While nervously huffing and puffing about how much the far right is gaining more and more power everywhere in the West, Centre politics – and even more Left of Centre and Socialist nostalgia - do not realise sufficiently that they are the ones feeding the Far and Extreme Right. (Which may or may not be the same.) Voting and voting intentions in Italy, Sweden, Germany, Austria – and gradually Malta, send the message that hospitality can take the shape of masochistic naïveté.
I will ignore simplistic syllogisers grandiloquently stating that these matters and ideas of right and left are a thing of the past. Let us suppose they are. So by what have they been replaced? Are vacuums a kind of political structures? What kind of new ideologies and debate have replaced the right and left? The reply is often: “Well, erm, erm…” Indeed that is quite a reply!
While pulling their hair out and gnashing their teeth, romantic centrists and leftists cry out: “Oh my God, what has become of the idealistic left and left of centre we used to know in the ‘liberal’ West – the same West that created and promoted massive, destructive wars and blind colonialism?” Indeed, are we experiencing a revolutionary pendulum of history which is worse than the event of the political mud hitting the swinging fan?
While romantic leftists bite their finger-nails every time a new survey or new electoral results show the far right increasing in popularity, they blame everyone but themselves. There may be a few real reasons why this political pendulum is hitting romantics right in the face. But the blame is obviously everywhere except in the unique fragrance of bold hard-headedness.
Brexit. There are various reasons why Brexit has come about. Maybe there are many reasons. One of them is the fact that, while the British were experiencing exasperation about being treated like a remote island and an insular immigrationist dumping ground, and while foreign patronising busybodies were noticing the inevitable rightist tendencies in Britain, they actually tried to lecture the British on: “Oh, how wrong you are, oh how you are moving to the edge of your own cliffs, to disaster!” Simple social psychology explains that repetitive advice to people who are intelligent enough not to need it, will actually entrench them more staunchly in the position you vociferously preach that is wrong for them. Some non-British politicians are already wondering if they were perhaps a bit too interfering with Britain.
France. The left in France has practically been wiped out. Excuse-me, not has been wiped out by anyone, but has wiped itself out by clinging to the same mental literature over generations. It is now making strange, optimistic noises on the possibility of “coming back”. Well, if Lazarus did come back, why not the French Socialist Party? Elementary, Dear Solferino Street! As it often happens in France with Socialists, “coming back” means repeating the same mistakes of the past, hoping that the previously ungrateful masses (ironically a favourite word with the left when referring to 20% of the population), will repent and appreciate their good intentions. The “good intentions” of the left in France are the convictions that, while being basically atheistic, they are actually more Christian than Jesus Christ. This is why Marie Le Pen’s party, while not having won sufficient votes to be elected, has none the less gained massively and is preparing to numerically come back “once more into the breach” camarades! We have here another case of the far right nourished by the far left!
Germany. There was once a maths teacher named Angela who made lots of headway in national politics. Her over-confidence deluded her into thinking that she was a universal saviour of humanity. Thus she opened her country’s borders wide and declared: “All are welcome”. Which made some of the welcome persons think that they were welcome to the bodies of Angela’s female compatriots. Angela later admitted that she had gaffed. It was a bit too late, as Germany now veers more to the far right with extreme rightists holding well-attended gatherings not seen in several years. Angela’s thinking and behaviour may have contributed to the stoking of the far right blaze. But, as she tumbles uncontrollably towards the departure lounge of German politics, she sticks to the tearful feeling that people don’t appreciate.
Immigrationism. Many think that this is just a coined word. It may be that various hues of immigration, legal and illegal, genuine and opportunistic, do exist. But immigrationism? Let’s not exaggerate! Not only does this phenomenom exist, but it actually creates and stimulates anti-immigrationist sentiments. Immigrationism means the obsession with massively inviting all and sundry to “Please make yourselves at home and get to know our ladies and other social services”. The Swedes tried this experiment with lots of joy and fanfare. Now they are less joyful about their experiment, as surveys in Sweden indicate a sizeable swing to the far right. You cannot take a dreaming poet, put a flag in his hand and watch him parade with loud outbursts of flower power. Is immigrationism perhaps a reaction, indeed a defence mechanism, to a nagging guilt complex related to your history? Maybe, however in the profit-and-loss account, immigrationism feeds the far right, just like childish cosmopolitanism.
Ex-Patism. Over several generations, natives in most countries have looked upon ex-pats as interesting sources of multicultural camaraderie. Which is basically true. However, ex-patism is something totally different. It is the philosophy of some eccentric ex-pats who criticise and pretend to teach the natives so many things they don’t know. Ex-patism is an extreme philosophy that pushes the natives to the far right.
Hippies. Hippies and hippic NGOs are a thing of the past, but occasionally they make an attempt to look and smell lovely again, hollering about the melodies of the past when closeness to nature was the solution to humanity’s wayward madness. Some of them wander around on pleasure craft, convincing you that they refuse all funds from everywhere. Hippies are created by the right who taunt them about their reluctance to wash sufficiently. This is offensive, as avoiding straitjacket attire does not mean that one does not wash underneath. Hippies, after all, may represent real romantic socialism. But romantic anyway, with little chance, in the present rush to the far right, of influencing anything or anyone but themselves.
The obligatory, sober dream. Dreamers, trying to create a right-of-centre, conservatively optimistic euphoria, such as Manu Macron, are failing miserably. Some attempt the false logicity of naïve syllogism: “If the far right are gaining ground, why not also the simple right of centre?” Indeed “simple” is correct! The conservative right of centre has nowadays absolutely nothing to do with the far right. To start with, the far right does not have the habit of attacking and ridiculing the police. Rather the opposite. The far right hardly ever speaks in moralistic terms. The right-of-centre establishment tries to revive its joys of the past. How can it, when half of it is contemplating abandoning peculiar moralisms and join the timid centre-left contemplating the horizons of the far right?
Journalists. As a major role, this profession – which has made great academic strides – conveys information and analyses events in such a way as to present realities and leave the formation of opinions to the reader/viewer/listener. Journalism is analytical and, to some extent, pedagogical. I like to read about European leaders’ meetings on multiculturalism, education, development and solutions discussed. At the same time, when I see an article on immigration with inevitable photos of children and pregnant women, I just move on to other articles as I do not like to be conditioned and treated like a child. The photos are meant to influence me emotionally and form my opinion – which I wish to do myself. I prefer to decide on my own when and whether to feel emotional or not. Emotional articles are poetry, which is artistic and attractive, but does not have an important journalistic purpose.
Euphoric religionism. This includes holy persons who actually believe that, in this day and age, they can actually teach and instruct “their”congregation – which they think consists of most “correct-thinking” members of society. A bishop I used to know, regularly expressed sweet, puerile desires. He actually stated that even his friends around him needed to be converted. Obviously, he was the only one who did not need to be converted and was happy in collective isolation. To which he joyfully replied that his great boss once told his friends: “Why don’t you go away too.” Thank God the Lord left someone on earth to continue and promote his mission!
Basically, while the far right moves on – and seems to be raring for more victories at next year’s MEP elections – the far left and centre-right continue to promote it unwittingly, while thinking it is practising its moral duty of restraining it.
Finally I will let the analytical readers decide on their own whether some prospective candidates for the MEP elections next year, have already started responding to surveys indicating that vast numbers of voters all the way from the far left to the right of centre have new voting intentions.
While solemnly pontificating that this is a simple consequence of the pendulum of history, could it be the fault of hard-skull intransigence pushing the left to actually feed the far right?
Dr Anthony Licari has a background of Human Sciences from various French universities.