Xenophobic Populism in Europe
Written by Alfonso Elizondo
The unexpected defeat of the populist, xenophobic Right in the Netherlands on March 15, with a voter turnout of 80% – a situation not seen in 30 years – has established a liberal ideological trend towards the political and economic integration of Europe, and it seems that this will prevent the fragmentation of the European Union in the upcoming elections in Germany, France, Austria and Italy.
It will be very difficult for far-right parties to be successful in the major European economies and for these nations to use their tax revenues for the exclusive benefit of a few billionaires and their associates in the current political system, while reducing government spending on culture, education, health, the development of the arts and other social activities that have characterized Western nations for more than two hundred years.
All that suggests that this electoral event in Holland will allow the Republican federal government in place in the vast majority of European nations to promote the development of a multinational community where expenditure on defense and the exercise of justice will be reduced and applied to the new paradigms emerging in the digital society, where mythologies, particular cultural accents, religious radicalism and old concepts of the family and the human couple have been changing very rapidly.
In a way, this political-electoral event in Holland, combined with the decision of the Hawaiian judiciary to block Trump’s decision to cancel the immigration rights of Muslims from seven countries worldwide has been a devastating political blow to the current US president, which has begun to limit his political functions, as it seems that this character who combines comedy with braggadocio, xenophobia and narcissism doesn’t know that throughout the entire Western democratic world – for reasons still unknown – the functions of the three branches of power – legislative, executive and judicial – were separated nearly two thousand years ago at the beginning of the second stage of the Roman Empire.
But perhaps the most important thing about this event in Holland is that in some way it will contribute to the reconfiguration of a new world order where all the current elements will have to be redesigned. First, the United States will no longer be the sole leader; it will have to share its power with the other major emerging powers, such as China, India, Japan and Russia. The judicial authorities of this new world order will have to be replaced, and the UN and NATO will have to disappear as well as all the other global institutions intended to control military activities, the invasion of territories in other nations, the creation of industries that affect the environment and instances of migration around the world where there are global authorities that are no longer functional.
New global authorities will also have to be chosen to develop the control of the environment, fundamental human rights and practices to measure phenomena associated with climate change, space and tectonics based on the latest science and technology. In the same way, new world authorities will have to be created for the control of drugs, medicines, food and medical and hospital practices around the world.
Perhaps the most important aspect of all this great change already taking place all over the world are the elements that have to do with people’s domestic life such as the configuration of the family, life as a couple, the education system and the methods of communication with other human beings, insofar as feelings are gradually becoming less intense, while there is a predominance of negative human behaviors, such as violence, revenge, selfishness and the desire to increase ownership of material goods, to mention only some of the most visible elements.
Addendum: It is quite possible that this great ideological and paradigm shift in the human being at this point might come about in a few years, or perhaps it might take a few decades. But there is no doubt that human beings in the West and in the world generally will undergo a very remarkable transformation in this very century.
To be sure, this political phenomenon in the Netherlands combined with the presence of a xenophobic populist leader in the United States, and the process of migration from Africa and the Middle East to Europe are the most visible elements of a very profound change in human civilization. We only hope that it will all go towards improvement of human well-being.