Europeans Are Waking from Their Long Socialist Slumber

The signs are becoming undeniably clear that something remarkable is occurring in Europe. Despite the warnings of Angela Merkle that Europe accounts for 7percent of the global population, but spends 50 precent of the total global social spending. Merkle’s message was that changes were urgently required as the current social state of government programs was unsustainable over the long-term. In this case, the reckoning for such reckless policies have manifested much sooner. After decades of opulent social programs that were totally unaffordable, Europeans have finally realized grossly prioritized government programs do not deliver equal quality of life. In fact, Europeans are rejecting the old social political ideas more widely and rapidly than ever before. I personally felt this shift in thinking this summer as my wife and I traveled back to France to attend my son’s graduation then to Italy where we spent ten days. I lived in Italy during the nineties and had been back on vacation another half dozen times, during this most recent trip, never did I hear such optimism about their future. While Italy’s GDP has recovered from its most recent lows, the overall economy is about the same as the last decade. What has changed is the tone and view of the future. They were honestly optimistic regarding their own personal opportunities for the future because the leadership has changed which they talk about because of the pride they feel anew.

The shift from exorbitant social budgets is not the only issue which have animated the Italians. Once shunned, there is a recent growing emphasizes on supporting traditional families and values. A reprioritization of shall we say, “what made Italy great’.

Since taking office in 2022, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has proved a pragmatic partner on major international issues, assuaging fears she would be a dogmatic conservative unwilling to compromise. But at the Group of Seven summit that she hosted in southern Italy this week, Meloni showed she had some red lines dear to her nationalist camp that she was ready to fight for, especially issues relating to the family and reproduction rights. Like many conservative groups in Europe and the United States, Meloni's Brothers of Italy party is opposed to abortions and calls for the promotion of traditional family values.[i]

Meloni is just the latest shockwave which has rattled the social status quo in Brussels. “In Germany, conservatives won the largest position in the European Union's elections and in France, conservatives alliance group Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union gained above 30% of the recent vote. France’s National Rally is projected to win the European election in France with 31.5 percent of the vote — more than twice that of President Emmanuel Macron’s party.”[ii]

This conservative trend is not only happening in large European countries such as France, Germany and Italy, but smaller countries as well. Conservative, Geert Wilders's party won in the Netherlands despite media attacks against him and being arrested and convicted twice. There are other conservative movements gaining momentum in Spain, Greece, Sweeden, and Norway. Finally, the people have grown tired enough of the false promises of social utopia, tired of being labeled racist because they want secure boarders, lower crime, and a general defense of western culture. Euro-conservatives are sounding more and more similar to the American Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement. Their language seems familiar on topics of freedom and democracy. They are tolerant but intolerant of the authoritarian police state which restrict free speech, traditional family structures, and subvert economic growth by prioritizing nonsensical environmental regulations. Europeans, as Americans have, after decades of suffering and decline under socialist masters, decided to stand up and confront the perpetrators.

However, for Europeans, their fight is just beginning, for just as in America, the lunatic left media, characterizes Euro-conservatives as the “extreme right” or “far-right” or worse “fascists”. Europe's media is as bad as American media when it comes to perpetuating false narratives. These slanderous accusations are lies that can be easily verified as the untruths they obviously are. No matter, despite the continuous daily drumbeat of self-loathing, Europeans are not listening anymore. Thus, the meteoric rise of Euro-Conservatives parties. Democratic conservatism has expanded internationally. The people have started to reject social reliance from a common-sense desire of freedom and responsibility for their own livelihood. Natural love of country displayed through patriotism is coming back, not in a nationalistic Nazi Germany or fascist Mussolini way. No, a simple return to normalcy, individual rights, personal liberty, and desire to achieve though one’s own efforts.?

Returning to Giorgia Meloni, during a speech to the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) convention, she said,

We (conservatives) are proud of our identities, of what we stand for. We live in an age where everything we stands for is under attack: our individual freedom is under attack, our rights are under attack, the sovereignty of our nations is under attack, the prosperity and well-being of our families is under attack, our children’s education is under attack. Faced with this, people understand that in this era, the only way to be rebellious is to preserve who we are, the only way to be rebellious is to be conservative. I see cancel culture fanatics in our institutions tearing down statues, tempering with books and comics, changing street names, accusing a shared history that they would like to rewrite. All of you in America and we in Europe, and our friends on all the other continents, are proud of our identities, of what we stand for. And we know that our opponent is operating globally, applying the same tactics and with the same ideology, to destroy our identities and what makes us who we truly are.[iii]

Meloni concluded her speech with a quote from G.K. Chesterton, “’Fires will be kindled to testify that two and two make four. Swords will be drawn to prove that leaves are green in summer.’ The time of that battle has come, but they will find us ready for the battle.[iv] Europeans have begun the struggle Americans have been waging for years. They are engaged in the same battle for common sense, personal freedoms and western standards. More and more Europeans are realizing this is the time of choosing and the moment to stand and let their voices be heard to reclaim the opportunities they and their families deserve.

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The views in this article are the author’s and do not reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Government or Department of Defense.? All Right Reserved.

Author: By J. David Pinkston

J. David Pinkston is President and Founder of Victory Patriotism LLC, where he advocates for the study and education of historical, diplomatic, military, and civic events.

www.victorypatriotism.com

[i] Crispian Balmer , 2024. “Italy's Meloni shows her arch-conservative credentials at G7 summit”, Reuters, 16 June 2024, https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/italys-meloni-shows-her-arch-conservative-credentials-g7-summit-2024-06-15/

[ii] Monica Showalter, 2024. “Wipeout in Europe: Conservative parties run away with big wins in EU parliamentary elections”, June 10, 2024

[iii] S.R. Piccoli, 2022. “Is the EU’s Establishment Trembling?”, The American Thinker, 28 September 2022, https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2022/09/is_the_eus_establishment_trembling.html

[iv] Ibid

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