EU elections

[lisa_thecat]

I just came home from voting for the EU elections. I voted for the party that seemed the most pro-european, even if I dislike some of their electible candidates. Anyway, I said I would vote for them with the first occasion, when at the pro-family (ant-gay) referendum they were the ONLY political party in Romania that was pro gay rights, pro gay

Comments

[rock_dinosaur]

The anti-European parties and politicians in the UK have built their campaigns on corruption and lies too, but they've been relentlessly promoted by the BBC and the big newspapers for many years, and unfortunately people are incapable of questioning what they're told. As I write this, it looks pretty certain the the UK will be leaving the UK, and probably without an agreed deal, because there's no chance of Theresa May's withdrawal agreement being passed by the London parliament, and the EU aren't going to reopen negotiations. At least, I hope they won't, because this ridiculous shambles has carried on for far too long already. If I were a committed member-country of the EU, I think I'd be happy to get rid of the UK and its hostile, arrogant, unco-operative attitude in any case

[lisa_thecat]

The truth is the always UK has an attitude of superiority and they demanded and got special treatment in the US. But Brexit means losses for everybody. Mostly for the UK, I think, if they get out without a deal and it looks like it. The referendum that brought Brexit was won by the nationalists because people were very uninformed about the real consequences. People are so easily manipulated, sometimes one wonders if democracy really functions anymore.

Scotland leaving the UK seems like a very radical change and I assume by now people are already frightened of changes with unpredictable results.

[rock_dinosaur]

I went by bus to visit my mother in Dunfermline today, and shortly after the bus had left the bus station I noticed a building with a large queue of people stretching out of the entrance and around the corner. I wondered what was happening, and as the bus passed by I saw that it was the Romanian embassy with lots of Romanians queuing up to vote. I wouldn't imagine that all the Romanians living in Scotland would be voting for anti-EU parties!

As for the way the UK government has conducted itself towards Europe, it's just embarrassing to me. They seem to think we're still fighting WWII and they're scoring points over the Germans. This is stuff that should have been laid to rest decades ago. Most people alive today weren't even born in 1945.

[lisa_thecat]

The Romanians from the diaspora all voted for parties that are pro-european. They are very much against the social-democrats and blame them for the way the elections were organised abroad. The long lines and waiting for hours to be able to vote-this is not normal. There are thousands that didn't get to vote at all before the elections were closed, even if they traveled far and waited long hours in line. According to exitpolls in Romania pro-european parties have won. The social democrats suffered a defeat. A deafeat even if they have 25%. Their huge campaing including assistance from the Church, didn't help them. They lost a lot of support from 45% in 2016....

[tabular_rasa]

I'm following all this from the outside, but indeed it sounds like there's a lot to be concerned about from what I read here and in the news. Of course the EU is a bureaucratic mess like large institutions tend to be, and it sounds like a lot of people just want to throw the entire baby out with the bathwater and give up on the idea of an EU rather than reforming what needs to be and can be reformed. There are certainly challenges with the wealth discrepancies between EU nations and strain from the influx of immigration in the past few years, but the solution doesn't have to be turning inward to only caring about one's own people and fuck everyone else-- but that's exactly where a lot of these fringe parties are taking it, and actually getting support for it! Especially when so many people are quick to believe anything they hear, even the most outlandish conspiracy theories. (We definitely have that problem here in the US!!). It's really concerning to me that nationalism and charismatic populism-- generally coupled with a lot of

[lisa_thecat]

The fringe has become main stream. It's really concerning to me that nationalism and charismatic populism-- generally coupled with a lot of hateful rhetoric-- is on the rise again worldwide. Historically that direction has not lead the world to a better place. I couldn't agree more. Why people are so attracted to the hatred discourse and fall for fear mongers - I can't understand. Maybe life has gotten less easy for many of them. Maybe there's some collective instinct to turn against those who are different than you when things go wrong. Other nationalities, other religions. You want your group to be safe, you don't care about others. Maybe people smell something bad in the air, be it climate change, be it political collapse and war and that is why they tend to regroup in smaller groups.

[tabular_rasa]

I think it is one of those cases where what used to be a survival instinct has become a threat to modern society. It used to be you looked out for yourself foremost, family second, tribe/village/immediate community third, and didn't concern yourself with anyone beyond that; anyone else was competition for resources-- and that made sense from a standpoint of basic survival in the wilderness. But that unfortunate instinct kicks still in even now we live in a world in which interconnectedness is a strength and it doesn't have to be a zero-sum game. And then it's too easy for leaders and disrupters to play on that fear that some ~other is a direct threat to society's wellbeing and people have a hard time being rational when they are angry, defensive, and fearful to begin with. And people are angry and fearful because so many of us are powerless in some way, be it poverty, political or social oppression, or just overwhelmed with stress to where we don't have the energy to cope with everything going on in the world on top of our daily

[lisa_thecat]

so many of us are powerless in some way, be it poverty, political or social oppression, or just overwhelmed with stress to where we don't have the energy to cope with everything going on in the world on top of our daily struggles. Very true. And few politicians know how to address the legitimate fears of these people. So they fall prey to false prophets, populists of the extreme right or left.