A new ethos
The citizens who voted for conservative parties in various European countries have expressed their disgust with the neo-liberal policies followed by socialist administrations, with the political and economic decisions that have led to an unfair redistribution of wealth, and which have caused a precipitous rise in unemployment, unsettling citizens’ feeling of security and undermining the nation-state in the name of, supposedly, universal ideals. In other words, the conservative parties in Europe and Greece are preferred by the less prosperous classes and, from now on, these parties will have to adopt a more sensitive social policy, and dismiss doctrines which preach a unique way of thought from which no one can diverge. Political reality, however, requires pragmatism, and the unchecked wave of immigration that was tolerated – not for humanitarian reasons, of course, but for the deregulation of Europe’s labor market – is expected to top the agenda at the coming EU summit in Seville. This is simply because the increase in the electoral power of the far right has made it clear that social norms are not headed in the direction assumed by Europe’s predominant political elite, and by the left in particular. Conservative voters are demanding a restructuring – at all levels, especially the social one – and not a continuation of this show of bad taste. They want to see a new ethos that will help overcome the current context of virtual reality…
