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.

top 50 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] 123 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (87 children)

Now watch as "liberals" continue to do nothing to stop the fascist propaganda machines causing the spread of the mental illness, because they are bankrolled by the fascists in the corporate economic elite.

They'll also continue sowing the seeds of fascism by colluding with the elite to extract wealth from the population. Buckle up. All of this has happened before, and all of it will happen again.

The Weimar Republic did the same god damn thing.

  • source
  • hideshow 87 child comments
  • [–] 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.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 64 child comments
  • [–] 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).

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 12 child comments
  • load more comments (12 replies)
  • [–] 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.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 8 child comments
  • load more comments (8 replies)
  • load more comments (39 replies)
  • [–] 17 points 3 weeks ago (5 children)

    Ppl vote them because other (big) parties dont address their problems. Also % thresholds for democratic participation keeps smaller parties with reasonable programmes away from the table. Wasnt too long ago EU intruduced this. So this is the consequence of continous political failure. I'd also argue voters are aware they get robbed by politicians accepting bribes direct or indirect. And they vote any party (falsely here, see tesla feat) promising to crack down on the old political class. Trump did the same (but didnt follow through obv).

    People are desperate.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 5 child comments
  • load more comments (5 replies)
  • load more comments (16 replies)
    [–] 102 points 3 weeks ago (44 children)

    Strangely quiet from all those who are pissing on the US "YOU GUYS DO SOMETHING", yeah?

    Well, here's your chance, for the ones of those who are like the above but who are in Germany: DO SOMETHING NOW WHILE YOU STILL CAN. OR at least shut the fuck up about the US and our struggles to overcome fascism.

    (I'm venting about those specific assholes, not Germans struggling to fight against this rightwing surge, I hope that's clear)

  • source
  • hideshow 44 child comments
  • [–] 28 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

    Aye, I've fought those assholes on Lemmy. They are a poison to us all.

    We're in this together, all of us. Every citizen in this world. The fascists must be defeated.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
  • load more comments (1 reply)
  • [–] 17 points 3 weeks ago (21 children)

    Well, i'm out at every opportunity to join any protest against the far-right in my region, even if i have to drive half an hour to get to it or take a day off from work. Last time i marched with a wild mix of people through half the town, blocking most of a major entry road to the inner city, in protest against the AfD having their meet and greet. I'm also member of a union.

    And i'm still gonna criticise 'Muricans for not doing enough. At this point protesting alone might not be enough. I'm not saying you should turn to violence, but you absolutely should unionise more and coordinate massive shutdowns all over the country. People managed to do that in the past, and at that time they didn't even have the convenience of instant communication across the globe. Those worker's rights didn't come for free.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 21 child comments
  • load more comments (12 replies)
  • [–] 14 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

    It's a state election, in a relatively small state, it's bad, but it's not the end of democracy in Germany just yet. There are two more state elections in two weeks, AfD is predicted to be strongest in one of those states (MV) too, but not nearly as bad, as there is still a possibility for a stable government there. I'm not too worried about the other election in Berlin.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • load more comments (10 replies)
    [–] 82 points 2 weeks ago* (11 children)

    Alright European lemmings... You've been lecturing us American lemmings for several years about what you'd do if fascism started creeping into power in your country. Now's your chance, show us how it's really done.

  • source
  • hideshow 11 child comments
  • load more comments (11 replies)
    [–] 58 points 3 weeks ago (8 children)

    AfD winning is a grave moment for Europe, but nobody should be listening to mainstream politicians about anything since they're half the cause of this mess.

  • source
  • hideshow 8 child comments
  • load more comments (4 replies)
    [–] 55 points 3 weeks ago (1 child)

    So, I don't want to say this isn't worrying and this party definitely needs to be banned, but the article almost only mentions as a foot note that this has been long coming.

    The last election saw them as second strongest party in that same state. This is not a full election, this is just for that single state where historically lots of people are voting for them.

    So yeah, terrible, but also this has been building up for a while in that specific region.

