And Again...

I keep seeing reports all over the internet that the turn-out so far for the Euro elections has been pretty poor. This doesn't surprise me, but I had still hoped, perhaps naively, that enough of the less wrongheaded living among us might've been mobilised to try and make a difference.

It isn't too late, though.

We in the UK can't influence the way the rest of Europe votes, but we can decide who we choose to represent us in the European parliament. Staying away from the polls might not be just as good as putting that X right there by your friendly local racist's name, but it puts the pencil to the page, ready for someone to make the first mark.

If Europe's far right parties do as well out of this election as they hope, then we'll be taking a step into the darkness.

Could fascism become as powerful a force on the world stage today as it did back in the 1930s? Maybe not as quickly, not with the natural checks and balances provided nowadays by the internet and 24-hour rolling news. In fact, it'd be impossible for a first-world, ostensibly democratic government to even begin the slide down that route without enough people knowing about it to make a big fucking noise, all over the world, in minutes.

But what if they took their time, played the long game, and subtly gained the acquiescence of the majority? I'm reminded of an episode of The Simpsons where Marge, watching the TV, says, "Fox turned into a hardcore porn channel so gradually, I didn't even notice." It's a tactic that can work wonders for anyone who has the patience, and it's worked so far for the BNP, which, towards the tail end of the '90s, was still very much a party of bogeymen. Now, at the end of the first decade of the 21st century, it's poised for election to the European parliament.

And we haven't even noticed.

Am I being melodramatic? I probably am, and I hope so. But bear this in mind: 1930s Berlin was not a backwoods wasteland. It wasn't a medieval village populated by inbred dimwits. It was a modern city, a hotbed of intellectual debate, passionate activism, and above all, fraying tempers. A lot of people saw what was coming, and either turned their heads or found themselves being shouted down, or worse. 1933 really wasn't that long ago, but we have very short memories.

I posted this at 8pm. The polling stations are open for another two hours. If you haven't made your way down there today, GO NOW.