Geert Wilders joins party leaders in debate before the Netherlands' 2006 elections
These are the words of Geert Wilders, posterboy of European populism:
“We are democrats. We believe in peaceful solutions. The reason why we reject Islam is exactly Islam’s violent nature. We believe in democracy. We fight with the force of our conviction, but we never use violence. Our commitment to truth, human dignity and a just and honourable defence of the west does not allow us to use violence nor to give in to cynicism and despair.”
Wilders has reportedly endorsed such policies as taxing women who wear headscarves and banning the Koran. These policies defy the commitment to the equal freedom of every individual that is the hallmark of liberal democracy. Yet Wilders’s rhetoric is anything but illiberal or antidemocratic.
Wilders is symptomatic of a new and growing wave of European populism that combines a
atimoshenko
The thing about immigration is that it should really follow the host-guest dynamic. From one side, the host should respectfully honour a the guests preferences and needs, while from the other side the guest should abide by house rules and practices. If either side of this relationship breaks down, anger and confrontation will follow.
Joe B.
This is a refreshing and helpful perspective on what has become a tired debate. By refocusing us on the underlying empirical claims of populists and away from hard-to-adjudicate claims of cynical hijacking of liberal language, Mr. Howard and Mr. Bartlett provide us with a plausible way forward. The sane establishment’s obsession with the false consciousness and economic reactionism of populist voters doesn’t provide a useful basis for opening a productive dialog with at-risk voters. A dispassionate analysis of facts, on the other hand, does. Here’s hoping that we hear a lot more from Mr. Howard and Demos in the very near future.
John Ellis
It would certainly help if The British PM and his team were to talk more rationally about Muslims and immigrants in general – loose talk etc….