Populism is on the rise throughout the West- first we voted to leave the EU here in Britain and then Donald Trump defeated the Queen of Corruption Hilary Clinton. Since we’ve seen a growing tide of Euroscepticism throughout EU member states, most evidently in France with Marine Le Pen’s National Rally, in Italy with Matteo Salvini’s Northern League and in Holland with Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom.
Of course the Establishment and the remainstream media dismiss the contemporary wave of populism as ‘far-right’. Utter nonsense. Outlets such as the Guardian label anyone right of centre ‘far-right’, and this of course plays into the actual far-right’s hands, albeit them being a tiny minority of people.
So the reason i’ve been discussing politics with my Dutch friends is because I have lately took an interest into the possibility of Holland holding an EU referendum. The ever growing likelihood of a Dutch referendum runs parallel to the increasing popularity of nationalist-populist Geert Wilders. Wilders is the main advocate for a Dutch referendum as he has been for many years; similar to Nigel Farage.
Wilders like myself is a big critic of Islam and this is the reason the liberal media falsely label him as far-right. Again, like myself, Wilders’ criticism of Islam does not come from irrational bigoted opinions it comes from years of study. Geert actually travelled to and studied in the Middle-East and he is now a supporter of the Jewish homeland Israel. Imagine far-right fascists supporting a Jewish homeland!
Out of all the conversations with my Dutch pals (5 to be precise) i’m going to pick two in particular- the two most contrasting opinions.
Mariska says that she hopes that Holland stays within the EU and she is also not a fan of Geert Wilders. Mariska says that she loves her country yet she also identifies as a European and World citizen. She thinks Wilders is a charismatic man who’s personality is able to manipulate the fears of Dutch citizens and he simply “says what people want to hear”, and she contradicts me in the fact that she thinks Geert’s popularity is actually declining.
Armin on the other hand (that is not this person’s real name but he/she specifically asked not to have his/her name mentioned) is a big fan of Geert Wilders and he says that he would love to see Holland become an independent sovereign state. We talked about the Dutch problem of Moroccan raping gangs grooming underage children and how this relates to the English problem of Pakistani raping gangs grooming our children. Me and Armin both worry about the influence of Islam on our children’s future.
The feeling and general atmosphere amongst the Dutch feels very similar to the one we had here in Britain leading up to our EU referendum in 2016. There are valid arguments for both in and out sides and it seems reasonable that a vote should be put to the people.
As for Geert Wilders, amongst the Dutch he is like Marmite; similar to Nigel Farage or perhaps more precisely Tommy Robinson (because that bitch Farage stays silent when it comes to Islam).
However I don’t think that a vote will be put to the people for one simple reason- the geographical location of Holland. If you look at the UK, it is much easier for the British Isles to leave the EU simply because we are separated from the continent as it is as an Island. Holland however is in the middle of central Europe. Thinking back to the numerous times i’ve taken the Eurostar to Holland.. I had to pass through four EU countries to get to Amsterdam!
Time to Wake up 