Hoo boy, where do I start. I guess Im just getting a little tired of those words being tossed around indiscriminately, its getting a little old. Maybe Susan Powter is gonna come out with some "stop the xenophobia!!!" self help videotapes sometime soon.
Some of the people tossing those terms around a little too much are starting to sound like charter members of DU.
Remember they like their capitalism too, but only in moderation. They only do it on weekends.
The issues of xenophobia under every bedside table were raised initially by some of the harder left socialist parties when they faced defeat at the polls. It did not begin with the immigration issue. Its a "vote for us" or else issue.
Remember these are the same people that called Berlusconi in Italy - probably the biggest pro-business reformer on the block a Fascist. Im not sure if he's going to either nationalize the banks or make the trains run on time anytime soon. He'd probably privatize them first.
As a standalone issue, isolationism only became an issue when opposition to EU economic policies like trade tariff's began to be raised. Immigration became an issue because it has been part an ongoing part of the political strategy the socialist oriented parties have used to keep them in power and increase dependence on social services and the role of the state. In Denmark for example, The ruling Social Democrats even stated publicly they fear that they may, "lose power if immigrants start heading for Sweden instead of Denmark."
It gives the establishment left a more stable foothold and less likely to be voted out, and it provides for a useful tool to silence any dissent of the establishment on the grounds that any detractors are alarmists. Its about the establishment left keeping and holding its power, even if their policies are failing miserably.
I see far more of a surging threat from the far left in Europe than the far right. As exhibited in the recent assasinations of Pim Fortuyn and Italy's newly elected labor minister. Both assasinated by far left extremists.
The mainstream left parties then get to shrug off accusations of promoting violence to stay in power since it was done by "radicals" and play out the tired old cliche's of a center right wing bogeyman coming to a ballot box sometime in the near future.