Demons are here to stay
15/11/18 15:19![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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talkpoliticsThis could be a day when part of our common history goes into the museums and places of worship forever. A day in which statesmen shook their hands with the knowledge that a hundred years later, the horrors of WW1 have faded out of our memory and will be a subject of discussion only among historians. But the blood shed near Iper and Verdun and the sufferings of the thousands of young people - the future of Europe - are suddenly returning as a warning with a shocking reference to the present reality.
"There is sometimes a danger of repeating tragic events in history that will take away the peace that we thought was bought with the blood of our ancestors." French President Emmanuel Macron couldn't have formulated his message better to the dozens heads of state from around the world gathered in Paris for the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the end of WW1. In his speech, the leader of France talked about "old demons" and "new ideologies" that again threaten world peace. And his words came just timely.
It seems that European democracies have lost their way and have gone astray from the principles they have prided themselves with for so many years. In countries such as Poland, Italy or Hungary, populists are using the sense of insecurity of their compatriots to destroy Europe's common future with the instruments borrowed from the past. The ghosts of the past are here again.
Minorities are being turned into a scapegoat, and blamed for all social ills. We see a guy like Mateo Salvini in Italy demonizing Gypsies and migrants and hating on social networks and the media. In Poland, Jaroslav Kaczynski is doing his best to poison relations with his country's European neighbors by trying to build an autocratic nationasitic state machine. Viktor Orban in Hungary uses all the methods recognized in fascism, from xenophobia to anti-Semitism, to cement his corrupt dictatorship. Marine Le Pen tries to bring France into international isolation, and politicians like Boris Johnson in the UK want to resurrect the Empire through Brexit.
Between our peaceful life (peaceful still) and the abyss that these political movements push us toward, only a few responsible politicians and European treaties remain standing.
Nostalgia has become the new poison of today. Many Europeans appear to have a vague longing for the past, which they consider to be "better" than the present - for reasons unclear to them. They do not understand technological progress and they reject it. They feel broken, forced and abandoned. And then the new political demagogues come to their rescue, explaining to them how the coming Middle Easterners and Africans will destroy their religion and their culture. And here it dosn't matter that most of them haven't stepped into a church for years, if not decades. Another method is to cause envy and enmity to neighbors who are now being declared enemies of the country. That's what they are currently doing in Italy against Germany, or in Britain - against the rest of Europe.
All the ingredients are in place for the making up the poisonous mixture of nationalism, marginalization of minority groups, over-confidence in one's own qualities, hatred for the helpless and innocent, and proneness to violence that led to the catastrophe from 100 years ago. If we add a pinch of political blindness, short-sightedness, and an obsession with power, then the spark that can ignite a new devastating fire is almost there. Just one more push.
Polish politician Donald Tusk has urged European Christian Democrats in an ardent speech at their meeting in Helsinki to go to the figurative barricades and defend democracy. Unfortunately, his call remains a voice in the wilderness, as the Austrian example shows. In the very heart of Europe, the independence of the judiciary branch is now being questioned, the freedom of the press is being stifled, and civil society suppressed.
For decades, we have lived with the illusion that our democratic future and freedom are certain. You've heard of Fukuyamas "end of history" concept. It was wrong. There is no need to even mention Trump's behavior, who did not think it necessary to honor the memory of the dead American soldiers and participate in the peace conference. He doesn't either heed the lessons of the past or believe in multilateralism. And this is the supposed leader of the free world that we're talking about here. Then what's left for the rest of them?
All of this poses a hidden threat to Europe that's becoming ever clearer. And it (Europe) can survive only if the European nations act as one and do not allow petty-mindedness to prevent them from seeking the common things that unite them. Because 100 years after the end of WW1, even a brief look at the present shows that the past has not gone away. And danger has not passed.
"There is sometimes a danger of repeating tragic events in history that will take away the peace that we thought was bought with the blood of our ancestors." French President Emmanuel Macron couldn't have formulated his message better to the dozens heads of state from around the world gathered in Paris for the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the end of WW1. In his speech, the leader of France talked about "old demons" and "new ideologies" that again threaten world peace. And his words came just timely.
It seems that European democracies have lost their way and have gone astray from the principles they have prided themselves with for so many years. In countries such as Poland, Italy or Hungary, populists are using the sense of insecurity of their compatriots to destroy Europe's common future with the instruments borrowed from the past. The ghosts of the past are here again.
Minorities are being turned into a scapegoat, and blamed for all social ills. We see a guy like Mateo Salvini in Italy demonizing Gypsies and migrants and hating on social networks and the media. In Poland, Jaroslav Kaczynski is doing his best to poison relations with his country's European neighbors by trying to build an autocratic nationasitic state machine. Viktor Orban in Hungary uses all the methods recognized in fascism, from xenophobia to anti-Semitism, to cement his corrupt dictatorship. Marine Le Pen tries to bring France into international isolation, and politicians like Boris Johnson in the UK want to resurrect the Empire through Brexit.
Between our peaceful life (peaceful still) and the abyss that these political movements push us toward, only a few responsible politicians and European treaties remain standing.
Nostalgia has become the new poison of today. Many Europeans appear to have a vague longing for the past, which they consider to be "better" than the present - for reasons unclear to them. They do not understand technological progress and they reject it. They feel broken, forced and abandoned. And then the new political demagogues come to their rescue, explaining to them how the coming Middle Easterners and Africans will destroy their religion and their culture. And here it dosn't matter that most of them haven't stepped into a church for years, if not decades. Another method is to cause envy and enmity to neighbors who are now being declared enemies of the country. That's what they are currently doing in Italy against Germany, or in Britain - against the rest of Europe.
All the ingredients are in place for the making up the poisonous mixture of nationalism, marginalization of minority groups, over-confidence in one's own qualities, hatred for the helpless and innocent, and proneness to violence that led to the catastrophe from 100 years ago. If we add a pinch of political blindness, short-sightedness, and an obsession with power, then the spark that can ignite a new devastating fire is almost there. Just one more push.
Polish politician Donald Tusk has urged European Christian Democrats in an ardent speech at their meeting in Helsinki to go to the figurative barricades and defend democracy. Unfortunately, his call remains a voice in the wilderness, as the Austrian example shows. In the very heart of Europe, the independence of the judiciary branch is now being questioned, the freedom of the press is being stifled, and civil society suppressed.
For decades, we have lived with the illusion that our democratic future and freedom are certain. You've heard of Fukuyamas "end of history" concept. It was wrong. There is no need to even mention Trump's behavior, who did not think it necessary to honor the memory of the dead American soldiers and participate in the peace conference. He doesn't either heed the lessons of the past or believe in multilateralism. And this is the supposed leader of the free world that we're talking about here. Then what's left for the rest of them?
All of this poses a hidden threat to Europe that's becoming ever clearer. And it (Europe) can survive only if the European nations act as one and do not allow petty-mindedness to prevent them from seeking the common things that unite them. Because 100 years after the end of WW1, even a brief look at the present shows that the past has not gone away. And danger has not passed.
(no subject)
Date: 15/11/18 20:20 (UTC)I know I parody such opinions, but we know we’ve all heard similar.
So here is where we are.
I wouldn’t start from here, but we don’t have much choice.