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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Step one complete.  Step two leave the EU.  [/quote]

So they can enjoy the same sharp declines in economic and labor opportunities as well as sharp ris s in consumer products as Great Britain did following Brexit? Ask the British farmers how they feel about Brexit now … [/quote]

There's no significant move in the Netherlands to depart the EU. Holland is very pro-EU.

The issues that got Geert Wilders his votes have been simmering for a long time. Immigration. And it's not so much the Turks and the Moroccans. Or much less Indonesians. Those are long established communities in Holland. It's the newer arrivals from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and sub-Sahara Africa. These folks have no inclination of assimilating or starting a new life. Their views on many things, particularly women and LGBTQ, are not remotely the same as Europeans. They seem very content to live as parasites on the system and far too often they're violent. Holland is not America. People don't keep their head on a swivel. So it's always a shock.

But it's more than that. It's rental and housing prices. It's resentment over the really severe Covid restrictions the government imposed. There's a general feeling that the more leftist parties don't actually care about the day to day reality of people. It's all just virtue signaling. So this is Holland's middle finger to the leftist establishment - just like Trump in the US, Milei in Argentina, Meloni in Italy. The mainstream leftist parties don't want to touch anything difficult like immigration or housing. So that leaves a big opening for the Geert Wilders of the world.[/quote]

Yah I didn’t think Nethexit was an actual risk - just replying to PP who claimed step 2 would be that.

Yes I agree with your analysis of why many Dutch are concerned about immigration, house prices and rising cost of living/ inflation. We lived in the Netherlands and have a lot of family there: and your observations about popular concerns ring true.

However, I disagree that center left parties are not trying hard to tackle these difficult issues. Often center left parties actually have the more realistic strategies to create more affordable housing, contain illegal immigration, integrate existing immigrants, and rein in inflation.  They do have a messaging and communication problem and that often allows far right extremists to dominate narratives as if their solutions are viable when often they are not.

US intelligence has warned us that both Russia and China are pumping billions of dollars into misinformation campaigns not just in the US but throughout many Western democracies. The extensive misinformation undermines confidence in democratic government and exploits populist fears related to illegal immigration and society changing too fast. That is not to say these problems don’t exist - but that authoritarian right wing politicians don’t have constructive solutions. 
[/quote]

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