Migrants who arrived since 2015 say they feel unwelcome in Germany, where the far-right Alternative for Germany is gaining support.

  • Aniki@feddit.org
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    1 day ago

    short anecdote:

    I met a girl from afghanistan recently and it kinda made me understand why it’s so important to accept these people. they’ve really been through a lot and not accepting them would be a bad mistake.

    It’s how people say: you’re against migration until you’ve actually met some migrants.

    Still, it sours me that we talk so much about migration and migrants and so little about the reasons for migration, which are the horrible wars that the US and allies have fought in afghanistan and nearby countries for long time for practically little to no reason. honestly, it’s the US’s fault, and they should take some responsibility and actually care for these people, even if only financially.

    • cows_are_underrated@feddit.org
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      16 hours ago

      you’re against migration until you’ve actually met some migrants.

      Abstract fear is a powerful weapon. Theres a reason, why the AfD is powerful in the regions with a low percentage of migrants.

    • fine_sandy_bottom@lemmy.federate.cc
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      16 hours ago

      Yeah but this is kinda like saying “we should accept refugees because they’re nice people”.

      Sure some or even most are, but a lot of refugees have been through significant trauma and might not be so pleasant as a result.

      How would your view differ if you were talking to a young muslim male with a mild psychosis who believed that only an immoral woman would be in public without covering their face?

      IMO “unpleasant people” are no less deserving of refuge, but I’d caution you against holding a view that all refugees are nice well adjusted people.

        • fine_sandy_bottom@lemmy.federate.cc
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          16 hours ago

          Do you mean, “there’s a few assholes in any group of people” ?

          If so, then yes.

          However, what I was trying to delicately imply is that people from traumatic circumstances are more likely to be assholes, simply as a product of their circumstances.

          For example, I’m sympathetic to the plight of Palestinians, but I wouldn’t rent a room to a Palestinian.

      • federal reverse@feddit.orgM
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        1 day ago

        at [the] expense of domestic population

        Gee. That’s just wrong. The benefit of even just the refugees is far greater than the cost. E.g. the German hospital system pretty much wouldn’t work anymore without thousands of migrant doctors, many of which Syrians.

          • federal reverse@feddit.orgM
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            1 day ago

            regime […] slave labour

            I know you’re edgelording but would you mind reverting back to appropriate terms here? You’re speaking about Germany, not about Uyghur labor in China.

            This is not a flex you think it is, just an indication of poor leadership

            Not meant as a flex at all: Just a part of reality where migrants contribute a lot to German society, while a lot of Germans are put off by people simply speaking a different language or having the wrong skin color, and/or being riled up by racism in media and politics.

            While sure immigration is over all good for GDP, it supresses wages of the indigenous slave labour. So for a wage slave thus is inherently a hit to their wallets.

            For funsies, consider that Germany didn’t even have a federal minimum wage until 2009 and how that impacted wages, like in real terms. Also consider, that migration does come with an overall expanding economy (i.e. you need more goods, you need new services, etc.) which can easily mean better (economic/social) outcomes for all.

            • federal reverse@feddit.orgM
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              1 day ago

              [Addendum:] The quality of leadership is an entirely different topic. But fwiw, the only way to keep capitalism going is an expanding society but women don’t seem to want to have more kids lately. Of course, it would behoove us to question capitalism and the expensive, often societally detrimental systems built since WWII. We won’t get to working on those questions though, if our attentions continue to be focused on racist bullshit.

              Right-wing parties not only don’t question capitalism, they also do have own improbable “solutions” to the question of growing the population: Essentially outlawing abortions, forcing LGBTQ people into cishet conformity, and weakening women’s rights (which likely encompasses gradually making rape less illegal).

          • MrMakabar@slrpnk.net
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            1 day ago

            Because trade is a thing and protecting the weakest also protects the slightly better of. That is to say, if migrant workers can not be exploited neither can German workers.

            And yes that includes helping workers in other countries.

      • CyberEgg@discuss.tchncs.de
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        1 day ago

        Germany just tries closing its borders with “smart controls” (which basicalle means racial profiling). Every political party except the Left wants to deport “criminal migrants” (“criminal” being a fig leaf here) (and even in the Left there are some who want to deport). German lawmakers are pushing for more and more restrictions, cutting financial support for refugees, leaning on populistic measures, abusing statistics left and right and so on and so forth

        This article isn’t about that though. It’s about rising xenophobia, a climate of fear and racism constructed and driven forward by the AfD (the party that’s too far right even for Italy’s post fascists) and how migrants and citizens with migration backgrounds don’t feel safe and welcome anymore.

      • Match!!@pawb.social
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        1 day ago

        shit is bad for the domestic population because of capitalism not because of complying with asylum laws

        • CyberEgg@discuss.tchncs.de
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          1 day ago

          It isn’t even bad for the domestic population. The domestic population actually needs immigration, because the domestic population is aging and we’re running out of young people (in relation to the older population).

    • federal reverse@feddit.orgM
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      1 day ago

      This is not really the community for doomer sci-fi. And I don’t think it’s particularly healthy to consume it. It just demotivates people who are (or would be) fighting for a better future.

      we have failed to stop climate change

      So far. But there is no definitive end point. We know the future is going to be rougher than the present but that is all.

