It’s been reported that in the German elections, a far right party has made ‘significant gains’.
In the UK (at least before the scandals) Reform UK seems to have had a significant boost and has even surpassed the right-wing Conservative Party in some polls/predictions.
Even France, one or two years ago, was threatened with a far-right government due to the French far right party gaining a lot of support.
It feels like in the last few years, the far-right has exceeded itself and had a surge in popularity. Is this the case? And if so, wtf is fuelling it?
Big money interfering. Social media was just the latest iteration, billionaires have been buying news outlets since we had news outlets.
Life is getting shit for everyone, but it’s a lot simpler and more accessible to blame a handful of brown people for everything. When a man in a tie says the same shit you’ve been saying down the pub, it’s too easy for people to fall into lockstep with them.
AFD does not have more billionaire donors than the mainstream parties. It’s the billionaire donors that are driving people to the AFD, as their interests in war and sanctions do not offer anything to the people. The Left party does offer something people actually want, peace, so they are on the rise also.
Billionaires in Germany do not openly donate to the AfD for fear of jeopardizing their businesses through potential consumer boycotts. Alois Müller is a good example of this.
You can still assume, however, that enough money is flowing into the party’s slush funds via front men, bypassing the officially reported party donations.
This phenomenon can be observed in all far-right parties. The American Republicans are an exception in this regard because they are not a new phenomenon, and the influence exerted by billionaires has been de facto legalized since the Citizens United Act.
https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/afd-wer-ist-der-verschwiegene-milliardaer-hinter-der-verdaechtigen-millionen-spende-a-424da78a-95be-45de-8c21-4a2922305c51