It came. It went. And it splintered. Just like democracy is want to do. The European Parliament election results are coming in like a sobering hailstorm across Europe. And it is a mixed wind that carries the storm of media coverage.
It is easy to feel discomforted by the results. Italy’s neo-fascist Lega basically won their elections by a land-slide. Marine Le Pen and her own nationalist party in France also made head-way, beating the beleaguered Macron in the polls. And in the UK, the Brexiteers and the political hobgoblin Nigel Farage won, despite that the nation stands on the brink of being punted out of the Union all together.
Seems frustrating, no? I bet the Orange Hydra and his implanted anti-EU lobbyist Bannon must be wringing their hands in glee. So would Putin and Jinping, no doubt. And for us others, eager to see a strong Europe so that we shan’t be divided and torn asunder between the three hungry super-powers, eager to see a strong voice on the global stage that at least tries to make headway toward sustainability, we’re still shitting bricks.
But it’s not all doom and gloom. Sure, the big populist, nationalist names have moved ahead. Salvini, Le Pen and Farage have secured dangerous representation. It’s not great. But if you tally the European Parliament, and the sub-groups within, there are plenty of silver linings. Liberals and Greens were actually the big winners in the election, gaining some sixty seats between them in a house of 751 chairs to be filled. That’s not nothing.
And even though UK’s Brexiteers won big, so did the Liberal Democrats, who are staunchly Stayers. In right-wing Hungary, the dictator-wannabe Orban, sadly did well in his country’s election. But so did new voices. Like those of relatively liberal Momentum, who brand themselves as a newer, younger voice for Hungarian politics.
Look, we all know that things are shit. And getting shittier. The planet’s broiling. We’re gorging ourselves on what precious few resources we have. Hate and fear rules the minds of the populace. Populist pricks exploit it to gain temporary benefits. But there’s a flip side. There always is. Just as there’s a flip side to openness and cooperation in protectionism and nationalism, there’s a flip side to the face of Europe that we’re seeing today. And that flip side are new voices. New ideas. New approaches to politics and rhetoric. In the US, we see it in the likes of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. In Europe, we see it in the young women and men that push back against Hungary’s autocratic tendencies. We see it in the gains of seats for environmental and liberal voices.
Will it be enough though? Will more Green voices in the European Parliament make it so that political environmentalists will start focusing on redirecting our society toward not only sustainability but also allowing a healthy and abundant biosphere, instead of wanting to pave the entire continent in solar cells? With more Liberals, will they not only strive toward civil liberties and freedoms, but also start to question the frenzied market structure that mindlessly focuses on exponential growth, much like a devouring locust swarm?
To tell you the truth, I don’t know. I really don’t. If we could have done something more for ourselves and our biosphere, we would have by now. But you know what? Even though I would love for humanity to get its shit together and stave off the sixth mass-extinction that’s largely occurring due to our behaviour, I’m not optimistic. But what I am certain about is that I’d much rather die in a world with misguided optimism about the sustainable impact of electric bicycles and the power of the free market than I would in a dystopian hellscape riddled with remnant nation states warring for whatever scant resources are left. Because wouldn’t that be nice?
/Sebastian Lindberg 28/5-2019
WastedWords 