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European Union:
When it comes to politics, anything seems to be possible. America as a world power is always in the spotlight when it comes to elections or major changes. Europe has become a Union for the advantage of economical relations as well within as outside of the continent. Therefore, Europe also maintains a political system for the Union as well.
America has a black president. Yes. Who would have believed that decades ago? But it happened. Change seems inevitable and a must for society, in order to make progress. We all know that the first term of Barack Obama will be nothing but cleaning up the "mess" that was left behind from the past 8 years. Nonetheless, he has provided American citizens with some hope and a brighter outlook on the future.
Europe tends to often be seen by Americans as one big country... which it is not. The European Union definitely united the countries on this continent more, but they are still seperate countries, with seperate cultures, seperate languages and seperate governments. Aside from the European Parliament that makes decisions on a more general level, mostly economically. Let's not forget that not all countries who are part of the European continent are part of the European Union.
In June 2009 , the European Parliament elections took place. The outcome was dazzling. The votes from some of the biggest countries in Europe turned out to be in favor of the right-winged political parties. Amongst these countries (The UK, Germany, Austria, France) was The Netherlands, which hs been dealing with Geert Wilders and his outrageous behaviour; provoking people in order to get votes and expand his political party and views. All this being filed under his "freedom of speech". You may not be familiar with Wilders, but he has been mentioned in media worldwide when he released his movie "Fitna", which was his form of propaganda against the Islam.
On June 9th, 2010, the Dutch people had to go back to the voting booth after their government fell a few months ago. It was the second time within a few years that the ruling parties of the coalition didn't seem to agree anymore. The political system in The Netherlands hasn't seemed to work the way it should. And the outcome of the latest elections were again in favor of Wilders' party, the PVV (Party for Freedom). This means he probably will take a seat in government; even though a lot of people are not happy with this. It worries the Dutch citizens, because obviously a lot of people in their country did vote for Wilders.
Whereas the United States seems to be making slow progress government-wise, it seems that the countries in Europe are going backwards. In particular speaking of The Netherlands: the country used to be a "welfare state", where everyone took care of each other but now it's not even close to that concept anymore. Education is becoming a thing for the rich and even health care is becoming for the rich. The gap between rich and poor seems to be getting wider; not just in The Netherlands, but throughout Europe in general. And that's not even mentioning the issues of discrimination toward Islam and muslim community within Europe. Again, change is inevitable and necessary for societies to maintain themselves. But in this case, it just seems as though Europe may be going into the opposite direction from the US, with the changes that are taking place today.
For more information about the European Union visit www.europa.eu.
You can find more information on the PVV (Party for Freedom) and Geert Wilders here.
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