Dutch people want to go back to old times

[Umbrage]

News from your most favorite tiny country in Europe:

More than half of the Dutch people thinks that everything was better in the old days. We mostly think that society and politics functioned better in the past. There were also less social problems. The longing to return to the past mostly exists among the lower educated, Telegraaf readers, inhabitants of Limburg and PVV voters, according to the Social and Cultural Planning Agency (SCP).

The Dutch currently associate their country with social hardening, "me-culture", disrespectfulness, danger, a failing multicultural society and politicians who don't address the issues. The people feel powerless says the SCP.

People think they can't individually change the situation and they don't trust politicians and authorities to handle these problems. Notably, many Dutch people are very satisfied with their own individual lives, but they are dissatisfied with society.

http://www.powned.tv/nieuws/binnenland/2011/03/nlers_verlangen_terug_naar_vro.html

Not sure if this is an indication for the rest of Europe but it does speak volumes for the Netherlands. The Netherlands is renowned for being a progressive country but it seems regression might be an important thing for the future. Maybe Darkthrone will sell a couple more albums here too.

[Cargést]

I think there's a similar sentiment in England, though it's often drowned out by the overwhelming left-wing PC liberal press.  In my experience, f you talk to your average, non-chav "lower class" individual, you'll probably hear a lot about how the government sucks, the people on top (both politically and financially) either don't have a clue or are entirely self-serving, we shouldn't be part of the EU, and "my Dad didn't fight the Germans to see the country overrun by Eastern Europeans".

[Umbrage]

I think there's a similar sentiment in England, though it's often drowned out by the overwhelming left-wing PC liberal press.  In my experience, f you talk to your average, non-chav "lower class" individual, you'll probably hear a lot about how the government sucks, the people on top (both politically and financially) either don't have a clue or are entirely self-serving, we shouldn't be part of the EU, and "my Dad didn't fight the Germans to see the country overrun by Eastern Europeans".

The similarity I see in this is that it is the followers who want better leaders, but they are too insecure or caught up with their personal lives to become leaders themselves. Meanwhile the current leaders are still filling their pockets and securing their future careers by serving the corporations instead of the people. What worries is me is how quick the new leaders (for instance Wilders) fall flat on their face when they are given actual responsibility. Either they are corrupted by their new environment or they just fail to achieve their promises. This tells me it's not the leaders but the whole system that needs to be changed. Unfortunately the tight-knitted web of the EU is a big obstruction to actual change, the people are aware of this but the EU is just too big and complex for them to even properly criticize it. This leads to what we see now: people who know things are going wrong but don't even know who to blame for it anymore.

They should try blaming themselves but that's probably too much to ask, they have television shows to watch because they're tired from working all day. Hey they did their part for society, now society should take care of them. In a way they're right, but in a way they're also wrong. Actual change doesn't come from the top of society, it stems from the bottom when the people get truly restless (like in Egypt and Libya atm) until a new competent leader takes control again. After all we're talking about people who want their lives to be controlled by others. They're not going to do it themselves.

[E]

Actual change doesn't come from the top of society, it stems from the bottom when the people get truly restless (like in Egypt and Libya atm) until a new competent leader takes control again. After all we're talking about people who want their lives to be controlled by others. They're not going to do it themselves.

One can argue that after the Tunisia revolt, it was a 'monkey see,  monkey do'  type of deal in most affected countries. Otherwise, opportunities to succesfully rise up against decadent leaders aren't seen, let alone created, by lower class people.
Yes, they'll join in on the fun, and demand tastier bread, more extravagant circuses. That probably is also what the complaints of most Europeans boil down to, while we are on the verge of extinction :-)