      This is the horrifying and inevitable future because of neoliberalism

      And neoliberalism can’t be beat?

      • LarmyOfLone@lemm.ee
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        20 hours ago

        Fair enough. When I said we don’t have the tools that is what I meant. Decades of disinformation, instead we hide and censor the truth and terrible consequences, and now prefer the comforting idea of good vs evil.

        But the numbers don’t lie: 1.2 billion climate refugees by 2050. We’re still tracking very near the worst case GHG emission pathway. There is no way voters will accept another wave of refugees.

        And neoliberalism can’t be beat?

        For many, fascism is the answer.
        Europe has already outsourced the refugee problem by letting Lybia sell the refugees as slaves.
        Or look at France, the neoliberals would prefer to work with fascists instead of social democrats/socialists. They believe in nothing.

        The things we would have to do are impossible. Things like degrow our economy and lower our GDP, radical reorganization of how we live and work and lower working hours, produce sustainable goods, abolishing patents that slow down sustainable adaptation, ban adverting and redistribute land. And help other countries with solidarity instead of exploitation.

        Who exactly has this program “to fight for a better future”?

        Instead we’re rearming for war and started a new cold war with bad China. Talking about peace gets you branded a traitor. How could we not see a rise in fascism?

        • federal reverse@feddit.orgM
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          13 hours ago

          instead we hide and censor the truth and terrible consequences

          Not at all the point. Your wording was that it’s “inevitable” and that is the issue for me.

          In the face of all that’s injust in the world, do you have nothing better to do than sow despair?

          But the numbers don’t lie: 1.2 billion climate refugees by 2050.

          This is a projection. It’s good that we have it but whether it is true can only be known in the future.

          We’re still tracking very near the worst case GHG emission pathway.

          Again, based on a projection — there’s always a worse case. E.g. if we didn’t widely use solar/wind power, our GHG emissions would be vastly higher still.

          There is no way voters will accept another wave of refugees.

          This is nonsense. Voters have accepted previous refugees, they may as well accept future refugees. The main thing that’s changed since is that mass media went from supporting humane ideas to supporting more or less openly racist ideas.

          (You may want to think about the dehumanizing effect of the term “wave” here btw.)

          For many, fascism is the answer.

          It’s not everyone’s answer & minds can be changed over time.

          The things we would have to do are impossible.

          They’re extremely possible. They’re just really improbable given current power structures.

          Who exactly has this program “to fight for a better future”?

          I am sure you will find an organization that, while not perfect, is working on things you care about.

          Instead we’re rearming for war

          Pro tip: The Russian government started a war in Europe. The Russian government is claiming the territory of one sovereign nation in Europe and in fact looking for more.

          Being able to defend against that means we can continue looking at other societal objectives too — such as fighting climate change.

          There’s no climate movement under Putin.

          and started a new cold war with bad China.

          No, China isn’t “bad”. But like the Russian government, the Chinese government is spreading authoritarianism and making the world dependent on Chinese products.

          Talking about peace gets you branded a traitor.

          Is that so?

      • sznowicki@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        Yeah, tell us who started the war in Ukraine in 2014 with little green men without badges and shooting down a civilian plane. Go on!

        • CyberEgg@discuss.tchncs.de
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          16 hours ago

          Russia invaded and annexed Donbass and Krim in 2014, then launched a full scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Do you want to tell us Russia could not have simply not done this? Do you want to tell us this is anything else than russian aggression?

          • LarmyOfLone@lemm.ee
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            14 hours ago

            Of course the illegal invasion by Russia was aggression, like Iraq and Afghanistan and all wars are aggression. But it was foreseeable and preventable through diplomacy.

            The point is the fascists understand this better than liberals because they are not susceptible to the same kind of propaganda that liberals are. They don’t believe in that freedom and democracy crap on offer any more. Why should they care about Ukrainians - for solidarity that is not extended to them at home? But they do understand that massive amounts of wealth are transferred out of their hands and many refugees are coming. That is why they are voting the only alternative.

            Of course when the fascists do get into power they will continue supporting war, it’s just good business.

            Macron in France thinks he can play 5D chess and make a weak government with the fascists, but they will continue to hammering him about spending billions on the war. They don’t need to govern so it will only hurt him.

            Meanwhile in Germany the social democrats and greens not only keep supporting the Ukraine proxy war but also the genocide in Gaza. What exactly are they selling?

            • CyberEgg@discuss.tchncs.de
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              14 hours ago

              Of course the illegal invasion by Russia was aggression, like Iraq and Afghanistan and all wars are aggression. But it was foreseeable and preventable through diplomacy.

              You do realize that deplomacy and negotiations were tried before the war, in the beginning of the war and continue ever since, right? It doesn’t work because Putin doesn’t want to actually negotiate. Putin is not interested in a diplomatic resolution. Putin wands to expand his empire and eradicate Ukraine as a people, it’s culture, identity, language, everything. It’s a genocide. Putin is literally Hitler (and as a German, I’m not pulling this comparison lightly).

              Ukraine proxy war

              Don’t drink paint.