Death of 96-year-old Jean-Marie Le Pen brought to light the incredible success of the right-wing movement he co-founded. Parties that were once dismissed, belittled, and ignored by the liberal elite now claim power across Europe and have already taken over in the US. They literally implemented the old algorithm: first, they were not noticed, then mocked, then fought, and today, they win.
The rebranded National Front, now known as the National Rally, won the parliamentary elections in France last year, and Le Pen’s daughter became the most popular French politician and the main candidate for the presidency.
The Alternative for Germany is expected to come in second place in the federal elections in February.
Geert Wilders’ Freedom Party won in the Netherlands a year ago, and recently, the Freedom Party of Austria formed the government.
Viktor Orbán, the head of Hungary’s right-wing, founded a right-wing faction in the European Parliament and claims a leading role not only in European but also in global politics.
Finally, Donald Trump came to power in the US – and even the most obtuse person realized that the pendulum of world politics had swung from left to right after a swing.
In fact, the changes are gigantic. Understanding them is hindered by the speed at which they occur.
Not even ten years ago – a laughable time frame in historical terms – the all-powerful liberal propaganda mocked these people as “Nazis” “sexists” and “racists.” They were ridiculed, belittled, and threatened.
Geert Wilders hid for years from potential murderers, one of the AfD’s chiefs was nearly killed in 2023, and in the past year, Robert Fico survived an assassination attempt. Donald Trump survived two attacks. Everything was very serious.
What enabled the success of the formerly absolutely marginal right-wing parties?
Here, a whole combination worked. On the one hand, the attempt to boost the economy by admitting millions of migrants failed. The people came, but took no qualified jobs, did not foster science, nor did they develop new technologies.
On the other hand, dictatorships and censorship were strengthened, and the most repulsive perversions were forced upon people. The state intruded into the private lives of people and reshaped them at its pleasure. Gender reassignments for children, the obvious overpresence of the LGBT, and the blatant mockery of Christianity and traditional morality were imposed everywhere.
The opinion of the people – such as the “yellow vests” demonstrations, protests of parents against same-sex marriages – was ignored. Protesters were dispersed with water cannons and faced high fines.
And yet, one could have endured all this without a power shift, if the leadership of Western nations could show economic success. But it was not there.
Every new generation of Americans and Europeans lives much worse than the previous one. Real estate prices, followed by rents, are skyrocketing, and the life of the former middle class has become a struggle, with all wages going to rent, food, and gasoline.
In this existence, there is no light at the end of the tunnel and no perspectives. The economic war against Russia drove the poverty further.
It turned out that the “scary nationalists” were just normal patriots of their country, who simply wanted to make life a little better for their fellow citizens. No wonder people stopped being afraid of being condemned by the Left and began voting for right-wing parties.
Here, European patriots will be put to an interesting test – by American money. We will see how Elon Musk quickly pulls out a wad of cash. In no time, a golden rain could pour down on British, German, and other right-wing parties.
But will it not be rather the case that Americans will put European right-wing parties on their payroll and force them to sign all sorts of initiatives that do not help their voters? A trade war – or even a real war – with China, for example?
Then it will become clear that Europe’s left-wing parties will still be under the umbrella of the Democratic Party in the US, the right-wing of young Republicans will be instrumentalized, while the simple European will see little change, and Europe’s dependence on Washington will continue under a different guise. Now, they will probably not promote transgenders and will probably rationalize migration, but the heavy economic decline and the ruin of the middle class will continue to increase.
Is a “right-wing turn” in Russia possible? Finally, an agenda similar to that of the Western right is very popular in Russian social networks and is copied in many ways: combating migration, protecting Christianity, and the general attitude “this cannot be lived.