Ahead of the European election, striking data shows where Gen Z and millennials’ allegiances lie.

Far-right parties are surging across Europe — and young voters are buying in.

Many parties with anti-immigrant agendas are even seeing support from first-time young voters in the upcoming June 6-9 European Parliament election.

In Belgium, France, Portugal, Germany and Finland, younger voters are backing anti-immigration and anti-establishment parties in numbers equal to and even exceeding older voters, analyses of recent elections and research of young people’s political preferences suggest.

In the Netherlands, Geert Wilders’ anti-immigration far-right Freedom Party won the 2023 election on a campaign that tied affordable housing to restrictions on immigration — a focus that struck a chord with young voters. In Portugal, too, the far-right party Chega, which means “enough” in Portuguese, drew on young people’s frustration with the housing crisis, among other quality-of-life concerns.

The analysis also points to a split: While young women often reported support for the Greens and other left-leaning parties, anti-migration parties did particularly well among young men. (Though there are some exceptions. See France, below, for example.)

  • Noedel@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    I’m not surprised by the male/female gap. The past decade, young men have been told that white men are the worst thing to be. The left has not provided any role models for young men.

    The right has many.

    • Socsa@sh.itjust.works
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      5 months ago

      As a white dude I don’t feel like this at all. There are plenty of outspoken progressive men all over popular media, and at every level of society. It only feels this way because progressive messaging asks men to do a lot more soul searching, while conservative messaging is effectively information warfare designed to validate low effort biases and reinforce historical power structures.

      • TubularTittyFrog@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        progressive messaging sucks, that’s why. it says ‘go to therapy and be content with what little you have’

        conservative messaging says ‘do this shit and you’ll get money and women’

        • Drusas@kbin.run
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          5 months ago

          “be content with what little you have” is conservative messaging, not progressive.

      • Drewelite@lemmynsfw.com
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        5 months ago

        Most of the progressive role models I see for straight white men focus on uplifting minorities and the disenfranchised. When it’s not done to white knight or virtue signal, that’s awesome. But it misses a crucial part of what a role model should be. Someone who understands your struggles and promotes self love and empathy. And encourages you to stick up for yourself. Secure your mask before helping others.

        But when these men talk about their struggles they’re branded as incels. If they say they’re proud of their heritage they’re branded as racist. If they try and do something about injustices they face they’re branded conservatives.

        • Socsa@sh.itjust.works
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          5 months ago

          I don’t understand why you believe these messages about securing your own mask need to come from white men. What you are describing are universal issues of mental health and self esteem which have nothing to do with race or gender.

          The fact that you immediately go to white knights and virtue signalling says a lot. Building an inclusive society isn’t a matter of charity, it makes us all stronger. When you exclude people, they will not help you. This is so fucking simple, children understand it.

          • Drewelite@lemmynsfw.com
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            5 months ago

            Yes. Was I unclear about something? I never said it NEEDED to come from white men. But it should also come from white men.

    • cassie 🐺@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      5 months ago

      young men have been told that white men are the worst thing to be.

      Ok, but try not being a man and see if people think that’s any better…

    • aesthelete@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      The right has many.

      LOL…the right has one. As someone who is relatively a-political, I perceive much more pressure to “be a manly man” (whatever the fuck that is…I guess DRIVE TRUCK, EAT MEAT, FOOT EVERY BALL, LIFT EVERY WEIGHT, JESUS, NO MASK! NO VACCINE! and PUFF OUT CHEST) than I do to “not be a white man” but I guess I don’t spend all day in my basement worrying about what people with anime profile pictures are posting on Xitter, nor watch the big, angry puffed chest man underground truth news featuring screamy mc redface rant about it nightly…so I’m not as black pilled as you are.

      • Noedel@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        The right has a fuckload, Jordan Peterson to Tate, Joe Rogan and Ben Shapiro and those are probably just the ones I’ve seen on the right as a lefty.

