Some thinkers see both world wars as a protracted struggle against socialism. And the various fascist groupings can be interpreted as an extreme backlash. The struggle continued even during the Cold War, and it did not end with the United States winning, no, but the Soviet Union dismantled communism voluntarily, and not long afterwards the empire was dissolved and the Russian Federation and its neighbouring states were formed.
Well, socialist ideology continued to thrive even after that. First defeated and beaten, then revived as so-called identity politics. And now it wanders like a zombie through Europe, winning election after election on strange premises and foul play. Most recently in France, where the far left has made great strides at the expense of the far right.
Some see France as a lost country, where foreign religions and population exchanges have made many neighbourhoods and cities unrecognisable. And now there will be even more of this kind of politics.
Others see Le Pen and the far right as a controlled opposition, dropping more and more core issues in order to be recognised and established, but when it comes down to it, they always fall flat on their faces. Perhaps a channel for people’s anger and frustration, but never a real opportunity for power and change.
Perhaps nationalism and the old conservatism is a burnt-out ideology?
You don’t have to be an ultra-reactionary to reduce immigration and send people who don’t work back to their home countries. It is not fascist to demand identity documents from refugees, nor is it particularly controversial to emphasise one’s own history and culture.
By cultivating a powerless far right, you can paralyse politics, especially the migration issue, because it becomes ugly to be associated with anything to do with restrictive migration. Something that mainstream liberals could actually implement, to demand sustainable self-sufficient migration and protect their own citizens. No, now all migration debates are just ugly and skewed, while our countries are cracking and dissolving into their constituent parts.
