Mediaboss Marketing

However, its not just hopelessness that worries Alison. Her son has become a political extremist. The first signs were a few sexist comments. Then the anti-migrant rhetoric, the racism, the homophobia. Today, hes praising Donald Trump and following the far-right ghouls stalking British Twitter.

Alisons son is a case study in why todays youth are moving towards the far right. The success of far right extremists in the European elections was helped considerably by the youth vote. Commentators blame TikTok propaganda, Covid desocialising the young, or the Ukraine conflict spooking kids that theyll one day have to fight a European war.

Thats just window-dressing. The young are moving to the far right for the same reasons as Alisons son: the political status quo in the West has failed them.

Todays young are the first generation to see living standards fall in comparison to their parents. Our children will not have better lives than us, and they know it.

If democracy has failed you, why vote for it any more? Its that brutally simple. Why be surprised at kids abandoning this failed settlement and seeking answers in strongmen and authoritarians?

Fascists and extremists offer scapegoats for the hopeless. Blame foreigners, blame minorities - blame anybody but your tribe.

Whats happening should scare us. Allegiance to the far right has traditionally been the reserve of angry, older men. However, now that the young are shifting to the extremes, were facing a demographic time bomb. If the young are embracing the far right now, what will their views be like when they hit middle age?

Statistics from the European elections should make us tremble. Were entering a new era of the far-right and much of the success of extremists is down to the young. In Spain, 22% of voters aged 18-24 say they back far-right parties like Vox.

READ MORE BY NEIL MACKAY

SNP risks fuelling far right with failure to tackle housing crisis

Scottish asylum hotels are a gift for the far right

How the town of Erskine became a far-right flashpoint

In Germany, the far right AfD polled 16% among those aged 16-24, and 18% for those aged 25-34. By comparison, only 8% of those aged 70 and older gave the far right their vote. When not excusing Hitlers SS, the AfD ruthlessly targets the young.

In France, Marine Le Pens National Rally is the most popular party for those aged 18-34. Opinion polls show NR on 32% among the young - far ahead of its nearest rival.

So much for the notion that every kid is woke. Rather, the kids are alt-right.

Le Pen is particularly savvy in messaging aimed at the young, promising to eliminate taxes for anyone under-30, and offering financial assistance and better housing to students. She made 28-year-old Jordan Bardella party president.

In Belgium, Portugal and Finland younger voters back the far right in numbers that either equal or exceed older voters. In the Netherlands, Geert Wilders far right party won the 2023 election by linking lack of housing for young people to immigration.

It is long past time for the parties of the centre left and centre right to wake up. The failed status quo they offer is driving the young into the arms of extremists.

The far right bends the knee to Russia. Picture a world in which Trump is in the White House, and the far right in power across much of Europe. The result? Ukraine defeated, democracy cowed, Europes eastern border imperilled.

To halt the flight of the young to the far right, we must fix the economy. The young need hope. They need to know democracy works for them. The success of democracy is contingent upon the success of the economy. If the young dont believe theyve an economic future under democracy theyll shift to the extremes.

We can blame the young all we want. Call them stupid, say theyre disgusting, throw around whatever epithets and theories we wish. But the fundamental reasons for the rise of far right youth is us: their parents and grandparents.

We allowed this system to take root, we saw it going wrong and did nothing to change it. We voted in the same failed politicians who let it all stagnate. Build a swamp, and people will act like they live in a swamp.

Theres some hope. In nations where the far right and populists have tasted power - like Italy and Poland - the young have shifted away from the extremes. In other words, once kids get a taste of what theyve been fool enough to vote for, buyers remorse kicks in.

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen with Jordan Bardella, president of the National Rally, after last weekends EU elections (Image: PA)

In Britain and America, the young havent been captured by right-wing extremists as they have in Europe. Why? Because Trumps Maga movement and Nigel Farages Reform havent got the brains to cut through with the young.

We should thank our lucky stars theyre too busy blaming the young and mocking them as snowflakes. When they start reaching out to them, matters might become more troubling.

For those clutching their pearls about Reform being referred to as "extremist", read the report in Tuesdays Times outlining how one in 10 Reform candidates are "friends"on Facebook with Gary Raikes, the former BNP organiser, who founded the New British Union.

NBU activists call themselves "Blackshirts"; the party wants a "fascist revolution", and sees democracy as an "obstruction"which needs replaced with dictatorship. One Reform candidate said Britain should have been neutral and not fought the Nazis.

If my friends son could afford to rent a flat, and be given some hope that one day hed get a job which matched his talents, then I know for sure that the anger which is tipping him to the extremes would fade and hed become the same decent democratic citizen as his mum and dad.

But while we live in a society controlled by politicians who couldnt care less about his life, how can I blame this boy for what hes become?

Follow this link:
The kids are alt-right: why todays youth are embracing extremism - HeraldScotland