Most Repugnant Right Wing party in Europe (plus Israel and Australia)

[Antonio the Sixth]

XA, closely followed by Jobbik. All the others coming far behind.

Also, there are better choices for several of these countries. For instance, Lega Nord, while having some unsavory factions within it, is broadly a big tent regionalist party, and not nearly as bad as some of the outright neo-fascists in Italy.

No.

[Antonio the Sixth]

None of these parties are as bad as the 'center-right' parties that actually win elections and form governments in Europe/Israel/Australia. They provide a useful 'devil' for the existing political classes of those nations, of course. That's not saying I would ever vote for one of them, but I would be far more worried about the Conservative Party winning another election in the UK than I would the BNP scrounging up enough votes to take one seat.

What if these parties actually had good chances to win? Would you actually prefer them over the mainstream right parties? Sorry if I ask, but I've noticed a recent trend among my fellow forum leftists that worries me a bit.

[Antonio the Sixth]

None of these parties are as bad as the 'center-right' parties that actually win elections and form governments in Europe/Israel/Australia. They provide a useful 'devil' for the existing political classes of those nations, of course. That's not saying I would ever vote for one of them, but I would be far more worried about the Conservative Party winning another election in the UK than I would the BNP scrounging up enough votes to take one seat.

What if these parties actually had good chances to win? Would you actually prefer them over the mainstream right parties? Sorry if I ask, but I've noticed a recent trend among my fellow forum leftists that worries me a bit.

And what would that trend be, if you don't mind me asking? As for the question, I am not sure I would bother casting a ballot if my choices were between folks who want to rob me blind and folks that want to deport all foreigners.

Marokai recently said he would support Le Pen over Hollande in France's 2012 election, which made my jaw drop. We've since clarified things a bit and I think he's at least partly changed his view, but that made me wonder if other forumites politically close to me share this view.

I would say that at least in the case of Jobbik and XA, "deport all foreigners" is probably the nicest of their stances.

[Antonio the Sixth]

The trend of American left-wingers being sympathetic to the far-right on here is pretty disturbing. Do we have Beet to blame?

I do not consider myself sympathetic of the European far-right, though if you define sympathetic as "thinking they might have even half of a point about even one part of one issue" then I guess I could be branded a fellow blackshirt.

It's more the absolute shutting the f**k down that happens anytime anyone dare consider saying anything about a far-right party other than a witty, dismissive one-liner that I can't stand. As if anytime someone wants to have a mature conversation about anything related to the European far-right they might be brainwashed and thus simply can't risk it.

I just have a hard time seeing why anyone would care if these parties have half of a point about one part of one issues, considering their otherwise absolute horribleness. What's the point in playing the devil's advocate exactly? Even if there actually was anything good in these parties' platforms (there isn't) the idea that they are morally equivalent to the neoliberal right (note that much of these "populist" parties actually have largely neoliberal positions on economic issues) is absurd. And yeah, it painfully reminds of 1930s communists.