Northener
Elite member
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- Groningen
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- NW Euro
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- E1b1b/ E-V22
Sorry to hear that. I think what we see now is the temporary swing towards conservatism. Mostly voted for by older generation and rural areas. Why is that?
These are the demographics who couldn't keep up with all the modern changes. For last few decades people were exposed to fast pace changes. Changes in social acceptance of gays, open global village, races mingling, big technological changes in communication and interacting with the world and ideas, exposure to new religions and cultures, etc. And of course the rise of radical and militant Islam, and terrorist attacks in the West, and big migration, didn't help either. Many people got scared of this new world, and this caused people to retract to their conservative side. It means sticking to what they know the best, sticking to their own kind and culture, build walls, close the borders, hid in their "cocoons" of what they know and trust.
Progress or let's say changes, don't go in linear manner in one direction, but rather in cyclical, wave like pattern. We can also describe it as a seesaw effect. In US, the progress or road to the future, fluctuates between conservatives and democrats winning elections. After 4-8 years of democrats we usually see 4-8 years of conservatives, and vice versa. It worked almost like clockwork through centuries. This time however it came with a twist in shape of Donald Trump, managing to wake up true conservative electorate. A big pull back this time. Trump managed to steer up all the fears, all the fears the true conservatives people had about the new world. He is a promoter and salesman after all. He can sell well.
Lebrok, I don't think it's a rural thing, it's a (post)modern populism phenomenon.
The Netherlands are indeed a kind of Singapore of Europe, highly urbanized. is on place 4 as one of the most advanced economies in the world. Yes there is a highly intensified agricultural sector (the Netherlands although small are the second agricultural exporteur of the world!) but only 2% is working in that sector!
14 years ago (in the early days after 9/11) ago the Dutch already had un upswing of a kind of right wing populism. Very anti-islam. It was a movement around Pim Foruyn. He was a kind of intellectual version of Trump. On the one hand babyboomer, intellectual (always used his Professor title). On the other hand he was, for sober, moderate Dutch way, very extravaganza. Privat chauffeur. His villa called Pallazzo di Pietro (with lots of marble). Typical Pim Fortuyn is that he denounced Marroc boys, but he loved to have sex with them But on the way to become minister-president he was shot down.....by a fundamental animal activist.
Since 2002 there is a floating right wing populist vote and just like in the US it's strong in the Dutch version of the rust Belt, in the area around Rotterdam, deindustrialized and especially with changing activities in the big harbor areas. This was the heartland of the Fortuyn movement. And it's also big in the depopulated, shrinking, areas, in outmost North (parts of Groningen and Drenthe and Friesland) and South of the Netherlands (Limburg) along the border with Germany (or partly Belgium, like Zeeland). The area around Amsterdam is like the East or West Coast, booming with a large business and public services, ict, media, and is very liberal minded,
Geert Wilders filled the gap of Fortuyn. a few year ago he supported a liberal/christen democrat government. But this collapsed. He is less intellectual, less touch of the sixties, more grumpy compared with Fortuyn. Very anti the mindset of the "elite of Amsterdam". His party (party of freedom) has one member: himself. Also less extravagant, although his haircut reminds of his nephew Trump:
His party is now leading in the polls.
I think you can compare the Trump movement with the Fortuyn/Wilders movement. Both primair a reaction on changes like globalization, deindustrializing area's. More than the US were the Netherlands a pretty homogenous country. In the sixties and beyond there came a lot people form Maroc and Turkey to the Netherlands. The integration didn't always went well. Nowadays especially many people of the lower middle class is 'feeling a stranger in his or her own country'. This a matrix for right wing populism!