the sirens of Europe

Europe is a continent build upon the waste of two world wars. There might be more to it, like recent ideas and problems, but the reasons for almost all current policies are anchored in preventing the desolation of the evil madness of trenches and gas chambers. Now, every country has its ways. Comparing the bronze plaques that remind every partisan murdered in every corner of Warsaw, the monuments to the killed ones in every other French town or the eternal Spanish quarreling between Franco supporters and opponents, in The Netherlands the presence of those ancient fault lines is subtler, perhaps less oppressive. One would like to believe that those conflicts are buried and forgotten. Yet we try again and again to remember. This midday, being first of the month, at 12:00 sharp sirens are heard in every other town of this country for a full minute. Those are the ones meant to warn of incoming air attacks in world war two, and kept later on and ready to warn people of possible nuclear attacks first, and nuclear or chemical accidents later. Once a month we are reminded how the sound of fear is, we are keep reassured that all warnings are in place and functioning. It is a strange logic, if you happen to get to think about it. To prevent the holocaust of a war we remind ourselves, with the regularity of a good Swiss clock, how a war sounds like.

So you would believe that in this continent of us racial hate is a nightmares that, if not forgotten, is at least rejected. And you would be mistaken.

It is my unpopular opinion that the recent declarations of Baudet, and his buildup towards the elections that became his breakthrough, have gone pass a border that has not been crossed in a long time. I said unpopular because the ascent of the far right is a phenomenon that is long known in Europe, with recent ramifications and similarities in both north and south America. Most of my friends tell me that this is more of the same. Yet Baudet talking about a boreal Europe should ring in our hears as loud and clear as the sirens sounded few hours ago.

It is important to recognize, once more, that the rising right has sounded not that different than Baudet in the last decennia, or longer if we pay attention to Blocher in Switzerland, Haider in Austria or the Partido Popular in Spain. Yet even those profoundly disgusting politicians and their ilk have been pandering the xenophobia that has always been a part of European identity, stopping there. Even in their most chilling declarations against migrants they have insisted in their ideas being against “cultures” different than “ours”, never about race. None of them has yet talked about reinstalling a Europe that belongs only to the white race. Most of my readers will consider it whitewashing maneuvering, yet even the National Front fired old Le Pen when he openly talked about ovens getting his opponents next time. Now, in talking about boreal Europa after an electoral win we can grant Thierry Baudet, and to The Netherlands as a whole, a first: the normalization of nazi imagery in the politics of the XXI century.

One could ask if the open xenophobia of the dutch politician Wilders calling for “less and less migrants”, or the repellent actions of Italy’s Salvini suing the crews of ships dedicated to rescue refugees lost at sea are not expressions of the same motivations that animate Baudet’s voters. They are indeed. The motivation to give up a hiding jew to the german police in 1942, or to refuse to help a person escaping from the Syrian hell is not different, it is the fear of the other, and what that other might do to disrupt our well established and comfortable reality. I do believe that xenophobia is the sliding slope that lead us to the abyss of open racism. BUt before baudet we were sliding. Now we are free falling.

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