Ahead of the European election, striking data shows where Gen Z and millennials’ allegiances lie.

Far-right parties are surging across Europe — and young voters are buying in.

Many parties with anti-immigrant agendas are even seeing support from first-time young voters in the upcoming June 6-9 European Parliament election.

In Belgium, France, Portugal, Germany and Finland, younger voters are backing anti-immigration and anti-establishment parties in numbers equal to and even exceeding older voters, analyses of recent elections and research of young people’s political preferences suggest.

In the Netherlands, Geert Wilders’ anti-immigration far-right Freedom Party won the 2023 election on a campaign that tied affordable housing to restrictions on immigration — a focus that struck a chord with young voters. In Portugal, too, the far-right party Chega, which means “enough” in Portuguese, drew on young people’s frustration with the housing crisis, among other quality-of-life concerns.

The analysis also points to a split: While young women often reported support for the Greens and other left-leaning parties, anti-migration parties did particularly well among young men. (Though there are some exceptions. See France, below, for example.)

  • conditional_soup@lemm.ee
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    2 months ago

    This is so frustrating to watch as an American. I spent much of my youth on the internet getting clowned on by Europeans for the consequences of my country’s hard right policies. The UK has been deservedly getting clowned on for the consequences of embracing the Tories. It beggars belief that the same people clowning on the US and UK would then turn around and say to themselves “yes, but it will be different for us, it will work for us, our situation really is different, you don’t understand”. No, it won’t be different. Pretty soon, you’re going to be following the path that the Tories set the UK on, marvelling at how dysfunctional your government is, and hearing about how the only solution is even more gibs to the people who are already the most economically advantaged and the private sector. Before you click reply, just consider that you guys deserve to get fucking dunked on, because you guys spent decades laughing at other countries for doing this shit just to say “hmmm… but what if sticking the fork in the electrical socket works out for me?” I’m honestly sad and disappointed for Europe, not least of all because after years of deservedly shitting on the US for being racist, all it took was one big wave of immigration for you guys to hold up blonde dumbasses with bad hair and worse ideas as the solution to all of your problems.

    “Oh, great bozo of the European trailer park, what is your wisdom to save our culture from the immigrants?”

    “Deregulate sewage plants. You will certainly not regret deregulating sewage plants.”

    Enjoy your US-style healthcare system in a few years, I guess.

  • systemglitch@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    This is the result of the left focusing so hard on identity politics and immigration. The right didn’t have to do shit… it was inevitable.

    • Urist@lemmy.ml
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      2 months ago

      Identity politics surely is to blame for the rise of fascism. Just like the last time in the years 1915-1945.

      You are almost quoting the fascist playbook line of “look what you made me do”.

      • Womble@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        They’re kinda right, but not in the way they think they are. It’s not that the left has being advocating for minority rights that is the problem, it’s that they have been focusing on that while dropping policies to support the working class that is the issue. The fact that getting more women and black people on to corporate boards has been more of a focus than affordable housing has been slowly driving alienation from mainstream left wing parties.

        • Urist@lemmy.ml
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          2 months ago

          In much of Europe the left have been victims of former success. Many of the (former) leftist political parties and their constituents have foregone leftist policies because said policies gave them the social mobility to move into a higher strata of society.

          In effect it is successful class war waged by the capitalist class, who have dismantled their greatest political opposition and employed a tactic of divide and conquer for the lump sum of petty cash.

          Note, I do not say that having a fair and egalitarian society isn’t a part of socialist ideology, but focusing on cultural symbolics instead of improving material conditions is just bourgeoisie propaganda.

  • Peddlephile@lemm.ee
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    2 months ago

    When people find themselves in stress, they will always vote conservative to ensure their own survival. Right now, many young people can’t afford housing, they have to spend more time working than living. This is not surprising.

      • Cowbee@lemmy.ml
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        2 months ago

        Reactionary viewpoints are a result of crumbling and decaying societies. They cling to what once was, rather than trying to progress onward to Socialism.

        Reactionaries are wrong, of course, but the origin of these viewpoints currently is from Capitalism’s failures.

  • Noedel@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    I’m not surprised by the male/female gap. The past decade, young men have been told that white men are the worst thing to be. The left has not provided any role models for young men.

    The right has many.

    • drunkpostdisaster@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      As a white dude I sometimes think our suicide rate is a good thing. The left will never reach out and the other side are fascists. White men is what people think of in the alt right, they own us no mater how we vote.

  • Cowbee@lemmy.ml
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    2 months ago

    People are losing faith with the failing status quo, so some are (incorrectly) adopting a highly reactionary position to cling to what they percieved has been lost, rather than progressing along to Socialism.

    This is a consequence of the long term failings of Capitalism, coupled with weak leftist movements and a lack of general theory-reading.

    • yamanii@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      A socialized capitalism will always be coopted by the ones with more money in pursuit of even more money.

          • Cowbee@lemmy.ml
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            2 months ago

            I do too, but I want to know exactly, because I don’t see how Social Democracy has anything to do with what I said, haha

      • Cowbee@lemmy.ml
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        1 month ago

        Why do you say Socialism doesn’t work? Why do you say far-right governments do? Is it vibes?

          • Cowbee@lemmy.ml
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            1 month ago

            What part of that general knowledge of the last 150 years of world history says that worker ownership doesn’t work, and that fascism does?