You may have heard it in the news: Germany is holding early elections because the incumbent government coalition fell apart. In Austria, the three parties that have tried to form a coalition announced that their effort has failed. And In France, President Macron has been struggling to put together a government since last summer.

Each country is of course unique, but there is also a common element. In all three, there is a right-wing, populist party that keeps getting bigger and bigger. Personally, I find the term populist difficult, and you may not call them right- wing, but you know what I’m talking about. It’s the AfD in Germany, the Rassemblement National in France and the FPÖ in Austria.

All the other parties exclude to govern together with the right-wing party. Since the right-wing party is getting bigger and bigger, putting together a majority coalition without it becomes increasingly difficult. Austria is a good example in that respect. The three parties that lost the election tried to form a coalition just to hold on to power and block the FPÖ. After weeks of negotiation, they had to admit that other than blocking the FPÖ, they did not have much in common that would serve as a basis to govern.

What is happening in Europe? And why?

Ever since World War II, the established and mainstream parties in Europe absorbed new issues and political movements as they appeared. When a populist or challenger party emerged and resonated with voters, the mainstream parties reacted and absorbed it. They basically took over a chunk of the policy proposals that the challenger party was advocating for. They would adopt, say, 70% of the policy, but then vigorously draw the lines of distinction with the challenging party, claiming that they are not as extremist as them.

In other words, the mainstream parties would neutralize the challengers by taking over part of their proposals, and at the same time painting them as extremists.

This is for example what happened with the Green Party. Protecting the environment and fighting climate change has become mainstream in Europe. There may be a different sense of timing and at times different priorities, but as is being said, once you agree on the goal, you can compromise on the way to reach that goal.

During the past ten years, a real earthquake has shaken Europe with respect to asylum. Many voters are fed up with the fact that the right to asylum is being abused and undermined. Election after election, voters keep saying the same thing loud and clear: put an end to an asylum policy that is out of control. But in this case, because of ideology and dogmatism, the mainstream parties don’t react.

In fact, the exact opposite is happening. In cooperation with the mainstream media, the education and university apparatus, the Church, and the judges, they keep telling voters not to believe what they see with their own eyes, but to believe what they are telling them, which is that only a racist or a Nazi would find anything wrong with our asylum policy. Well guess what, after a while, voters do believe their own eyes.

PS: Let me know what you think and let’s keep the conversation going. Check out my channel on YouTube where the latest video is on this very topic.