Answer....they all make anti-immigration a central policy. I'm not going to suggest they're right, or they're wrong, but just that they're powerful and they have a message that is gaining strength.
Yesterday the United Kingdom voted to divorce themselves from the European Union. Much of the reason for that was simply that they felt the European Union was not working for them, that they would be better of without having to get approval from Brussels (the EU HQ) to conduct much of their everyday business. It's called "Euro-skepticism".
But a good deal of the impetus to opt-out was due to their increasing unease with the new wave of Muslim refugees entering their country daily. The other national movements mentioned above are also looking to slam the door on their open borders, too.
In Europe Muslim immigrants are not generally integrated into mainstream society. They are strictly segregated, practically speaking if not by any actual government edict. Too often the natives don't mix well with their new neighbors. Suspicion is rampant and tensions are high. Reports of violence committed by Muslim youths is just fuel on the fire, even though, as is usually the case, the majority are peacefully just trying to get by. And with every act of radical Islamic terror, the division grows wider.
Things are a bit better, for the time being, here in the US. America's 3.3 million Muslim residents are fairly well integrated, but say they're feeling eyes on them from every direction, while the natives see an Islamic terrorist behind almost every rock. Enter first the Tea Party, and now Donald Trump. With President Obama proposing to admit 10,000 Syrian refugees into the US, Trump is riding high in the polls with his promise to "Keep 'em out".
I think it's safe to say that Muslims generally don't play well with others....Sunni's fight Shia, Saudi's fight Yemenis, Iranians fight pretty much everyone, etc. In fairness Muslims can say the West started this latest wave of unrest (let's not go back and re-fight the Crusades, OK?) by getting involved in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, and elsewhere, trying to foist on them our "dastardly, un-Islamic democracy". That in effect just stirred the ant pile, sending those inside scurrying in every direction looking for safety. I think it fair to say our efforts to "nation build" have been a flop.
As I see it we're just different peoples with different cultures that are hard for the other to get their heads around. I don't see the wedge between us getting anything but wider in the near future. It just seems like we're caught up in a vicious circle.
What do you think? Do you think we'll just walk wide of each other for decades to come, or will it deteriorate into something more violent? With the head start Europe has on us regarding anti-immigrant nationalism, how nasty will it get there, and will we be far behind? In all honesty, with the paranoia that exists today, I'm concerned that things could get out of hand very easily. It's easy to escalate things, but quite difficult to de-escalate tensions once they build.
Remember a couple years ago when two Islamic terrorists were intercepted and killed by a Garland, TX policeman as they were trying to shoot up a Mohammad cartoon contest? The Garland PD never released the name of the officer, and it was only at the trial of an accomplice in Phoenix that the officer's name came out. Now the Garland PD is having to provide him special protection. That's how toxic its become.
As Walter Cronkite used to say, "And that's the way it is."
S
