Dutch election: anti-Islam, far-right Geert Wilders set for big win
Dutch election: anti-Islam, far-right Geert Wilders set for big win
The far-right populist is heading for a huge election victory in one of the biggest political upsets in the Netherlands since World War II.
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Calm down. While he got the biggest share, it is "just" 35 seats in a 150 seats parliament. He would need another 41 seats in coalition to get anywhere, which means (as his share is the largest) he would not only need one, but at least two partners willing to form a coalition with and a government under him.
While those 35 seats are still 35 seats too many, I doubt he will run the country.
I really, really hate this kind of thinking.
Election in 2008: "Calm down, the far right only got 3%" Election in 2012: "Calm down, the far right only got 7%" Election in 2016: "Calm down, the far right only got 13%" Election in 2020: "Calm down, the far right only got 18%" And so on...
Can you people really not see a problem with this?
It's the intolerance paradox in full view. Wilders should have been convicted and jailed years ago. A tolerant society must be fiercly intolerant towards intolerance.
Not sure if jailing him is the right solution, but after his Moroccan speech, he should at the very least have been barred from public office, as well as participating in any political parties.
At least that way, there is a strong deterrent to preventing politicians from spewing this kind of hate.
What does the parent comment have anything to do with the intolerance paradox. The population is increasingly voting far-right, it's terrible and has nothing to do with the paradox.
A shift of the public opinion at that scale doesn't occur in a vacuum. It can only happen if society as a whole tolerates increasingly intolerant messages and behaviour. Those far right rat catchers wouldn't have much of a platform, if they weren't tolerated, and their supporters wouldn't be nearly as brazen if they were told off wherever they dare to publicly state their support.
What exactly would you jail him for though? While he is mostly spewing bullshit without coming with any real solutions, he isn't actually doing anything 'legally' wrong.
He was tried around 2008/2009 for hate speech and discrimination. He should have been convicted then.
Ok, you jail him and maybe even his closest allies. What do you achieve with that?
Imo, at best you got a bunch of people protesting out in the streets, calling it political persecution. And at worst the party's popularity might even increase, handing them an even larger victory.
If he had been convicted years ago, we wouldn't be in this situation today.
Jailing someone for having different views. Cool.
Not just different views. Racism and hate speech. Your freedom to have different views end when you trample on someone else's freedom to exist.
It really depends on your take home message.
If it’s “shit is dire, but it could be worse and we still have a chance to fight back”, it’s one thing.
If it’s “everything is under control go back to sleep”, it’s quite another.
To be fair, the vibe I got from GP was more towards the latter though.
At the same time, people are bound to compare it to e.g. Trump, who actually got a majority. It's good to know that our electoral system works differently, if you're unfamiliar with it.
Just FYI, Trump never won a majority of votes either, although he was a lot closer than Wilders.
Haha yeah fair enough, he got a majority of electors (I think that's the right term?), but not of the popular vote, which is what counts in the Netherlands - another sign of how different the electoral systems are. But yeah, the larger point is that the level of popular support is way lower.
Or compare him to Trump whose trials are frankly far too little and far too late for their next election.
I see the problem with it, but it also means they have not won (yet), and you can work towards the next election to fix it.
If anyone knew how to work to fix it, that would be somewhat calming. Instead this just gives reason for increasing panic and feeling helpless.
Well, the best way to fix political issues that concern you is getting active in politics.
That doesn't help if you have no idea what works. Describe getting active, please, and how it can fix the rise of rightwing politics.
How about finding the political party you find best, and join?
And then what? No party has a working concept. I don't have one either, so how should joining a party help in any way? Then I'll be helpless in a party.
I don’t have one either
Well, then stop blaming politicians.
I'm starting to blame you for deliberately not understanding me. I ask you what to do and you just repeat that I should do. But what?? How could I be any clearer? I'm not blaming politicians either in this thread.
Sorry, but I cannot help you decide what you want. Maybe it is time to think about that first.
What are your personal goals in life? How could you achieve them, what would be the path or paths to your goal?
Then you might find some political group that matches those paths or even goals. But finding clarity is something you need first and foremost. Anything else is "just" a consequence.
The far right got plenty more votes in those elections, just for other parties. I think in total this election the far right received something like 3 more votes than last time? The difference is that it's now mostly concentrated in a single party.
Right now people are theorizing 2 possible coalitions, the first one is PVV - NSC - VVD and the other one is GLPVDA - NSC - VVD - D66. This means we're either getting a far-right populist as the prime minister or we are getting a coalition that will get us absolutely nowhere and will change nothing from the status quo, while also likely destroying leftist support even more because of how little to coalition will be capable of vs. what the leftist party (GLPVDA) promised
We're not doing okay
Then again the first option is rather likely to implode in record time. Meaning we'll have to have elections again.
Or at least I hope so.
it is “just” 35 seats
The article says that the projection has now risen to 37.