Are leftists becoming a minority?

[Krasnovo]

Hopefully.

[Britanno]

In Europe, there's a direct correlation between the hit on pay and the rise in anti-immigrant parties. If the likes of Nigel Farage use powerful rhetoric they can manipulate an angry continent and make it believe that their hardships are caused by immigrants. In America, half the population and just stupid.

[The Liberated Territories]

In America, half the population and just stupid.

Oh wow, lmao. I wonder what gene causes Europeans to be smarter?

[Arkolon]

In America, half the population and just stupid.

Oh wow, lmao. I wonder what gene causes Europeans to be smarter?

Lactose tolerance!

[Quintium]

Is it entirely possible that the collective leftists of the Western world are becoming a minority? Or is the right-wing minority just getting louder as they decline in size?

They're not exactly declining in size, except in my country (and that's because the leader's a total crackpot - if there was any alternative, even I would abandon that party). And while the standard idea is that young people are left-wing and that the right-wing is dying out, the opposite is true in many European countries. In Austria's multi-party system, a few years ago, a poll found that up to 40 percent of people under the age of 30 supported the FPÖ, a party with a very dubious history (and by that, I mean they could teach the old Le Pen a thing or two). And in my country, while the PVV has lost ground in three elections in a row (and is now at the fourth, fifth or sixth place in national politics here), they've come first in the last two nationwide mock elections in secondary schools.

So, what sayeth ye, NSG? Is all not yet lost, is the future of the world in the hands of Nigel Farage, or can Syriza and Podemos restore confidence in our liberal values?

If you haven't noticed it already, Syriza's own followers are turning their backs on the party because it has turned out that Syriza's promises were ridiculous. The party can't deliver, and now they're doing exactly what Greece's previous governments have been doing: trying and failing to strike a balance between the people they owe a lot of money to and the people of Greece who keep demanding government-funded stuff that the Greek government really can't afford.

[Norstal]

Probably not. The right-wing is just really, really fucking loud, like, loud enough that the police are getting complaints for the third time this week.

The right-wing just gets banned more often on this site because their views are more toxic (e.g kill all the x). It's quite funny actually.

[Quintium]

In Europe, there's a direct correlation between the hit on pay and the rise in anti-immigrant parties. If the likes of Nigel Farage use powerful rhetoric they can manipulate an angry continent and make it believe that their hardships are caused by immigrants. In America, half the population and just stupid.

A lot of Britain's hardships are caused by immigration. Not by the immigrants themselves, and you'll never hear people say that immigrants are plotting to take over Britain (although an influential Muslim group has called on Labour and the Tories now to agree with a manifesto that they've written to give Islam more rights in Britain in exchange for strategic, concentrated Muslim votes in certain key areas).

Anyway, the problem with migration to Britain at the moment (apart from the fact that non-western immigrants have been a net negative of around £120bn between 1995 and 2011) is that the left denies the reality that the rules of supply and demand apply to workers as well. If there are more workers, employers can pay their workers less and make them work longer hours - and the legal issues that arise don't matter if you hire workers who barely speak English through an agency that doesn't tell them what their rights are (hey, what is an employer to do) and use them as de facto 'strike breakers' if your British workers refuse to work longer hours for less money. More immigration, simply put, means lower wages, and there is literally nothing that the left or the government can do about it.

[Arkolon]

In Europe, there's a direct correlation between the hit on pay and the rise in anti-immigrant parties. If the likes of Nigel Farage use powerful rhetoric they can manipulate an angry continent and make it believe that their hardships are caused by immigrants. In America, half the population and just stupid.

A lot of Britain's hardships are caused by immigration. Not by the immigrants themselves, and you'll never hear people say that immigrants are plotting to take over Britain (although an influential Muslim group has called on Labour and the Tories now to agree with a manifesto that they've written to give Islam more rights in Britain in exchange for strategic, concentrated Muslim votes in certain key areas).

Why is 'immigrant' synonymous with 'Muslim' to you? There are plenty of non-Muslim immigrants that come into Britain, and all working immigrants are beneficial to the economy.

Anyway, the problem with migration to Britain at the moment (apart from the fact that non-western immigrants have been a net negative of around £120bn between 1995 and 2011) is that the left denies the reality that the rules of supply and demand apply to workers as well.

If being favourable is what you call 'denying the reality of supply and demand', you must also think that all mainstream economists do the same as well. Immigrants are hugely beneficial to any country because their function is mainly to fill labour market gaps or shortages. For every job an immigrant takes, more jobs are opened as a result, usually somewhere higher up the ladder too.

If there are more workers, employers can pay their workers less and make them work longer hours

This is what, strictly speaking, creates more jobs. You are forgetting that labour is a market commodity almost like any other: let's compare it to, say, cars. If cars are extremely expensive, they are hard to buy and not a lot of them are bought; when cars get cheaper, due to more cars being produced or imported, more people have cars, more people can get to other places quicker and more efficiently, which represents a net benefit to society. Similarly, cheap petrol is good for the economy, not bad. It means billions of pounds are redirected from spending on petrol, or cars, or labour and can be spent elsewhere: cheaper goods mean more consumption, which means higher standards of living. Immigrants, especially the lowly-skilled, take up jobs lower down the ladder (bus drivers, taxi drivers, assistants, hotel receptionists, etc) so that British people have jobs higher up the ladder. If it costs half the price to hire a Slovenian receptionist, that saved money goes to more investment, which translates to more jobs, or more infrastructure, which anyway means more jobs. This is not even basic economics, but just a basic understanding of how your wallet works.

