Governor Jerry Brown made California the fourth state in the US on Monday to allow physician assisted dying. Yes, only the fourth, and it's disappointing that the numbers (or the lack of) overshadow the real achievement. Everyone has the right to live, and everyone should have the right to die. Of course life is sacred, but the opponents of this law must not seriously think that California's true intentions are to have a genocide. They simply just want to help those people who have no hope of a cure, and are suffering. That's it, there is no story here, Everyone is allowed to make their decisions about their life and body. If you can go and get an abortion from a professional, you should also be able to go to your doctor to die. They are there to help you and to lessen your pain. In any way possible. Of course we support that background checks must take place, and several doctors (including psychologists) should sign off before you are allowed to die. You sho...
Migrant crisis in the Mediterranean. Refugees streaming in from Syria and Iraq. Eastern European workers in the Western member states.
These are the forms of Immigration that are currently transforming the political landscape of the EU.
The National Front is rising in France, UKIP in the UK, Jobbik in Hungary, Lega Nord in Italy and the Freedom Party in Holland. Brussels is stuck, and there doesn't seem to be a right way out of this mess for them.
Every week, thousands of Africans are rescued from the Mediterranean Sea, as their little, and unsafe boats capsize and face imminent death. The Europeans are trying to rescue them out of their goodwill and human compassion, but they just generate more problems for them. Italy can't handle tens of thousands of immigrants each month, and the EU has no facilities either. These migrants are living in horrible conditions, and there is no hope for them.
Similarly, thousands of illegal immigrants are trying to enter the borders of the EU, in Hungary and Croatia. They are mostly running away from wars in Syria and Iraq, or from a hopelessly poor life from the Balkans. These countries can't handle it either, and the social effect is spiraling out of control.
So it is no surprise that the support for parties who are anti-immigrant have soared in recent months and years. UKIP won 13% in last month's General Election, and National Front won last year's European Parliament elections in France. David Cameron and Francois Hollande are facing tough competition in their local politics, and as a result had to step up their immigration policies and thus have changed the traditional stance on the issue in their respective countries.
Jobbik and Hungary are a bit different. Jobbik are rising in the polls, and have now become the main opposition to the Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who was recently referred to as a 'dictator' by Euroepan Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. Orbán himself became very anti-immigrant lately, but according to the EU he is more like a racist authoritarian ruler. The Government have recently put up various anti-immigrant posters around the country, which have been unanimously criticized by the public.
Italy, who is perhaps facing the biggest wave of immigrants, has seen a sharp rise in the polls for Lega Nord, which is very anti-immigrant. Croatia, Austria, Switzerland and Holland have experienced similar results lately, and Germany may not be far behind either. Local politics around the continent is being drastically changed due to immigrants. So what can these countries do?
Well, wait for the EU. But the EU has no cure yet. So far they could only agree on the fact that the Mediterranean migrants must be rescued, and that countries should grant asylum to the migrants who are fleeing war and economic trouble.
But most countries had enough, and are refusing to accept more foreigners. The UK, Hungary and Italy are leading the efforts to change the EU's official stance on the matter. The EU has no permanent solution, and this is going to be a major burden and a possible humanitarian crisis.
But Immigration is not only happening from outside the EU borders. Millions of Romanians, Bulgarians and Poles have been moving to richer, Western European countries for jobs. While they do work and contribute to the societies, they have caused a huge burden to the welfare systems, and have led to the rise in popularity for parties such as UKIP. The rise of UKIP and SNP, the two nationalist parties in the UK have completely changed the political landscape in the country. A new era for politics has begun, and Immigration is leading the change.
It is hard to predict what will happen, one can only hope that a repeat of 1930's Germany will be avoided, and that the legislators will come up with some sort of a solution to this immigration crisis that is heavily changing the face of Europe.
Appeared simultaneously on The Moderate (www.themodcon.com) on 10th June 2015.
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