  • source
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] 16 points 3 weeks ago

    I think that actually makes it worse. The signs were there and instead of acting on it and opposing the xenophobic narrative, the big parties jumped on the bandwagon, hoping to pry the racist voters off of the AfD, but instead they assured the voters in their fear, pushing them further right.

    I'm gonna continue screaming into a pillow now.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 43 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

    Funny, Channel 5 just re-released a video about the far right in Germany, which mentioned the exact province of Saxony Anhalt, and how there was an outcry against immigrants there even though the population of immigrants in that part of Germany is extremely low

  • source
  • hideshow 3 child comments
  • [–] 58 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

    It's always the people with 0 immigrants living near them bitching about immigrants.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • load more comments (1 reply)
  • I wonder how much this has to do with musk owning twitter, larry ellison owning tiktok, and zuckerberg owning rest

  • source
  • [–] 26 points 3 weeks ago

    Thank the corrupt and elitist fucks of CxU and SPD for a couple of decades of cutting access to education and ignoring the problems of those under their rule. And fuck you, Frotze, in particular!

  • source
  • [+] 25 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (7 children)
    load more comments (7 replies)
    [–] 25 points 3 weeks ago (9 children)

    A little black for the pots that call the kettles in the US black. See guys, were all infested with fascists on the inside.

  • source
  • hideshow 9 child comments
  • load more comments (9 replies)
    [–] 21 points 2 weeks ago (1 child)
    load more comments (1 reply)
    [–] 21 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

    The history of humanity is slow walking into disaster, consistently and unceasingly.

  • source
  • hideshow 3 child comments
  • load more comments (3 replies)
    [–] 19 points 2 weeks ago (9 children)

    Did Elon touch the voting system?

  • source
  • hideshow 9 child comments
  • load more comments (9 replies)
    [–] 18 points 3 weeks ago
    [–] 17 points 2 weeks ago

    musk and putin helping with the messaging that is.

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

    My guess is the AFD will try to install similar systems as orban did in Hungary. Once AFD functionaries can get their hands on might and government money they will try to tuck as much as possible into their pockets. They talk about patriotism but only act in their own self-interest. They dont even have real plans or visions on how to improve their voters live and are not able to give real substantial answers to journalists questions. But this doesn't matter to a lot of voters because they are either too frustrated by their own lives or the corrupt shit other political parties did or just brain rotted from tik tok. The AFD talking about patriotism makes them feel good and so they can neglect the fact that the AFD will make their live even worse and they can also neglect that the AFD will do ten times the corrupt shit the "mainstream" parties did. It's like a drug making you feel good even while facing doom.

  • source
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • load more comments (1 reply)
    [–] 14 points 3 weeks ago*

    Probably the same patterns the book Democracy in Chains discusses. The same history since the first hoarding and the power/wealth inequalities that came with it. The wealth pays for the armies and to protect the wealthy. Those with the money and power win and write the rules and history. The systems say, "believe us we know what's right". The problems are caused by the wealth inequality, but blamed on minorities and changing too fast can't deal with it, and only they have the solution, so dig in deeper and accept these new rules on free speech and protests against the ruler. Usa has the nazi ice abduct, abuse and put people in concentration camps that make the wealthy owners even richer, just like happened in olden days, already forgot, or some want to repeat it.


    Owners get richer,

    The more people they put in,

    Concentration camps

  • source
  • [–] 13 points 3 weeks ago (20 children)

    Has anyone stopped to actually ask the people there why they voted that way or what they hope to achieve?

  • source
  • hideshow 20 child comments
  • They want the immigrants and the evil trans people out and more like it used to be.

    Of course this is all rooted in bad economy and infrastructure, especially in east Germany. And the Afd is unfortunately really good at presenting easy solutions to hard problems by blaming minorities for everything. They do this very effectively via tiktok and other new media which the old parties have not been able to unterstand yet.

  • source
  • parent
  • load more comments (3 replies)
    [–] 13 points 2 weeks ago (7 children)

    ...Im just happy that germany will be the cause of all three world wars! 😂🤣😏

  • source
  • hideshow 7 child comments
  • load more comments (7 replies)
    load more comments
    view more: next ›