The European far-right is growing (by adopting "left" polices). [View all]

[pampango]

The rise of the French NF mirrors the growth in support for nationalists across Europe, with the far-right in Austria, Bulgaria, Poland and Austria also registering high in the polls on current projections. Dutch anti-Muslim populist Geert Wilders is polling well and Greek Neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn is now the third biggest party in Greek politics.

“Fear of immigration, crises of identity and recession combined have created a climate propitious to ultranationalist, anti-European ideology,” writes Le Nouvel Observateur columnist Jean-Gabriel Fredet.

Ironically, France’s FN has grown in popularity as the party has combined anti-immigrant sentiment with the sort of anti-globalisation, anti-market rhetoric that is usually the preserve of the left. This explains why the French Socialist Party is losing just as many voters to Len Pen as the centre-right UMP.

This combination of economic populism, anti-establishment rhetoric and xenophobia is not new – 20th century fascism was well known for it - but it has become an increasingly effective tool of the far-right as mainstream parties of the left have come to be seen as just as much a part of the establishment as their conservative counterparts.

http://www.leftfootforward.org/2013/10/the-european-far-right-is-growing-and-not-only-for-the-reasons-you-think/

It is interesting how the European far-right has kept its most disgusting policies - racism, xenophobia, ultra-nationalism - while covering it with a "populist dressing of the left and centre" - pro-choice, gay-friendly, anti-globalism, anti-market, anti-EU. The mainstream liberals are more pro-EU, pro-immigration and pro-trade.

The tea party types in the US are similar in terms of their disgusting policies but different in that they do not support most of the "populist dressing of the left and centre" like the European far-right.