Austrians vote on Sunday in a general election that could see the far-right opposition Freedom Party (FPÖ) top the polls for the first time.
Five years ago, the party crashed out of a coalition government with the conservative People’s Party because of a corruption scandal dubbed Ibiza-gate.
But now, led by Herbert Kickl, the FPÖ is within reach of a historic victory. It narrowly leads the ruling conservatives in the opinion polls, and the opposition Social Democrats are in third place.
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The FPÖ has successfully tapped into concerns about migration, rising inflation, the war in Ukraine and anger over the way the Covid pandemic was handled, and for months has been hovering around 27% in the polls, up to two points ahead of the conservative Österreichische Volkspartei (ÖVP) or Austrian People’s Party, which is predicting a photo finish.
A combination of things:
First, misinformation travels at light speed thanks to the lack of control in social media and internet.
Then, we have a generational crisis that is causing a strong lack of confidence in the actual political class because they are seen as incapable of resolving our generation issues.
Add to this that there is the perception of a strong migration problem (pushed by the far right).
The far right capitalizes on all of the above.
Also, it is treated like a cult by its followers because they thrive in environments where the intelligence is not required (it’s actually encouraged to not be intelligent and critical thinker).
The far right is also known to be populist, and they don’t need to be held accountable for their lies because their followers act as a cult.
If you sum this all up, you get our situation: young people voting fascism even more than boomers (look at Germany’s last election).
It really is scary.
I think knee-jerk reaction to the pandemic fallout is also part of it. People are angry at the world and taking it out on the political incumbents.