2010-09-14

Europe well ahead U.S. in anti-immigrant sentiment

Anti-immigrant wave spreads across Europe
"Right now we are focussed on building up this new party in Berlin, but if we have success here, I certainly can't rule out extending it nationwide," Stadtkewitz, who was kicked out of Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) for his views, told Reuters.

The 45-year-old from the east Berlin district of Pankow, who wants headscarves banned, mosques shuttered and state welfare payments to Muslims cut, is the newest face of a powerful anti-immigrant strain in European politics that is winning over voters and throwing mainstream politicians onto the defensive.

Parties with xenophobic-tinged programmes are not new in Europe. The National Front of Jean-Marie Le Pen has been a force in France for years, as has the Northern League, which is part of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's ruling coalition in Italy.
Social mood is declining and the anti-immigrant movement is far more established in Europe, with several political parties across the political spectrum (socialist BNP in the U.K.; center-right in Germany). There will be political success in Europe long before anything similar happens in the United States.

However, what appears xenophobic to present day observers, is in some cases what was normal for much of history. Immigration and multiculturalism were so extreme at peak social mood that in some parts of the world, there was almost reverse assimilation. What's happening right now is the correction to this peak. If the social mood declines far enough, then we will start to see mass anti-immigrant sentiment and outright xenophobia. Instead of dress codes, there will be deportations and outright bans on immigration (or severely restrictive policies based on national origin).

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