Germany's far right

[bugsyblue]

Isn’t this the natural response to the negative realities of globalization and the economic depression that swept the world in the late Noughts?

The question is, will it gain critical mass in a western country of international importance, and if so, what policies will emanate from that power?

In America, we appear to think the checks and balances will take care of anything to ends up going a bit too far, but the Tea-publicans seem to be turning a blind eye to almost every aspect of its ugliness so far. Not encouraging, but then boiling the frog has never turned out well for the frog, even though he doesn’t know it until it is far too late!

One can only hope that the rise in nationalism is respected for what it is, policies are enacted to quell, if not quash it, and that more meaningful, humane and long term policies help make it crawl back from whence it came. If not, and it is given short shrift, then we are in for a bumpy 21st century!

This nonchalant statement is why the world is so dangerous now. Fascism is NOT a natural response to anything.

 

[mat]

 

[PinkFinal]

The anti-immigration Alternative für Deutschland party made strong gains in two crucial state elections in Germany on Sunday, increasing its support significantly but failing to oust the mainstream parties.

AfD came in second to the leading parties in both states – the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Saxony and the Social Democrats (SPD) in Brandenburg – despite predictions that it might return the strongest result. But the results nevertheless mark a sharp shift to the right in both states.

According to initial exit polls, in Saxony AfD achieved 27.5% – a staggering gain of almost 18 points and way beyond any predictions. In Brandenburg it secured 22.5%, a rise of 10.3 points, and also a larger share of the vote than pollsters had predicted.

The CDU, which has governed in Saxony for the past three decades, was down 7.4 points to 32%, and the SPD, which has also dominated the political landscape in Brandenburg for years, lost 4.4 points there, achieving 27.5%.

The AfD’s success in Saxony and Brandenburg, both in the former East Germany, reflects the breakdown of support for the mainstream parties, the CDU of Angela Merkel and the left-of-centre SPD, and as elsewhere in Europe, the increasing fragmentation of the political landscape.

More than 5 million people were eligible to vote, representing around a tenth of the population.

Turnout was significantly higher than in 2014, the last elections in the states. Sunday’s elections were billed as the AfD’s first real electoral test in the region since it entered the national parliament as the leading opposition party two years ago. Formed in 2013 as an anti-euro party, its strength has grown on the back of its opposition to the arrival in Germany of almost 1 million refugees in 2015.

It campaigned in Saxony and Brandenburg under the slogan Vollende die Wende, or “completion of the transition” – promising to rectify the mistakes of the mainstream parties after German reunification almost three decades ago and to address the inequalities between the former east and west.

The Green party was celebrating gains in both states, of 3.3 points in Saxony and 3.8 points in Brandenburg, though it did not perform as strongly as had been predicted.

 

[ChicagoBlue]

This nonchalant statement is why the world is so dangerous now. Fascism is NOT a natural response to anything.

So, why does it appear to be a repeated response?

I’m not intellectualizing whether it should be, only stating that bad actors move into the space it creates and foment the weak.

This repeatedly happens, and recently. Not everyone is leadership material, but when the weak hear their (usually barely hidden) prejudices upheld and strengthened, they’re like moths to a flame.

There is a brilliant, prophetic cartoon that shows a Trump like matchstick at a podium, where the trademark yellow hair is a big flame. The audience, which stretches into the distance, is compromised solely of cartoonish round bombs with their wicks all waiting to be ignited by the flame.

THAT is how it “works” and why I stated it is a “natural” response. The angry weak are constantly searching for the validation of a seeming strong man. It’s human history.

 

[BobKowalski]

AfD were aiming to become the largest party in their two East German stronghold regions so this will be disappointing. Voting share is slightly up on the 2017 Federal election. SDP will continue in Govt with their Linke partners and probably the Greens in Brandenburg. CDU will continue in Saxony.

Greens are weak in the East and whilst an increase in vote share is nice it’s nothing to write home about.

 

[Mazzarelli's Swiss Cheese]

It worries me more that anyone or anything further to the right than chukka umuna nowadays tends to get hystericaly labelled as the rebirth of 30s Germany. In doing so we run the risk of 'crying wolf' and perhaps missing the rise of real far right nut jobs. While I'm not advocating complacency there were a very peculiar set of circumstances around the rise of the weimar Republic, in many ways arising from the versailes treaty that do not exist today. Italy and Spain perhaps have a much more natural / recent tendency to the far right?

 

[hgblue]

AfD were aiming to become the largest party in their two East German stronghold regions so this will be disappointing. Voting share is slightly up on the 2017 Federal election. SDP will continue in Govt with their Linke partners and probably the Greens in Brandenburg. CDU will continue in Saxony.

Greens are weak in the East and whilst an increase in vote share is nice it’s nothing to write home about.

Bucket of sand incoming ;)

 

[BobKowalski]

It worries me more that anyone or anything further to the right than chukka umuna nowadays tends to get hystericaly labelled as the rebirth of 30s Germany. In doing so we run the risk of 'crying wolf' and perhaps missing the rise of real far right nut jobs. While I'm not advocating complacency there were a very peculiar set of circumstances around the rise of the weimar Republic, in many ways arising from the versailes treaty that do not exist today. Italy and Spain perhaps have a much more natural / recent tendency to the far right?

Would that be the Spain that has a Socialist Govt or the Italy that just had Salvini’s and his far right party removed from power? As compared to the ‘stable’ U.K. which has a right wing Govt in power and a far right party influencing a sizeable bloc of its MPs. Not to mention suspending Parliament and threatening to deselect MPs that vote against them - notwithstanding the fact that most of those now in Govt spent most of the last three years voting against it.

Bold take.

 

[Mazzarelli's Swiss Cheese]

Would that be the Spain that has a Socialist Govt or the Italy that just had Salvini’s and his far right party removed from power? As compared to the ‘stable’ U.K. which has a right wing Govt in power and a far right party influencing a sizeable bloc of its MPs. Not to mention suspending Parliament and threatening to deselect MPs that vote against them - notwithstanding the fact that most of those now in Govt spent most of the last three years voting against it.

Bold take.

All true if you only look at the very recent history of both. I'm not actually suggesting either are a problem, but that Germany has a strong enough centre /left post war tradition for the far right to remain nothing more than a tiny thuggish minority much like our own. Spain was not quite a facist state, but bore many of the trappings of such under Franco until 1975. Italy is a bit of a political basket case with strong far right and extreme left traditions. I personally think that despite the histrionics surrounding our own politics at present, the only genuine threat of far right elements gaining mainstream traction in Europe is within some of the former eastern bloc nations.

 

[PannickAtTheDisco]

Far Reich morelike