Written by Noah Carl.
Many rightists concerned about mass immigration seem to be labouring under the delusion that the way to solve the issue is by getting “our guys” into power. Elect the right man – a Trump, a Farage, an Orbán – and things will start falling into place. If we could just piece together an electoral coalition broad enough to win 51% of the vote (or seats), then finally the matter could be dealt with. It should be obvious, however, that this view is completely naive and mistaken.
The problem is that in democracies, governments have a habit of changing hands. Even good ones get voted out. “Your guys” can do everything right and then get blamed for a financial crisis caused by entirely unforeseeable events on the other side of the world. Sooner or later, “the other guys” will be voted back in. And when they are, there’s nothing to stop them reversing everything “your guys” did. Asylum policies can be tweaked; settlement rules can be modified; even treaties can be re-signed. It only takes one election to be right back where you were before.
