Introduction:
What is the factor that has been causing such unrest in the political arena lately? What is causing the rise in extremist views? Why are the so called “far right” ideologies rising rapidly these days? What is the event that has led to the world being a political arena between the right – wing and the left – wing expressionists? Such questions and even more similar ones haven been created due to the event which has caused the interest of many people concerning their involvement in politics, to rise nowadays. What seems to be the very next move? And now, dear reader, what?
The ideologies within our societies:
It is common knowledge that our societies have been built around a certain legislative framework and are characterized of a certain political organization. In these political systems, there are ideologies which fall under certain beliefs and aim at organizing the societies we inhabit. They can be considered as left, right or can also be found in the middle of this political system.
To begin with, left wing ideologies usually tend to have a progressive nature and look in to the future. The expressionists believe in a system of taxation in order for wealth to be redistributed and they aim to support those who are unable to support themselves in these complex societies. They believe in equality, in the protection of minorities and they encourage the expression of every member in the society in the best manner. We can refer to the expressionists of such ideologies as idealists, the ones who have an ideology aiming to create an ideal society. Examples of the proponents of such ideologies would be the former US President, Barack Obama, Karl Marx, the mathematician Einstein, Friedrich Engels and many others. However, apart from the positive aspects of the left wing ideologies, there are certain drawbacks. The tendency of the government to have control over the system is one aspect of such ideologies which is still under question. As in every other system, nothing is ever perfect and therefore developments are natural to take place. In this case, such development would be the efforts to change such system of control over the society.
On the other hand, right wing ideologies can also be seen in the political system within our societies. Their characterization as “right” dates back to the 16th century, specifically in France of 1790, when the Seating in the French Parliament consisted of the members of the government supporting the President, seated on his left, and of the conservatives on his right. This characterization continues to exist today, with only their name resembling anything from this time period. They can be associated with political ideologies which differ from those of the left wing ones and ideologies which could stop the society from being too progressive. This is mainly due to the fact that tradition and ethics play a very important role in such ideologies. The characteristic they are known for, however, seems to be their belief referring to businesses and their survival. As far as businesses are concerned, the proponents believe that they shouldn’t be regulated by the government and should remain as much on their own in the societies as possible. Such proponents would be Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher, George Washington and George W. Bush along with others. As mentioned above, there are certain drawbacks to such ideologies as well and they will be fully depicted and analyzed in the sections below.
Right – Wing Ideologies and more:
In the 20th century, right wing ideologies saw a rise and a sudden increase of followers. This turned out as the creation of another form of right wing ideological system, notoriously known as fascism. Fascism is the so – called extreme face of far – right ideologies, with the only difference it might have with other such right handed ideologies is the fact that extremism exceeds any other limit this ideology might have.
Now, any reader might be wondering the connection this might have to the 21st century. About one year ago, before the world has considered Donald J. Trump as the new US President, before Brexit became reality and before ISIS was the main threat in the Middle East, there had been some signals that the far right might be seeing an increasing rise within the borders of not only one, but many member states. What could have been these signs? The elections in Poland and in Hungary, with the results being in favor of rightists, the rise of the right wing parties seen in the Netherlands, France and Sweden, the date when the UK was to decide on its E.U. membership and Donald Trump, who at that point seemed only as a sideshow of the global political arena. That and many more were the signals we saw about a year ago.
In 2017, the year when everything changed dramatically from one day to the next, the year or altering everything, we have come here to answer the same question we posed in the very beginning: and now, what? What seems to be next?
We cannot avoid considering nationalism as a phenomenon which will easily dissolve into the future. We cannot remain silent, when our world is facing the most imminent threat: radicalization and extremism seem to be rising unexpectedly. The most important events emphasizing such an issue seem to be Trump’s election and the decision the UK made to permanently leave the EU. The near election of Marie Le Pen in the recent French elections prove that the question cannot remain unanswered. The far right is rising and the threat it carries grows along with it.
The Causes of the Phenomenon:
The cause in the rise of such views can be answered with one word: fear. Fear of change and of what the future might entail. Fear for one’s life, based on what is going on in our world now with the power ISIS might have and with terrorist attacks taking place everywhere and anytime. Fear of anything out of the ordinary, anything breaking the matrix which has been created around us. So the person turns to what one might consider as security out of instinct, and out of fear of losing what one has created. Instinctively then, one simply seeks to protect oneself and whatever this person might have achieved without considering what might prove beneficial for the society as a whole. This feeling, this fear that has rooted in peoples’ lives, has led people make the wrong decisions and has created an international framework around an extreme ideology. This fear also stems from two different “locations”. As far as the United States are concerned, such fear which caused the rise of the far right was the constant development of far right ideologies within the society. This event took place for years and the American people sought for a solution. Therefore, the rise of the far right in the case of the US stems from such an event. Now as far as the case of the European Union is concerned, such emotion of insecurity and fear which led to the rise of the far right would be the chaotic situation which was created due to the possible separation of the member states of the EU. This led to the increase of the followers of the far right ideologies and parties.
Such feelings of security and protection have been expressed several times in the past by the proponents of far right ideologies, with certain achievements marking them as important and as ideal to believe to. People tend to want to feel protected and such feeling is secured by trusting these ideologies.
Similar phenomena could have also been detected in the late 1990s, what with the rise of the far right ideologies, and the international community bearing in mind the results of such a rise. This period came to an end with the Cold War, when ideologies collided and when beliefs met one another in the harshest manner possible.
This ideological pandemonium has long existed within the borders of our societies, but yet has remained within certain boundaries. Now, however, it seems to be the time when this international crisis will shift permanently towards the West, depending clearly on the decisions Trump, Macron and May will make on the issues that plague our world today.
Bibliography:
Foster, Peter. “The Rise of the Far-Right in Europe Is Not a False Alarm.” The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 19 May 2016. Web. 15 June 2017.
Diffen. “Left Wing vs Right Wing.” Left Wing vs Right Wing – Difference and Comparison. Diffen, n.d. Web. 15 June 2017.
McAllester, Matt. “Brexit, Trump, Le Pen and the Rise of the Right: The Anger Goes Global.”The Independent. Independent Digital News and Media, 02 Dec. 2016. Web. 15 June 2017.
Image source: https://unsplash.com/photos/8bLGxhsR8sY
Originally published at Libe (https://libeofficial.wordpress.com/2017/07/27/the-rise-of-the-far-right/)
