German voters slide inexorably to common sense …

The first extreme right party since World War 2? Mmm 🤔

Well, I think we have been here before.
History teaches us that it didn’t end well.

Chilling.

FriedGreenTomatoes2

Good luck to the AfD and Reform.
Common sense is finally emerging. The welfarism cannot (and should not) be sustained.

I agree totally…

Yes, I'm of the same mind. The people are making their feelings known.

The quiet majority have had enough…….

I agree too. We have German relatives and they are very disappointed in how their country has changed for the worse over the past few years.

Welfarism? Do you mean the NHS? Interesting.

Are those German relatives hoping to morph back to the old days, say the 1930's?

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

I agree FGT

I’ve asked for my previous post to be removed, as I’ve decided I prefer not to engage with this thread.

All the more space for us.
(Joke btw!)

I agree too FGT, fingers crossed we follow suit at the next GE

Oh for goodness sake. Talk of Hitler just makes me sick and I actually think it is the nearest thing to racism against German people who don’t follow the extremities of left politics. The extreme left is very dangerous, just as much as the extreme right.

nanna8

Oh for goodness sake. Talk of Hitler just makes me sick and I actually think it is the nearest thing to racism against German people who don’t follow the extremities of left politics. The extreme left is very dangerous, just as much as the extreme right.

It's not racism against the German people. You are surely aware what happened in the late 1920s/early 1930s Germany and can see the parallels. It would be hoped that one outcome of the rise of Nazism would be "never again", but apparently not.

The biggest support for AfD is in the former East Germany. Until re-unification, East Germans weren't taught history of their own country in the same way that West Germans were.

I'm not exactly sure what "welfarism" is, but East Germans' biggest gripe is a result of having lost personal state support over the last couple of decades. They were used to the safety net of communism, which they lost after re-unification. Seems somewhat ironic.

The OP seems to have been inspired by a headline in the Telegraph.

The truth is that the AfD are the favourites to win the upcoming election on Saxony-Anhalt. Should they do so, it would be the first time that AfD has taken control of any Land.

For an in-depth analysis of what's happening and why, it's useful to follow the German press, which can be accessed here:

www.dw.com/en/germany-far-right-afd-saxony-anhalt-elections-ulrich-siegmund-right-wing-extremism/a-77252189

More information about the AfD:

www.dw.com/en/german-afd-party-labeled-extremist-by-domestic-intelligence-agency/a-72413346#:~:text=Ahead%20of%20the%20parliamentary%20election,party%20is%20the%20German%20AfD%3F

or

www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEIJmszgYHg

Or

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68931170

nanna8, I'm sorry it makes you sick, but here are some parallels with the rise of Nazism in 1930s Germany:

1. They promote ethno-nationalism. They put the 'real' Germans before the other. There is an 'us v. them' dynamic.

2. They use Nazi rhetoric. 'Alice für Deutschland' sounds like the SA motto: 'Alles für Deutchland'. Some have attacked journalists saying they were enemies of the people (Volksverräter), the same way the Nazis did.

3. They engage in historical revisionism. Weidel claimed with she spoke with Musk, that Hitler was a communist or a socialist. Both are historically wrong, Hitler even thought the communism was a Jewish conspiracy.

4. Scapegoating of minorities. The us-versus-them narrative: immigrants, elites are the reasons why Germany is as it is right now.

5. They possess connections with Neo-nazi groups. For instance, the AfD’s youth wing, Junge Alternative, has been monitored by the German Verfassungsschutz (domestic intelligence service) for extremist tendencies.

Does ‘welfarism’ include the provision of state pensions? We are always being told that they cannot be sustained. The NHS? Education? Housing benefits? Countries without welfare have old people dying on the streets and widespread illiteracy, not to mention untreated illness. Is that really what people want?

Doodledog

Does ‘welfarism’ include the provision of state pensions? We are always being told that they cannot be sustained. The NHS? Education? Housing benefits? Countries without welfare have old people dying on the streets and widespread illiteracy, not to mention untreated illness. Is that really what people want?

I assume that "welfarism" in this case is in the context of the German system. Germans pay a hefty amount towards their state pensions and sickness benefits (far more than the UK), so I'm not sure they're included.

nanna8

Oh for goodness sake. Talk of Hitler just makes me sick and I actually think it is the nearest thing to racism against German people who don’t follow the extremities of left politics. The extreme left is very dangerous, just as much as the extreme right.

Well said 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

The AFD also have strong well documented links to Putin as does Victor Orban of Hungary's Fidesk party as indeed does Farage. Enough said.