European Greens Are Growing Up

Europe's Once Fringe Green Political Movement is Now in Position to Lead the Continent Forward.

Europe's Green Parties are having the Best kind of Midlife Crisis. Born in the Radical Counterculture of the 1970s, their movement is entering not only middle age but also the Hallways of Power. Having grown Big, the Greens must now Grow Up.

The Greens owe their recent Surge partly to the Greta Wave, the New Zeitgeist of Climate Consciousness inspired by Activist Greta Thunberg. But they also Benefit from a Reaction by Urban, Educates Europeans against the Rise of Populist Parties. Increasingly, European against the Rise of Populist Parties. Increasingly, European Union Voters are Leaving the Traditional Big-Tent Blocs for the Relative Clarity of the Poles: Populists demanding Closed Societies or Greens Defending Openness.

In Austria, the Greens could soon Replace the Far Right as Junior Partners in a National Government. In Germany, they've been Rising in the Polls since 2017 and are becoming Strong Runners-Up to the Prevailing Center-Right Bloc. They're already Partners in a Majority of State Governments.

The Current Greening of Europe is the Movement's Second Run at Power. Starting in the 1990s, Green Parties were at Various times part of Governments in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Ireland, and Germany. Latvia in 2004 even briefly had a Green Prime Minister. But those were Different Times and Different Greens. The Parties hadn't yet resolved their Internal Confusion. Did they want to be, in the German jargon, Radical Fundis or Pragmatic Realos?

Many of the EU's Green Parties started out as Collections of Warring Fundi Cliques devoted to Causes such as: Ending Nuclear Power, Pacifism, Recycling, Sexual Liberation, or Veganism. They could afford these Eccentricities because they didn't really expect to Carry Political Responsibility.

Times have Changed. These days the Biggest Challenge is to bring the Planet's Ecological and Economic Destinies into Harmony. The Greens have always, at least Rhetorically, cared about the former, while showing Distrust of Markets. Growing Up means Overcoming that False Dichotomy. Instead of Bad-Mouthing Business, it makes better sense to put a Price on Carbon and let Markets Adjust to it.

In this context, the most Encouraging Place in Europe may be Baden-Wuerttemberg, one of Germany's Richest and most Successful States. For 58 years, it was Ruled by Conservatives, for the Past Eight, the Greens have been in Charge. Its Premier, Winfried Kretschmann, entered Political Life in the 1970s as part of a Marxist-Leninist Student Group. Today, he Hop-Nobs with Citizens, Entrepreneurs, and Bosses, Loves Bicycles and Mercedes, and wants people to make Money, but without Polluting. His Greens have brought Together their State's Car Industry with Universities, Unions, and Laboratories, so that together they can make Cars Not only Fancy but also Electric.

This is the Direction Europe's Greens should take. Liberal Parties haven't Risen to this Challenge and are Leaving a Void in the Political Spectrum. The Greens should Fill It.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker