Mainstream politicians express alarm while lead candidate in Saxony-Anhalt welcomes congratulations from Elon Musk

Mainstream politicians around Europe have expressed alarm after the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) swept to a historic state election victory in Germany, while nationalist figures cheered the result as a mandate for change.

While falling just short of an absolute majority, the AfD surged into first place in the Saxony-Anhalt state election on Sunday, exit polls ⁠showed, putting the far right within reach ​of power at ‌the state level for ‌the first time since the second world war.

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[–] 65 points 3 weeks ago (64 children)

As usual, the conservatives are given a pass and then liberals assigned all the blame.

This place is absolute fucking joke.

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  • [–] 51 points 3 weeks ago (12 children)

    No they aren't. The liberals and conservatives are both being blamed because they are both part of the problem. 2 sides of the same coin.

    Liberals are being assigned blame because they are worthy of blame.

    Conservatives know they are to blame, telling them that does nothing. Liberals think they are helping the working class and at the very least are discomforted when confronted with the reality of their actions (sometimes).

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  • [–] 6 points 3 weeks ago (11 children)

    We don't have liberals or a two party system or whatever you have in the US.

    This dumb Propaganda shit on lemmy that the left is to blame for the fascism that people voted for really bores me by now.

    None of this is the lefts fault.

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  • [–] 14 points 3 weeks ago* (2 children)

    I'm not American and you do have liberals, and liberals aren't the left.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 weeks ago* (4 children)

    In the US, the neoliberals have held power over the Democrat party since Ronald Reagan was president in the 1980s. Liberal is shorthand for neoliberal and are considered left here. They are very much to blame for the current state of the US. They offshored jobs, busted unions, weakened education, and cut welfare programs to benefit the elites just like the conservatives have.

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  • [–] 5 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

    Surely liberal isn’t short for neoliberal.

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  • [–] 6 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

    It is in american parlance. When you hear right-wingers rally against "liberals" they are talking about neoliberals. If they meant classical liberals they'd be talking about themselves.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 weeks ago*

    It is in american parlance.

    no it is not. in common american parlance, "liberal" refers to the democratic party and is treated like a left-wing position. only leftists use "liberal" (well, "libs") to mean "neoliberal." the latter is obviously way more correct, but that doesn't mean the average person uses it that way, the average person is politically illiterate.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 child)

    But you also don't have any left at all, which doesn't help.

    Even fucking bsw has a point when calling die linke just another socdem party. And neither of these party is even doing well in the urns.

    From a French PoV, German politics are really cooked. Overton window is more right wing than us, and the votes are also more concentrated to the right.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 weeks ago

    BSW should figure out who they even are before they sling any shit. They are putins Nazicommunist party and you need to mentally unwell to vote for them.

    I don't have a problem with the socialists going socdem because there is presumably a large gap there.

    The Socdems by name sold out more than 25 years ago.

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  • [–] 16 points 3 weeks ago (8 children)

    There may be a gap here in the definition of "liberal". Liberalism is a political philosophy that also encompasses most traditional conservatives. It is different from the colloquial usage. It's loosely defined as the belief in individual freedoms, including the right to private property. It is inherently capitalist and therefore socialists, communists and anarchists generally do not consider them to be of the left.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 weeks ago* (2 children)

    If you split yourself off the "left in the widest sense" you have 5 percent of the votes and you are essentially meaningless. Stuck to your values but meaningless.

    The left does not need more splitting while the right manages to rally behind one or two people.

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  • [–] 4 points 3 weeks ago

    As I say, liberals believe in capitalism by definition. The impact of your vote once every few years in an election under this system pales in comparison to the influence that the owner class have due to their wealth and power. This is fundamental. This is why you get all the anti-liberal sentiment from anti-capitalists.

    Furthermore you talk about convincing some percentage of voters in order to change the system. The early turnout figure for this election is 54% and that's considered high... What of the non voters?

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  • [–] 13 points 3 weeks ago* (1 child)

    When the home team who is on defense just allows goal after goal with no defense, and scoring no goals of their own... that's a bad team and deserves criticism if they're the bulwark defenders who are supposed to oppose fascism. Fascists are winning and that is the fault of liberals for a lack of opposition.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 weeks ago

    Exactly.

    If I hire a body guard and theyve allowed me to get shot 69 times over the last 20 years and they NEVER change their tactics or our tactics to keep me and them safe.... what do you think Im eventually gonna think about them? ...

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  • [–] 11 points 3 weeks ago (1 child)

    because liberals are the prime reason of fascists rise in power. They pretend to be good while oiling the fascist machine

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  • [–] 1 point 3 weeks ago

    "There has never been and will ever be anything int he Western Hemisphere more dangerous than a White liberal" - Malcolm X

    He would have been more correct if he talked of EVERY liberal.

    You can stop worrying about nuclear weapons as the most destructive thing on the planet today , because we ALL know itll be the moderates snd liberals who will be pressing the very buttons to launch all the nuikes lol.

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  • [–] 9 points 3 weeks ago (26 children)

    Sometimes I think it must be a psyops by the billionaires to divide and demoralize the left. Then I remember some people are just so dumb.

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  • [–] 9 points 3 weeks ago (1 child)

    It's their go to.

    Like yeah, milquetoast policies ultimately lead us here but they have more fury for the people doing moderately OK but ultimately unsatisfactory things than the people actually going hog wild, robbing everyone blind, instituting fascism, etc.

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