In any other situation I would ask what the hell you guys are doing over there, but as it stands we have pretty much exactly the same situation here in Sweden.
Pretty scary development honestly. Europe really does not need a populist far-right resurgence right now.
Kind reminder that somewhere around 75% of survey participants who’d vote AfD are West Germans… Simply because East Germany only has 14M / 83M inhabitants. Yes, AfD is more popular in the East, but people vote for them everywhere in Germany.
Sounds like the solution is simple - just split up Germany again, haha.
Well only half-joking, it worked out great for Czechia and Slovakia. Inequality of the regions was one of the main reasons for the split, similarly as you describe it. And funnily enough, Slovakia is also heading in the far-right/populist direction.
You said that 30% of the unemployed are radicalized rightwards. What do you propose to help deradicalize them? Complaining about them isn’t going to do it.
Edit: like, if there are openings in those companies, why are people choosing to stay unemployed and only migrants will take those jobs? Could it be that these are shit paying jobs or jobs with shit conditions? If we accept deradicalization as a desirable goal, we have to be serious about the cost of achieving it. Otherwise we are not holding deradicalization as a goal superior to the profits of local companies, in which case, well, what the fuck do you expect.
The Eastern Germans even complain about incomers from Berlin. And then they merrily vote for another right wing council that offers farmers far too much for land to be used for the construction of flats that are too expensive for locals.
Same here in Italy. We are ahead of the rest of Europe this time, due to having voted earlier last year. A word of warning: no matter how radical and extremist their claims are, once they take the seats in parliament they don’t change anything. Here they came to the paradox of abrogating some laws of the previous government and reintroduce the very same measure with a different name. Only rhetorics will change (and not entirely for the good, unfortunately).
Europe really does not need a populist far-right resurgence right now.
What could possibly go wrong?
Democracy is not a state but an ever-ongoing process that involves everyone.
When the demands on society become too great, whether economic or transformative, it becomes difficult.
Then the overburdened begin to follow the simpler/simplified narratives.
One could now argue that one could learn from history, but in an individualistic (or segregated) society, it is at least to some extent in the nature of the overburdened to not manage this.
If these people are not helped in time, things will get turbulent.
(And, in a bitter irony, often vote against their own long-term interests).
Thus, the greater the stress to which a society is exposed, the greater needs to be the solidarity of the “strong” with the “weak”.
Neoliberalism, however, pushes in the opposite direction.
In any other situation I would ask what the hell you guys are doing over there, but as it stands we have pretty much exactly the same situation here in Sweden.
Pretty scary development honestly. Europe really does not need a populist far-right resurgence right now.
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Kind reminder that somewhere around 75% of survey participants who’d vote AfD are West Germans… Simply because East Germany only has 14M / 83M inhabitants. Yes, AfD is more popular in the East, but people vote for them everywhere in Germany.
Sounds like the solution is simple - just split up Germany again, haha.
Well only half-joking, it worked out great for Czechia and Slovakia. Inequality of the regions was one of the main reasons for the split, similarly as you describe it. And funnily enough, Slovakia is also heading in the far-right/populist direction.
Hmmm, so some kind of job guarantee would really help deradicalize those unemployed AfD supporters?
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Votes for AfD and percentage of foreigners are actually completely opposite to each other.
The regions with the least amount of foreign people are voting them the most…
You said that 30% of the unemployed are radicalized rightwards. What do you propose to help deradicalize them? Complaining about them isn’t going to do it.
Edit: like, if there are openings in those companies, why are people choosing to stay unemployed and only migrants will take those jobs? Could it be that these are shit paying jobs or jobs with shit conditions? If we accept deradicalization as a desirable goal, we have to be serious about the cost of achieving it. Otherwise we are not holding deradicalization as a goal superior to the profits of local companies, in which case, well, what the fuck do you expect.
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That just moves the problem from radicalization to mental health.
The Eastern Germans even complain about incomers from Berlin. And then they merrily vote for another right wing council that offers farmers far too much for land to be used for the construction of flats that are too expensive for locals.
Same here in Italy. We are ahead of the rest of Europe this time, due to having voted earlier last year. A word of warning: no matter how radical and extremist their claims are, once they take the seats in parliament they don’t change anything. Here they came to the paradox of abrogating some laws of the previous government and reintroduce the very same measure with a different name. Only rhetorics will change (and not entirely for the good, unfortunately).
What could possibly go wrong?
Democracy is not a state but an ever-ongoing process that involves everyone.
When the demands on society become too great, whether economic or transformative, it becomes difficult. Then the overburdened begin to follow the simpler/simplified narratives.
One could now argue that one could learn from history, but in an individualistic (or segregated) society, it is at least to some extent in the nature of the overburdened to not manage this. If these people are not helped in time, things will get turbulent. (And, in a bitter irony, often vote against their own long-term interests).
Thus, the greater the stress to which a society is exposed, the greater needs to be the solidarity of the “strong” with the “weak”. Neoliberalism, however, pushes in the opposite direction.