Patrick Breyer and Pirate Party lose EU Parliament seats

“Cyberpunk was a warning, not an aspiration.” -- Mike Pondsmith

Kinda alarmist tone.

I always expected for the irrational opinion of people in many Western countries that they can get anything by voting for it to meet the hard cold reality, but it never was anything like "end of the world".

I'm hopeful. A certain kind of evil people have felt their power and are slowly becoming complacent, which means that the European societies will get a shot at getting rid of them, for the time being. And then there will be a dawn after this sunset.

Though that "allowing the snake to raise its head" thing should be done carefully, so that you'd still be alive when the opportunity to crush that head arises.

The saddest thing about this is that the Europeans and especially the Germans should really know better. But no, all the lessons from our dark history seem to have been forgotten - or they are simply ignored so that one can once again live in the comfortable world of simple explanations where there is always some minority to blame.

It's not surprising though, the EU has been wanting to become the United States of Europe for a long time...

Ok but the AfD is literally just modern Nazis.

Calling people who voted for them stupidity is the extremely charitable label, because malicious and vile would be more accurate in that case.

Comparing Italy and Germany here just isn't equivalent.

What I mean is that the right-wing parties in Germany have focused their entire election campaign on the issue of migration - even the moderate conservatives (CDU). I think this one-sided explanatory approach is wrong and dangerous. On the one hand, I think it is a case of problem shifting. Important issues such as economic and energy policy or climate protection take a back seat to this one, disproportionately presented issue. On the other hand, I think that the isolationist policy advocated by the extreme right (in Germany, the AfD) is an outdated approach, as it does not solve the problem of illegal migration, but merely creates a counterproductive negative mindset towards immigration. And this is precisely what I consider to be very problematic: due to demographic developments, Germany urgently needs workers from abroad - not only, but especially in so-called low-skilled jobs such as nursing. This fact is being completely overlooked in the political debate, which in this country is characterized by xenophobic and even openly racist rhetoric. In short, I believe that the focus of right-wing parties on migration policy is nothing but empty polemics that is based on attributing blame instead of constructive proposals for solutions - we have other problems that need to be solved. I assume that the situation is similar in other European countries.

Only problem is the fascists are smarter this time and are pushing everywhere, so this time might not have nation states on the good side.

Putting that way is stupid. Yeah, maybe what you call fascist this time are smarter but on the other hand what should oppose them is dumber.

Why are you repeating that fascist "strong men create good times" bullshit?

there is good hint of xenophobia in your comment
you probably need to meet some people foreign of your country and learn they are humans just like you

It will also allow us to sped less money supporting people here, and do much more for them in their own home countries.

tax rich people/companies
these are taking your money away for a good cause for everyone

I don't understand how anyone can think that migration policy is the EU's main problem. And I really don't get why someone should vote for a party that does not share their own convictions because of EU migration policy.

Pull effects aren't real. Help eradicating the reasons why the people are fleeing in the first place if you want less refugees.

Not as if the EU would want that, though. There's continents to exploit and money to be made, after all.

Restricting the right of asylum will severely cut back on the human trafficing organization’s proftis and reduce the ammount of death and injury in a dangerous ocean crossing.

Prohibition creates black markets. Restrict asylum and you'll increase human trafficking.

Voting doesn't really matter, though.

Edit, clarification: at least compared to bottom-up social movements.

surpassing liberal democracy is a good thing. I disagree with the free society bit. What definition of "free society" are you referring to?

I'd argue that a progressive country like Denmark with its universal healthcare and universally available college-level education is substantially more free than a freedom-touting country like the United States that limits access to these basics to those with substantial resources.

Just to make things clear, the pirate party isn't directly related to piracy. There are ongoing efforts to render end-to-end encryption illegal in Europe as we speak. Dark times are coming

Technically... maybe. Here's a calculator, EPP+ECR+ID+a chunk of the non-attached and non-assigned might make it over the 50% mark, and then there's renew which has neoliberals in it.

But that's not coalition material as the EPP is not eurosceptic, also, that coalition would reach so far right that a good chunk of the EPP would definitely not be on board with it. The populists might also be opposed on reasons of preferring stoking anti-Brussels sentiment over surveillance, and there's plenty of opportunity for rifts, like the RN saying "The AfD is in favour so we're opposed".

Do note than in the EP factions have fuck all when it comes to faction discipline. There's no whip, all there is is plenty of negotiating.

At least voters who don't turn up are harmless. If all the people who voted for EPP-affiliated parties just didn't turn up instead, we'd face far fewer problems.

Mass propaganda and some reeeeeaaaaalllly stupid people.

The parties in power are failing to address the problems ordinary people are facing. Problems like the excessive immigration of people from Asian countries, the insane housing prices, rising cost of living etc. People are looking for alternatives.

These extremists know exactly what the problems are and how to talk about them. They also know better to meet people where they are, like on social media. To most people who are ignorant of politics, these parties seem to solve all their problems.

And let's be real, half the population is below average intelligence. Way too many people don't realize or even worse, don't care, about what these parties are really about.

Pretty much the same propaganda "package" is being used all over the world.

Governments work hard and spend billions of public money to try to stay in power, they spend these in modern and technological warfare too.

The rothschilds

Better a lousy president than a fascist, hell, boring politicians is what we should aim for!

Vote your conscience while you can. I'm pretty much stuck voting for slightly left of center candidates (in the US) because the opposition is to the right of Kim Jong Un depending on the issue.

You should be able to vote for both.. 😮‍💨

Wait, am I missing something here? Are there countries where you don't have all options on the ballot, or at least an empty space?

Edit: Saw your explanation in another comment. Wouldn't having to bring your own ballot also invalidate voting secrecy, since bringing your own indicates that you most likely intent to vote for an unlisted party (and, in reverse, anyone using the regular ballot voting for a party that's listed)?

And I was right to; pirate party got less than 1% of votes, also due to the fact they couldn't afford to have their voting paper in most places.