The state of the Right in Europe and the world.

I was just reading the news about Berlusconi's, that insufferable twat, latest disgraceful shenanigans and it put me in the mood for some ranting.

It may come as a surprise to you from the US but I consider myself quite firmly affiliated with the European Center Right, as expressed through the EPP.

The state of the Right in Europe saddens me. We used to be the side with the people that had long term, forward thinking plans. We were the side with people like Adenauer, Schuman and De Gasperi. People who took the burnt down husk that Europe was after WWII, ended centuries of violent conflict that made the Middle East seem quaint and forged with tooth and claw the Europe we have today. And then the next generation of Center Right politicians like D'Estain and the elder Karamanlis (I have to mention my local favorite) taking up the reins and cutting the Right's ties with religious fundamentalism, monarchy and right wing extremism. Liberalizing societies. Pushing for universal mandatory education and healthcare. At great cost from their power base, because it was the right, forward thinking thing to do. 

And what do we have now? Bean counters like Merkel, not being able to see past next year's budget. Provincial minded faux-ristocrats like Cameron. Extremist appeasing, posturing "tough guys" like Sarkozy. Corrupt, fascistoid, whore mongers like Berlsusconi. Even our previous prime minister here in Greece, the junior Karamanlis. That ineffectual, frightened, man baby. That disgrace to his name and his party. I know that I'm coming to this wearing the rose tinted color glasses of history. But with each passing day, I find myself further alienated from the European Right. Even though I agree with its principles I hate what it is becoming.

Kind of. There was a surge in anti-immigrant sentiment right after the Eastern Bloc collapsed and seemingly all of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union moved to Western Europe. Here in Greece we went from having about 1% immigrants to 10% in a few years. Four years tops. It was the biggest demographic shift since the Minor Asia Disaster of 1922. Something that big doesn't happen without problems. There was a quite pronounced crime rate spike these first years. A few in the right tried to ride it but with fairly minor gains. You see, Greece is an immigrant nation. There probably are more Greeks living abroad than there are in Greece. There is almost no family in Greece without a member that immigrated for work at some time. And it was recent enough that most Greeks remember what it really was like. So those trying to rile up the people were called on their bullshit. And lo and behold, much to the surprise of no one, as time passed and the immigrants assimilated, started getting less shitty jobs, raising families and sending their kids to school, the crime rate dropped.

Now there's new trouble dredged up, this time with Middle Eastern and Asian immigrants. This may get more traction, considering that times are already bad and the "others" this time are both brown and Muslim. But the culling of the mainstream Right's ties with extremists was so thorough and deep that there is nothing to the level of the things said in the US. The Right in Greece is very urban and liberal and cries about law and order and appeals to nationalism are very hard to gain a foothold. And things would have been much more advanced if not for our 7 year US sponsored regression from 1967 to 1974.

Outside of Greece, save for Sarkozy, the BNP and weirdly enough some politicians in Holland, anti immigration sentiment doesn't seem to have much of an official outlet. Sarkozy I believe is probably mostly posturing to gain favor with the conservative right in France. The BNP, at least as far as I can tell is a flash in a pan. Holland is plain weird and mostly a product of culture shock than anything more sinister. The Austrians stir some trouble from time to time, but the historical baggage is so immensely heavy that I can't see actual extremist sentiments gaining much momentum over there. There will always be trouble here and there but that first generation of post WWII politicians did a good job in making sure nothing major can happen.