Germany's far-right AfD maintaining its lead in the polls
Germany's far-right AfD maintaining its lead in the polls
Germany's far-right AfD maintaining its lead in the polls
It's really unbelievable how stupid people are. I mean, if the inhuman ideology of these damn Nazis isn't enough to put you off, then at least one look at the States should be enough to make you realize how incompetent and corrupt they are.
Something that comes out after guys like Trump have been in power is the voter regret. When asked why they voted for him they usually say the same 2 things: Either he was the only one talking about stuff the voter cared about, or they figured he would “shake things up” and/or change things. Note in that last part, the voter doesn’t really care what’s going to change or how it will happen, they’re just sick of the status quo.
All of this is to say that yes people are stupid, but that also holds true the politicians who’ve been pedaling the status quo, or minimal change, for generations and ignoring the growing anger of people who’ll eventually vote for craziness in the name of “change.”
they figured he would “shake things up” and/or change things.
Well, sure, but in this case it's like getting annoyed at the soup always being too salty at the cafeteria, and switching to cat diarrhea instead... Sure, it does "shake things up" and it may even be less salty, but come on...
There is usually also a general lack of education and awareness involved how much worse things can get.
Also center left parties deliver right wing policy, demotivating their voter base
Here's my problem with the latter. "Shaking things up" can only be the better option when things are completely in the shit. Like nothing is ever going to change, ever. But some voters (especially rural, low-information voters) seem to think it's always the best idea - that no matter what, the person who "shakes things up" is better than a more measured candidate who seems to have ideas, even if they're not great. It's infuriating and I can't give them a pass anymore.
They don't give a shit about shaking things up. They care about hate.
It's really easy to put it that easily, but frankly that's also how you get fascism. Stop looking for easy answers. Some people are that hateful, but some people are also that stupid.
People are stupid. But when history is taught without a perspective of historical materialism they are so often unequipped (even if educated) to understand the incentives of these types of white supremacists (German supremacy).
Fascist can lie and hide behind liberal ideas. Fooling liberals unequipped to recognize them. So AFD can shout "Germany for Germans" and they still won't realize what it means. They see themselves as "German". But we all know that definition narrows more and more as fascist take power.
We want change! Usually the only options are neoliberalism, which has failed us completely, or that new shiny fascism which allows us to vent our anger at minorities. We honestly should start building communes while we still have a bit of freedom.
In my experience people like that don't read international news at all. They only read a highly editorialized view of national news too (e.g. BILD and similar "news"papers or the equivalents online).
It's not stupidity. It's desperation.
It's very much an easy/west split in Germany, and the fact is the east is still feeling the effects of soviet control. What works for the richer west is not working in the same way in the east because the problems are different.
When you're hurting, more of the same isn't a rational option.
Aka killing the golden goose to get more eggs.
However, the AfD pursues a largely neoliberal economic policy and will therefore not do anything for the socially disadvantaged or for East Germany. But this fact is effectively disguised by the constant slogans "Foreigners are taking jobs away from Germans" and similar nonsense.
In this respect too, the AfD is quite similar to the MAGA people and, strangely enough, both are especially popular with the socially disadvantaged who vote against their own interests.
A lot of the AfD members in the east are also not originally from the east.
Yes, the leader of the AfD parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Alice Weidel, doesn't even live in Germany, but in Switzerland.
Do you know where they're coming from? I'm very interested in how this recent wave of populism came to be, and from what I understand eastern (formerly Eastern) Germany has always been more rural and conservative, and it only got worse with the Iron Curtain.
Agreed, but the depth of most people's political analysis is "they scare the people currently in power", and that's enough.