The trouble with Britain is that, although low-skilled immigration has been immensely positive for the country, there is now a lack of highly-skilled workers in the UK. Smart British people are leaving the country, and graduates that study in the UK don't usually stay there. Britain now needs efficiency and skilled workers, so yes, I will admit that there is an immigration problem in the UK, but it is far from being what you think it is.

More immigration, simply put, means lower wages, and there is literally nothing that the left or the government can do about it.

Lower wages for the jobs lower to the bottom of the ladder. That saved money doesn't just disappear though, you can't be that oblivious. It goes to creating more jobs, and (more often than not), better-paying jobs.

[New Werpland]

I feel that people just instinctly have a feeling that people of opposing politics are on the rise, or in power.

[MERIZoC]

Becoming? We have been, for a while. Neoliberalism is overwhelmingly dominant in the western world, which is what I assume this thread is focusing on.

[Amethystlands]

I'm honestly not sure about Gen Y and Gen X.
I do know Gen Z tend to be more judgmental of political systems, many of them are socialist or leftist in some way. So, even if they are now they soon won't be.

[Britanno]

Oh wow, lmao. I wonder what gene causes Europeans to be smarter?

It's more of just evidenced by the fact that the Republicans wouldn't get more than 10% over here.

[Kincoboh]

You people talk about things you don't know and make so many idiotic conclusions without any proof.
*Ehem* Syriza is the descendant of KKE-interior, the anti-stalinist breakaway faction of the KKE, having always a majority of communists in its ranks and leadership. They allied with ANEL, because they're left-wing economic speaking and at the time the economy was all that mattered, also it was the only party with similar policies regarding the economy that were willing to ally with Syriza(plus ANEL's just an old-style christian democratic party, rather than a Greek UKIP), but most importantly it would heal the extremely polarised political scene of the country and give a message of unity.
However, things are quite difficult for the government since they don't have any real allies, neither experience and they can't change the constitution(it can be altered only every five years) which is a trivial step for them. But even in such a difficult position the government managed to halt the downhill of our living standards, which is quite a great thing by itself.

We'll see. I don't think Syriza is able to change much - there's too much pressure from all sides.

[Britanno]

A lot of Britain's hardships are caused by immigration. Not by the immigrants themselves, and you'll never hear people say that immigrants are plotting to take over Britain

Not they're not. Our hardships are the fault of reckless bankers and vote-chasing politicians, not a small group of the population that are simply searching for a standard of living we've enjoyed for centuries.

(although an influential Muslim group has called on Labour and the Tories now to agree with a manifesto that they've written to give Islam more rights in Britain in exchange for strategic, concentrated Muslim votes in certain key areas).

Muslims = immigrants now?

Anyway, the problem with migration to Britain at the moment (apart from the fact that non-western immigrants have been a net negative of around £120bn between 1995 and 2011) is that the left denies the reality that the rules of supply and demand apply to workers as well. If there are more workers, employers can pay their workers less and make them work longer hours - and the legal issues that arise don't matter if you hire workers who barely speak English through an agency that doesn't tell them what their rights are (hey, what is an employer to do) and use them as de facto 'strike breakers' if your British workers refuse to work longer hours for less money. More immigration, simply put, means lower wages, and there is literally nothing that the left or the government can do about it.

Ark answered the rest for me. But I'll remind you of the dozens of reports and economists that agree with the case for immigration over Nigel Farage's xenophobic bullshit.

[Caribica]

No, if anything they're the majority.

[MERIZoC]

Oh wow, lmao. I wonder what gene causes Europeans to be smarter?

It's more of just evidenced by the fact that the Republicans wouldn't get more than 10% over here.

Instead you get UKIP, FN, Jobbik, DF, GD, and all those other great parties.

edit: "DN" should have been DF. fixed

[Arkolon]

It's more of just evidenced by the fact that the Republicans wouldn't get more than 10% over here.

Instead you get UKIP, FN, Jobbik, DN, GD, and all those other great parties.

In Brit's defense, even if you add all the voters for each of those parties you wouldn't reach the number of Republican voters.

[Vaikneland]

Haha, funny you should say this... The lefties always claimed they supported the minority more than the others... Pft, the righties are the minority! (Wait till 2016)

[MERIZoC]

Instead you get UKIP, FN, Jobbik, DN, GD, and all those other great parties.

In Brit's defense, even if you add all the voters for each of those parties you wouldn't reach the number of Republican voters.

True, true. Just pointing out that some of them receive well over 10% of the vote in their respective countries, which are, after all, smaller than the US.

[Scomagia]

I feel that people just instinctly have a feeling that people of opposing politics are on the rise, or in power.

You hit the nail on the head.

[MERIZoC]

I feel that people just instinctly have a feeling that people of opposing politics are on the rise, or in power.

You hit the nail on the head.

Unfortunately, that can't stop the rise of the nail. Oh woe is us.

[Britanno]

Instead you get UKIP, FN, Jobbik, DF, GD, and all those other great parties.

edit: "DN" should have been DF. fixed

And none of them will ever win an important election.

[The United Colonies of Earth]

In the voting booth, probably. This may also apply only to the United States.

[Garahel Energy and Manufacturing Concern]

One can only hope.

[New-Pradbraki]

Instead you get UKIP, FN, Jobbik, DF, GD, and all those other great parties.

edit: "DN" should have been DF. fixed

And none of them will ever win an important election.

FN are the most popular party in France (I think) and le Pen is the most popular presidential candidate. Oh, and UKIP won the EU election.