Couple weeks back, having realised that support for CDU/CSU and SPD were lower than ever, I was marginally hopeful, expecting some for of change in some near future. I didn’t think Germans were brewing with revolutionary potential or anything, I just saw a trend and had a vague feeling. A better read friend basically crashed me down to earth by reminding me that these circumstances usually breed that “3rd way” sentiment that gets Nazis elected. I suppose I’ve been hiding behind this notion I’ve been told a decade ago, that the Germans wouldn’t let open fascism win out, if nothing else because of the optics. Oh well.
We’re heading toward a situation in Germany where the establishment parties are so abysmal, so against the interests and wishes of their own voters, and so lacking in any policies or vision for change beyond “more austerity, more neoliberalism”, that they will increasingly campaign on one single issue: “at least we’re not the AfD”.
Just like “at least we’re not Trump” did not work for the Democrats in the US, it will also fail here. It is already failing. The AfD is polling ahead of every other party.
The more the entire establishment and establishment aligned media (which is all of the mainstream media in Germany) focus on anti-AfD hysteria, anti-Putin hysteria, and telling the people that they need to sacrifice their pensions, their social security, and their kids’ education to “protect democracy”, all while shutting their eyes and ears to the rapidly deteriorating economic situation for the average German worker, the faster they will lose ground to the AfD.
dont worry in the next elections the cdu spd and b90/grüne will just set up another candidate who can lie even better to the population
