The party of Italian right-wing prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, allegedly involved in organized crime himself, has announced today that it will merge with the Italian National Alliance. The National Alliance was founded in 1994, as a continuation of the Italian Social Movement, the political party of dictator Mussolini. It recently made the news for offering cash to parents for naming their children after the deceased dictator or his wife. According to various sources, including the article I am linking to, the National Alliance's leader Fini is set to take over from Berlusconi when he retires.
It's getting a little too 1930s for my liking, of late. Major economic crisis, hysterical fear of a religious group (Jews then, Muslims now) and far-right popularity in Europe (the fascists merging with the leading party in Italy, the far-right PVV being the biggest party in the polls in Holland, the Flemish National Socialists in a similar position in Belgium, and a recent report stating 5% of German boys aged 14-16 are members of a neo-nazi group).
When you think of it we have a lot in common with the 1930s at the moment. Mainly a widely spread insecurity and fear in the middle class. While it was a sure thing until very recently that you do well when you learn something and work hard, now people are losing their jobs, their future, their life savings and retirement funds. Their kids do not find a job, don't get a proper education, study in overcrowded universities and there is little chance they ever get a well paid lasting job that enables them to plan their own future. Healthcare, social security, retirement payments are keep being cut while the protagonists of the capitalist society pay each other millions and grab EU money to "outsource" work from one new EU member to the next to save worker salaries.
On the other hand we have a financial crisis that was caused by a hard-to-understand, irresponsible global gambling by a few, we have corrupt politicians who pave the way for their own carreer while still in office (in Germany former chancellor Schroeder), who are the puppets of the "global players" and seemingly have no power to do anything to stop some investment bankers to gamble away billions (strange how suddenly they now can come up with laws after the damage was done).
People who are scared ask for simple solutions. They want to name an enemy they can fight. This is the chance for the right wing activists - they blame it on the muslims, the immigrants, the Turks who allegedly take away our jobs and are a danger for our culture. If mainstream politics would care more about the interests of the citizens and less about the profit of the share holders, the right wing movement would not have this high approval. Most people are not democrats by nature, they are democrats as long as democracy offers them a chance to build a good life. Once they see that in danger they follow any leader who promises them the paradise on earth.
Agree completely. What worries me is that the entirety of political dialogue is increasingly moving to accommodate the far-right, as many political parties seem to feel that their right flank is exposed, when they see parts of the electorate moving to extremist parties. The way politicians and people on the streets are talking about immigrants, or even about the grandchildren of immigrants would have been impossible in the 1990s: for instance, in the early '90s, a Dutch far-right party was forbidden for their open racism, and now far more extreme points of view are bringing a far-right party to the top of the polls.
This enormous build-up of (ethnic) tensions is going to be released at some point, and I am not looking forward to that moment...