Independent Observer

This is a semi-opinion post. It is largely my observation, combined slightly with the vaguest hint of my opinion. That goes for everything anyone ever says, but I digress. 

European Parliament elections were just held- yes, the EU has a parliament. It's in Brussels, though why I have no idea. Anyways, I've been paying attention to the various election rhetoric from the hilariousness of UKIP's Nigel Farage, to the downright frightening Hungarian Jobbik party (pseudo-Nazi). European politics make American politics look sane and calm, truly, as with European politics, people continue to vote for the far-right (neo-fascist) and the far left (communist), keeping them actually relevant. 

The commentary has been rather interesting as well- there are two types of political parties, pro-EU and anti-EU. The anti-EU says that the EU is an American lapdog ("Poodle of the US", courtesy of France's resident psychopath party, the Front Nationale), and therefore should be done away with. Hilariously enough, the pro-EU parties promote the concept that the US is a bully or a meddler, and the EU is necessary to keep away American influence. Of course, they say nothing about Russian aggression. 

My question is why? Why do Europeans hate the US so much? We provide millions of dollars in tourism, we import an incredible amount of luxury goods, and we even started to lower tariffs on some goods to try to help the EU's floundering economy. To me, it makes no sense, these hypocritical attitudes. 

Thankfully, none of this applies to Finland, merely to Southern Europe and England. Eastern Europe to a degree as well, but not the Baltic States or Poland, and only because of Russian influence (positive or negative). In Finland, the mildly conservative Kokoomus party remained in power. They act like NY democrats (think Cuomo, but with a spine), so it's not really scary that they have power, because everything just stays the same. Also, Finland is leaning towards NATO because of Russians aggression in both Ukraine and the Baltic, as apparently Russian jets violated Finnish airspace at least three times in the last couple of weeks, so I can feel comfortable as an American in Finland. 

There is a scary shift however that can be seen in all European politics. There is an incredibly foreboding shift to the extreme right in politics, including the normalization of anti-semitism and isolationism. It looks like 1930's Europe all over again, minus a militant Germany (though Germany practically controls the EU through economics). Everywhere across Europe, the far right continues to make gains, which begs the question: why do normal people vote for these lunatics? What motivates normal people to follow idiots? 

Here is a BBC article on this topic, read it: http://m.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27559714

This is the truth- the US is increasingly becoming one of the most liberal countries in the world. It is not because we change at a rapid pace, but merely because others decide to continually fall backwards into medieval behaviors. And the sad part is, as Americans, all we can do is watch. And, of course, not vote for idiots (again).