        I could name a single left wing person that’s trying to teach men how to be good humans. Because as you said, men also suffer under the patriarchy.

        • aesthelete@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          Dude, a wide variety of entertainers and lots of other wildly successful people are loosely affiliated with the left.

          They’re just too busy doing other stuff instead of screaming into a camera and uploading it on YouTube.

          The people you listed aren’t even role models. They’re talking heads. They’re pundits. “The left” depending upon how you define “the left” has those too.

          I must admit though that I misread the post I originally replied to. I thought he was talking about how “the right” has many archetypes or blueprints or something for being a man. It doesn’t. It has one stereotype and it wants everyone to be that. However, that’s a different discussion entirely so my apologies.

          • Noedel@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            They’re just too busy doing other stuff instead of screaming into a camera and uploading it on YouTube.

            That’s exactly the problem I’m trying to highlight

    • drunkpostdisaster@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      As a white dude I sometimes think our suicide rate is a good thing. The left will never reach out and the other side are fascists. White men is what people think of in the alt right, they own us no mater how we vote.

        • drunkpostdisaster@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          How else would you describe it? because part of the problem is that it is absolutely true that white men gave us Trump so hatred to us is kind of justified. Hell, i grew up in a hick town and I have seen how hopeless it is for change in those groups its almost inherent. And all though they are way more reasonable then conservatives liberals still want to ignore that women and minorities vote republican too, in fact two of the most talked about GOP candidates in the primary was a woman and the son of an Indian immigrant. which is a problem, but its still nothing compared to the views of most republicans who think school shootings happen because some dude in a dress read a book to some kids. So yeah, suicide is easier.

          • ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca
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            5 months ago

            Don’t you view some trouble in writing out

            white men gave us Trump so hatred to us is kind of justified

            Followed by

            liberals still want to ignore that women and minorities vote republican too

            So yeah, suicide is easier.

            Clearly it’s not going to change the outcome, just those who get to play

            • drunkpostdisaster@lemmy.world
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              5 months ago

              I am talking about numbers though. If white men did not vote we would never see another GOP president. Becuase yeah women and minorities vote for them too, but its still a vast majority of white men.

              • ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca
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                5 months ago

                You would have non-white conservatives running the GOP

                Like those two you just mentioned

                Substitute the token minority that they target for someone else if you want but it doesn’t make anything better

                We can replace Christian nationalism with Hindu nationalism

                Canada’s Conservative Party has promised mass immigration from India/fast tracking any that want to come here because they know they will vote for them. The same would happen with Republicans

                Meanwhile our Liberal Party gets booed when they go to mosques because they are pro-gay. We had nationwide protests against gay/trans last summer organized by mosques. Even though the majority participating were your rural white people just because of our demographics

                • drunkpostdisaster@lemmy.world
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                  5 months ago

                  Thats why I said it sometimes felt reasonable. But it also feels like I am making a straw man argument in my mind when I think about it so its hard to talk about. And I just don’t see how we can turn that trend around anyway.

                  And honestly, I think liberal circles have what I see as hidden fascists would love to turn progressivism into a new religion and use it to justify some fucked up shit. But for the sake of solidarity we just have to accept them because at least they might care about the planet and are willing to let gay people marry and don’t believe in literal magic.

                  But social media is filled with so many bots and news sites are written by AI now that I don’t even know what’s true anymore, so maybe fascism will win no mater what we do and the entire thing is pointless.

                  • ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca
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                    5 months ago

                    But for the sake of solidarity we just have to accept them because at least they might care about the planet and are willing to let gay people marry and don’t believe in literal magic.

                    Well, usually at least one of the three

                    so maybe fascism will win no mater what we do and the entire thing is pointless.

                    Life is always pointless, just have fun with it

                    If you don’t want to live in a fascist world then yeah there’s suicide but that just makes it harder for others to not live in it. If you really don’t want a fascist world for yourself then do what you can to allow others to experience a non-fascist world for as long as you can