2d ago

A far-right party is heading for its strongest result yet in Germany's election

apnews.com A far-right party is heading for its strongest result yet in Germany's election

Alternative for Germany appears to be heading for its strongest national election result yet this month and is fielding its first candidate to lead the country.

Summary

Alternative for Germany (AfD), a far-right party founded in 2013, is poised for its strongest national election result yet in Germany.

Initially focused on eurozone bailouts, AfD shifted its focus to migration, gaining significant support and entering parliament in 2017.

The party, now advocating for large-scale deportations and opposing support for Ukraine, has become a significant political force, particularly in eastern Germany, and is under observation for suspected right-wing extremism.

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O good, it's not just us in the US
- Canada also has a bunch of far right assholes who're currently leading in our polls. Luckily the US clusterfuck is making Canadians think twice about voting for them though and they're dropping in the polls
  Quick edit: it's hilarious because they have to court both the moderate conservatives who hate Trump and the far right who idolise him and they're fumbling both
  
  How does that even sound ? How would you defend and attack him at once?
- Wait…why would that be good?
  
  You've heard the saying "misery lives company?"
- Maybe we'll avert WW3, since every country is just going full Axis. World harmony achieved, I guess?
  
  If the axis won they would've ended up fighting amongst themselves. Their ideology requires scapegoats, and they will always find them. The ideology itself is counter to peace. We had 80 years of peace because we pushed it to the fringes, but now that it's resurging I feel like I'm surrounded by people who grew up in a different world with a different history.
  
  Or simply people who didn't learn actual history.
  
  Don't forget what eventually becomes necessary to retain domestic control.
  They're not liberals, they don't stomach the idea that the populace could choose something else if they prove themselves unable to deliver on their promises. Liberals get around this by embracing change, giving people the option to change the status quo if they wish. Even to the point of discarding liberalism itself.
  Authoritarians don't believe in that option though.
- The entire world including lots of Europe has been shifting significantly right despite what leftist US haters often say about the US left being a European right. That hasn't been true for a decade or more.
  
  Regarding important economic issues such as healthcare, welfare, taxes, consumer protection & industry regulation this is certainly the case.
  The part where the European right mainly differs from the US left is on more recent additions to leftist ideology - such as identity politics & intersectionalism.
  
  First, I find it kind of irritating when someone attributes opinions to an undefined "they". Was this a thing Bernie Sanders said? Was this something started in a press release by the DSA? If you're talking about Twitter, might as well say 'I heard from the propaganda machine...'
  I'm left as heck, and I'm very aware that countries are moving right all over the world. It seems to be especially driven by migration. And I think folks need an affirmative message besides either 'we're ignoring your concerns and letting folks in' or 'fine, we'll lock the gates and kill the migrants. Please like us.'
  
  It seems to be especially driven by migration.
  No, that's just the scapegoat. Neither the number of immigrants, nor the number of illegal immigrants, nor the crime rate among immigrants are especially high right now.
  All of these numbers are currently lower (in Germany) than 10, 20 or 30 years ago.
  
  I think maybe I was unclear. I believe that much of the shift rightward is because migrants are an ideal boogyman. They're a natural target for nationalists, and liberals are largely apathetic.
  As late stage capitalism, automation, and outsourcing create greater and greater economic precarity, the far right has a perfect opportunity to enter the mainstream by giving voice to two of the biggest unspoken concerns that many politically disengaged voters relate to but often feel pressured not to talk about.
  The fascists say, 'your life is worse! And your neighborhood has changed ethnically! And we have a whole explanation for all your problems that the people in charge are trying to suppress! Lol at how aggressively they try and prevent us from saying these things!'
  And the dominant liberal order can't say 'It's not what it looks like! The rich are actually just taking advantage of you, and those migrants are just the earliest victims of climate change and greed!'
  The truth is that migrants don't drive down wages: criminalizing migrants does. And given enough time, you could be a migrant too. That's the thing I'd like more folks to know.

75 comments