Summary

Over 200,000 people marched in Munich against the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, with organizers claiming 320,000 participants.

The protests, held under the slogan “democracy needs you,” warned against any party collaborating with the AfD, particularly the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), ahead of legislative elections.

  • Clbull@lemmy.world
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    3 hours ago

    Aren’t the AfD only doing well in parts of East Germany, which had previously been under decades of Soviet rule?

    This would be a more substantial counter-protest if it occurred in Leipzig or Dresden.

    • LwL@lemmy.world
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      2 hours ago

      They poll between 11 and 18% in bavaria from what I found. They’re doing best in the east, but unfortunately the entire country has a significant part of the population voting for them.

  • meowmeowbeanz
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    5 hours ago

    Munich’s virtue carnival hits 200k clowns – unions and churches suddenly care about ‘democracy’ after decades of enabling the same neoliberal rot they’re now protesting. How quaint. The AfD’s deportation fantasies are just the latest distraction pantomime – focus on the real witches: a system where all major parties gut social programs while waving rainbow flags at cameras.

    This protest reeks of legacy media’s last gasp. Remember when these same orgs called anti-war marches ‘naive’ in 2003? Now they’re rebranding obedience as ‘resistance.’ Democracy isn’t dying – it’s a Weekend at Bernie’s corpse propped up by people who think hashtags count as civil discourse.

    • Clbull@lemmy.world
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      3 hours ago

      Your comment almost gave me an aneurysm from how nonsensical it is.

    • vxx@lemmy.world
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      4 hours ago

      Crazy, I got the impression that a lot of people complain that the current governemt was too social, and Bürgergeld is too high and not harsh enough.

      • meowmeowbeanz
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        3 hours ago

        Ah, the classic “too social” complaint—because heaven forbid a government prioritize basic human dignity over corporate dividends. Bürgergeld isn’t some utopian giveaway; it’s the bare minimum in a system that already demands your soul for scraps.

        What you’re hearing is propaganda-fed resentment, weaponized to pit people against each other while the real looters—banks, multinationals, and their political puppets—laugh all the way to their offshore accounts.

        If “too social” is the problem, then maybe the solution isn’t harsher policies but dismantling the rigged game that makes people beg for crumbs in the first place.

    • CitizenKong@lemmy.world
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      21 hours ago

      I was there, it was awesome. Bit short though and the audio equipment wasn’t suitable for so many people.

    • FenrirIII@lemmy.world
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      22 hours ago

      America needs to learn from Germany. This example. Not the other one. We are currently FAFO on that one.

      • Dadd Volante
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        20 hours ago

        They have an economic system where they can take days off without losing their homes.

        We don’t. It’s part of the plan. Can’t have mass protests when you’re about to lose the roof over your head.

        • yetAnotherUser@discuss.tchncs.de
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          17 hours ago

          You can’t take days off for protests in Germany either.

          Which is why protests are almost always held on the weekend to allow as many people as possible to join them, since significantly fewer people are working.

          • Dadd Volante
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            14 hours ago

            There’s also public transport, healthcare, literally weeks of paid days off. They simply have better social resources than we do.

            • yetAnotherUser@discuss.tchncs.de
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              14 hours ago

              Sure, but I’d argue the largest aspect is cultural.

              There’s a reason France’s protests are significantly more disruptive than those of other European nations, despite similar social resources and significantly worse police brutality.

              I mean, the US has denser cities than most of Europe. It’s not impossible to have large-scale demonstrations with hundreds of thousands of protestors in them.

              I suspect it’s just that most Americans aren’t all that interested in changing the status quo for the better. The amount of apathy is perhaps only topped by Russia.

              • Danquebec
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                13 hours ago

                the US has denser cities than most of Europe

                Citation very needed

                • yetAnotherUser@discuss.tchncs.de
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                  12 hours ago

                  Ah, turns out I’m somewhat wrong. From what I can tell, the city centers in the US are denser but if you include the entire city Europe has generally denser cities.

                  Most US cities are significantly taller in the center due to skyscrapers and highrises. Most European cities are more “horizontal” in that regard by having many multi-story apartment blocks instead of a handful of highrises.

            • barsoap@lemm.ee
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              5 hours ago

              No you don’t. It’s high but 30% is not a majority, also, that’s 30% of people who work, not of those who could show up at a protest. Students, kids, non-working spouses, pensioners, etc, where’s them.

              • Dadd Volante
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                4 hours ago

                I can’t give you one solid answer because it’s a situation that has nuance.

                Not everyone owns a car. Not everyone is educated well enough. Many times people are exhausted by the time they have a day off.

                I’m not letting my KIDS put themselves in danger. That’s insane.

                But okay. This is a black and white issue with easy, simple answers. Like most issues are.

      • samus12345@lemm.ee
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        16 hours ago

        “Ah, here’s the problem: Germany didn’t control the most powerful military force on the planet and was therefore defeated. Won’t happen this time!”

      • shaserlark
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        15 hours ago

        Unfortunately people are just showing up to the protest but they aren’t fighting the creep of right wing extremist rhetorics into centrist parties and mainstream media.