel Macron, who pleads for “more Europe.”
Matteo Salvini, interior minister and leader of the League, predicts his party will finish first in Italy and first in Europe.
At Salvini’s invitation, a dozen nationalist parties gathered in Milan this weekend. A week from now, they could be the third-largest bloc in the European Parliament. If so, their gains will come at the expense of the center-left and center-right parties that have dominated European politics since World War II.
There is nothing to cheer for here. They are neanderthals from a different cave. -RW
They don't want immigrants who will go on welfare at their expense. Is there anything wrong with that?
ReplyDeleteHello, limelemon,
DeleteIf it were only that they "don't want immigrants who will go on welfare at their expense", then that would not be a problem, but their sincerity would be challenged if they would not call for the end of the welfare system. But these are Fascists Wenzel is describing, not libertarians, and they don't want immigrants, period. So yes, there is something wrong with that, in this sense: These Fascists would presume they know who you should trade with, despite your own preferences.
Immigrants consume far less welfare than natives, scaled for population size, in every that's been performed. They don't want a reduction in welfare; they just want to reduce immigration.
DeleteWenzel for the GDP First Party. Profits over people.
ReplyDeleteHello, Paul Hansen,
DeleteYou say Wenzel puts "Profits over people."
Spoken like a true Fascist. Or do you prefer to be called a National Socialist? I can be accommodating.
I also put profits over people, you know, only if the people are jealous meddlesome sphincters like you.
No such thing, commie. Profits means consumer/people wishes are being satisfied.
DeleteHello Old Mexican that refuses to live in Mexico,
DeleteI have no doubt you put profits over people, and yes you can call me a nazi, as I don't get butthurt by the comments of irrational people.
Hello, Paul Hansen,
DeleteSure, whatever rocks your boat. I certainly haven't given anyone any reason or justification to call me a National Socialist, even "irrational people".
I am amused by your attempt at wit by saying I refuse to live in Mexico. I am certainly not entertaining your invitation to do so. I don;t think people of sound minds accept any from you, either. So, be safe, have a happy life.
Yeah, you're completely rational to bash nationalism and borders and then use an online handle that indicates you are self identifying based on both of those things, while also refusing to live in that territory.
Deletehello, Robert!
ReplyDeletePat Buchanan writes: "Then there is immigration. Native-born Europeans do not welcome the new ethnic groups that have come uninvited in considerable numbers in recent decades, failed to assimilate and created enclaves that replicate the Third World places whence they came."
Let's set aside Pat's sweeping generalization about native-born Europeans as if all of them were anti-immigrant bigots like him, which they're not. What is irksome is Pat's claim that immigrants come 'uninvited'. This is a canard. Pat, like many nativists, confuse immigrants with refugees. Immigrants ARE invited in, by people who want to do commerce with them and by other immigrants who have the means and will to support them while they get on their feet. About the 'enclaves' he alludes to, mostly that's part exaggeration, part myth. Sure, immigrants likely arrive at the places they feel most familiar with, not unlike immigrants who arrived at Ellis Island a century ago who then moved on to live in neighborhoods where other like them lived, but after two generations the descendants of those early migrants moved to other cities and regions. What makes Pat think that the immigrants he talks about are different? As for "replicating the Third World places whence they came", that is just racist claptrap. He uses an obsolete term to denigrate people who don't look like him, that's all. What are these immigrants replicating, exactly? What is Pat referring to? Is he talking about people building huts and lighting their homes with oil lamps? Or perhaps herding goats down the Streets of Cologne? Of course not. That's not what he's saying, because he doesn't want to give away the game, but if you want to read between the lines, you can almost get into that man's mind and see "Mosques". That's what he's talking about.
In his piece, Mr. Buchanan makes the claim that native-born Europeans are fed up with lowering wages or at least a widening gap between the wages of those who do "things with their hands" and the wages of upper management. Whether it is true or not that this is the reason for the resentment, the problem is that Mr. Buchanan seems to imply that their frustration is justified, regardless of the facts. The fact is that wages in the EU have not stagnated nor gone down, in fact wages have increased steadily since 2000 and picked a good increase in 2009 after the recession. See the average wage levels per country in terms of USD: https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=AV_AN_WAGE
ReplyDeleteMr. Buchanan is merely parroting the same talking points coming from right-wing authoritarians in the EU which are not that different from the talking points promoted by left-wingers who also rail against an unjust system (i.e. Capitalism) that exploits workers and endanger the planet or something. Both camps, however, are equally clueless about economics and economic facts. It is unfortunate that their intended marks - the hundreds of millions of gullible voters - are just as clueless.
Haha! As if Wenzel would ever use GDP. Also, profits are a measure of value created above costs of inputs. Value is subjective and reflects the choice of people’s preferences. Essentially, your statement says, people’s voice over choosing people.
ReplyDelete