Not saying you're wrong necessarily, but I do think the situation in the Netherlands is a bit more complex than that. For one, Rutte's government fell apart because the four coalition parties were...
Exemplary
Not saying you're wrong necessarily, but I do think the situation in the Netherlands is a bit more complex than that. For one, Rutte's government fell apart because the four coalition parties were divided on a more conservative approach to asylum seekers, with two of the parties - D66 and CU - disagreeing with not allowing family members in countries affected by war to join those already in the Netherlands. Maybe it's a small thing, but coming from a country in which asylum seekers are so demonised that we can't even allow murals in a reception centre in case we make it too welcoming for children, it feels notable that there are people in government willing to take a stand for refugee rights.
It's true that neither D66 or the CU are polling very well - though there doesn't seem to have been a poll since Rutte's resignation.
Also, Dutch conservative parties tend to be more socially liberal than elsewhere. The VVD, Rutte's party, is economically conservative and in favour of regulation by the free market, but also supports individual rights such as same-sex marriage and abortion, and is for universal healthcare. And the BBB - or Famer-Citizen Movement, a new party which is leading strongly in the polls at the moment - has both rightwing and leftwing policies, supporting a higher minimum wage and legalisation of soft drugs while being more Euro-sceptic (though not completely anti-EU) and advocating for asylum seekers to be placed closer to their home countries (i.e. not in the Netherlands). They are also pro-Ukraine.
I don't agree with either the BBB or VVD's stance on asylum seekers and the breakdown of Rutte's government does seem to indicate a trend towards more hardline policies but politics in the Netherlands is, I think, more complex than a simple right/left dichotomy.
I'm not super knowledgeable about the BBB but I would assume so, yeah. The government is wanting to buy out farmers to reduce the Netherlands' nitrogen emissions and from what I've read, the BBB...
I'm not super knowledgeable about the BBB but I would assume so, yeah. The government is wanting to buy out farmers to reduce the Netherlands' nitrogen emissions and from what I've read, the BBB essentially wants to promote the interests of farmers over environmental concerns.
I know they want to reverse a ban neonicotinoids (environmentally harmful insecticides), and I would assume reducing nitrogen emissions from farming would be something they would be against as well.
Right wing parties tend to take advantage of economic weakness and social instability to come to power. The economic issues the EU faces do not have easy solutions to them, but if you give the...
Right wing parties tend to take advantage of economic weakness and social instability to come to power. The economic issues the EU faces do not have easy solutions to them, but if you give the people a scapegoat such as immigrants/queer people/religious minorities/etc, and claim once you "solved" these people, the problems will be fixed, a lot of people wanting a easy solution will buy it.
Also doesn't help that a major war is occurring on their continent, and Russia has a lot of influence among the global right wing parties/politicians. Considering the situation Russia finds itself in right now, their best bet is for right wing parties around the world to pull their support from Ukraine, and once the funding and weapons dry up and the offense halts, they consolidate the land they managed to hold onto, and call it a win.
I mean, there are a lot of countries in Europe, and not all of them are following this trend. Where I live, we recently voted out the right party, because everyone was sick of how they were...
I mean, there are a lot of countries in Europe, and not all of them are following this trend. Where I live, we recently voted out the right party, because everyone was sick of how they were running the country like their own personal playground during the pandemic.
However, @Roundcat is correct that this is a time of uncertainty, and the right-wing parties are thriving by offering populist solutions to complex problems. In a lot of places in Europe right now, it's more difficult than ever to afford an apartment, a car, or even to rent by yourself. Millenials are now all at an age where we were supposed to be independent enough to have our own homes and families, but a lot of us are stuck in precarious employments and living with our parents. They, in turn, are tired of financially supporting their adult children, and upset at the ever higher retirement age. Not to mention the shortage of doctors (thanks, Covid) and the high inflation that also pushed mortgage interest rates close to an all time high. It's very difficult to find solutions but very easy to find someone to blame for it all (or to claim that your party could totally solve all these issues), which the right wing parties are happy to do
Additionally, and I hate to say it, but we've all seen how Trump was allowed to run pretty much unchecked in the US, and we all realised that apparently, (some) people are willing to overlook a lot of very blatant lies, corruption, straight up theft, and in general all kinds of conduct that was previously considered off limits. I can assure you that all European right wingers were busy taking notes, and a lot of them are now trying to repeat the same strategies at home. Unfortunately, some of them are succeeding.
I also live in Europe, but I think the general trend is still definitely toward the right, just need to look at Finland, Sweden, Spain, and likely the Netherlands will go further to the right...
I also live in Europe, but I think the general trend is still definitely toward the right, just need to look at Finland, Sweden, Spain, and likely the Netherlands will go further to the right after elections given the success of the Farmers Party.
I think it's ultimately due to economic uncertainty, which makes it more difficult for left parties to argue that resources should be spent on things like climate change, because the average voter still doesn't connect the dots that climate change will increase economic uncertainty and waves of immigration from the equator/global south to the northern hemisphere.
I'm not sure. If it was about economics primarily, the coalition would probably not have fallen over the immigration issue. My hunch is that, among other things, there is a part of the press in...
I'm not sure. If it was about economics primarily, the coalition would probably not have fallen over the immigration issue.
My hunch is that, among other things, there is a part of the press in each country that focuses heavily on negative effects of immigration. It has been almost 10 years since the 2015 summer, and at some point, a quantitative change becomes a qualitative change - individual news stories about negative effects of immigration have been nagging away a lot of good will of European electorates.
At the same time, these negative effects are not completely made up as anyone in any north-western European country will attest to if he/she is honest.
Other re-distributive conflicts such as inflation or adaption to climate change add to that of course. And on top the cultural-war dimension also continues to be exploited (more successfully by the center-right I think). All together these factors produce a clear opportunity structure for right-winged parties. And because they only need to appeal to the electorate's gut and not their brains, they fare quite well at the moment.
This coalition was a total mess. At least we'll get a different PM for the first time in what feels like ages. I'm certain Rutte is going to continue in international politics.
This coalition was a total mess. At least we'll get a different PM for the first time in what feels like ages.
I'm certain Rutte is going to continue in international politics.
Seems like countries across Europe are just going to get progressively more right wing in the next few years, hope I'm wrong.
Not saying you're wrong necessarily, but I do think the situation in the Netherlands is a bit more complex than that. For one, Rutte's government fell apart because the four coalition parties were divided on a more conservative approach to asylum seekers, with two of the parties - D66 and CU - disagreeing with not allowing family members in countries affected by war to join those already in the Netherlands. Maybe it's a small thing, but coming from a country in which asylum seekers are so demonised that we can't even allow murals in a reception centre in case we make it too welcoming for children, it feels notable that there are people in government willing to take a stand for refugee rights.
It's true that neither D66 or the CU are polling very well - though there doesn't seem to have been a poll since Rutte's resignation.
Also, Dutch conservative parties tend to be more socially liberal than elsewhere. The VVD, Rutte's party, is economically conservative and in favour of regulation by the free market, but also supports individual rights such as same-sex marriage and abortion, and is for universal healthcare. And the BBB - or Famer-Citizen Movement, a new party which is leading strongly in the polls at the moment - has both rightwing and leftwing policies, supporting a higher minimum wage and legalisation of soft drugs while being more Euro-sceptic (though not completely anti-EU) and advocating for asylum seekers to be placed closer to their home countries (i.e. not in the Netherlands). They are also pro-Ukraine.
I don't agree with either the BBB or VVD's stance on asylum seekers and the breakdown of Rutte's government does seem to indicate a trend towards more hardline policies but politics in the Netherlands is, I think, more complex than a simple right/left dichotomy.
Isn't the government taking Dutch farmers lands one of the issues too?.
I'm not super knowledgeable about the BBB but I would assume so, yeah. The government is wanting to buy out farmers to reduce the Netherlands' nitrogen emissions and from what I've read, the BBB essentially wants to promote the interests of farmers over environmental concerns.
I know they want to reverse a ban neonicotinoids (environmentally harmful insecticides), and I would assume reducing nitrogen emissions from farming would be something they would be against as well.
Right wing parties tend to take advantage of economic weakness and social instability to come to power. The economic issues the EU faces do not have easy solutions to them, but if you give the people a scapegoat such as immigrants/queer people/religious minorities/etc, and claim once you "solved" these people, the problems will be fixed, a lot of people wanting a easy solution will buy it.
Also doesn't help that a major war is occurring on their continent, and Russia has a lot of influence among the global right wing parties/politicians. Considering the situation Russia finds itself in right now, their best bet is for right wing parties around the world to pull their support from Ukraine, and once the funding and weapons dry up and the offense halts, they consolidate the land they managed to hold onto, and call it a win.
I mean, there are a lot of countries in Europe, and not all of them are following this trend. Where I live, we recently voted out the right party, because everyone was sick of how they were running the country like their own personal playground during the pandemic.
However, @Roundcat is correct that this is a time of uncertainty, and the right-wing parties are thriving by offering populist solutions to complex problems. In a lot of places in Europe right now, it's more difficult than ever to afford an apartment, a car, or even to rent by yourself. Millenials are now all at an age where we were supposed to be independent enough to have our own homes and families, but a lot of us are stuck in precarious employments and living with our parents. They, in turn, are tired of financially supporting their adult children, and upset at the ever higher retirement age. Not to mention the shortage of doctors (thanks, Covid) and the high inflation that also pushed mortgage interest rates close to an all time high. It's very difficult to find solutions but very easy to find someone to blame for it all (or to claim that your party could totally solve all these issues), which the right wing parties are happy to do
Additionally, and I hate to say it, but we've all seen how Trump was allowed to run pretty much unchecked in the US, and we all realised that apparently, (some) people are willing to overlook a lot of very blatant lies, corruption, straight up theft, and in general all kinds of conduct that was previously considered off limits. I can assure you that all European right wingers were busy taking notes, and a lot of them are now trying to repeat the same strategies at home. Unfortunately, some of them are succeeding.
I also live in Europe, but I think the general trend is still definitely toward the right, just need to look at Finland, Sweden, Spain, and likely the Netherlands will go further to the right after elections given the success of the Farmers Party.
I think it's ultimately due to economic uncertainty, which makes it more difficult for left parties to argue that resources should be spent on things like climate change, because the average voter still doesn't connect the dots that climate change will increase economic uncertainty and waves of immigration from the equator/global south to the northern hemisphere.
I'm not sure. If it was about economics primarily, the coalition would probably not have fallen over the immigration issue.
My hunch is that, among other things, there is a part of the press in each country that focuses heavily on negative effects of immigration. It has been almost 10 years since the 2015 summer, and at some point, a quantitative change becomes a qualitative change - individual news stories about negative effects of immigration have been nagging away a lot of good will of European electorates.
At the same time, these negative effects are not completely made up as anyone in any north-western European country will attest to if he/she is honest.
Other re-distributive conflicts such as inflation or adaption to climate change add to that of course. And on top the cultural-war dimension also continues to be exploited (more successfully by the center-right I think). All together these factors produce a clear opportunity structure for right-winged parties. And because they only need to appeal to the electorate's gut and not their brains, they fare quite well at the moment.
You're not wrong, that has already started happening.
Both left and right extremes are wrong.
This coalition was a total mess. At least we'll get a different PM for the first time in what feels like ages.
I'm certain Rutte is going to continue in international politics.