this post was submitted on 22 Apr 2025
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Europe

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[–] Waldelfe@feddit.org 27 points 1 hour ago (2 children)

Just looking at the people around me (mostly colleagues, I'm not friends with this kind of people) it's no surprise, when just about anything triggers them to vote AfD. Some actual examples:

"We have a vegetarian day at the cafeteria now. Stupid Greens forcing me to not eat meat one day a week. I'm going to vote AfD next election."

"They built a new bicycle lane on my way to work. Now I'm forced to stick to the speed limit because of all the bicyclists on MY road blocking me. It's a straight street, I should be able to go 80 even though it's inner city. I've always been going 80 there! Stupid Greens, I'm going to vote AfD next election."

"Supplier X stopped issuing their bikini model calendar. Everything is forbidden nowadays! Noone ever cared for bikini model calenders, but the Greens want to forbid every little piece of fun. Stupid woke culture. I'm going to vote AfD."

And let's not forget that one boss who told me that my life-threatening nut allergy was woke nonsense, because back in his day "everybody just ate what's on the table and noone died, but nowadays everybody has to feel special by making up things they won't eat."

They just want to go back to 1950s culture, when gay people, trans people, allergies, ADHD, autism, veganism, climate change and anything other than straight white dudes and straight white housewives "didn't exist", because how dare the world be more complex than a Rosamunde Pilcher movie.

[–] tauren@lemm.ee 8 points 50 minutes ago (1 children)

They want to return to 1950s, but they will return to 1930s. And not only in Germany. Stupid people have no clue what dictators always do.

[–] jenesaisquoi@feddit.org 1 points 35 minutes ago

Specifically, 1939.

[–] flicker@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 hour ago

I'm genuinely sorry your boss said that to you, but it sounds so fucking ridiculous I laughed. Jesus. Imagine being so stupid that someone might die.

[–] ragas@lemmy.ml 1 points 4 minutes ago

I mean, why vote CDU if they are doing the same shit as AFD but are not as good at it?

[–] DerAndereX05Real@feddit.org 1 points 14 minutes ago
[–] Formfiller@lemmy.world 2 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago) (1 children)

I read 50% of the men in Germany died in ww2 ….but yea cool Nazis what could go wrong.? Fuck around and find out I guess

[–] jenesaisquoi@feddit.org 5 points 33 minutes ago (1 children)
[–] Formfiller@lemmy.world 4 points 31 minutes ago (1 children)

Yep nothing good ever comes from supporting facists

[–] trollercoaster@sh.itjust.works 2 points 10 minutes ago* (last edited 10 minutes ago)

It's baffling how those self proclaimed patriots can celebrate a bunch of traitors who ruined their country by killing off a significant part of its population and starting an unwinnable war that left the country in ruins.

[–] FundMECFSResearch@lemmy.blahaj.zone 38 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago) (1 children)

*In an opinion poll

I mean lets not confuse an opinion poll with the truth. These things regularly get things a couple points off. In fact that’s the norm.

[–] Waldelfe@feddit.org 12 points 2 hours ago

That's what people have been saying for years and yet the AfD is already the second strongest in the last election...

[–] RedPandaRaider@feddit.org 32 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago) (10 children)

And stil the state refuses to ban them, refuses to arrest and sentence their leaders.

It will be Weimar 2.0 with liberals being either too incompetent or too unwilling to stop fascism.

Fascism is not stopped at the podium or in parliament. It is stopped with bullets and bombs. The longer you wait the more bullets and bombs it will take and the more lives it will cost. We need a new, this time thorough, denazification.

[–] jenesaisquoi@feddit.org 2 points 32 minutes ago

Liberal does not mean leftist outside of the USA. Liberal actually means what is called libertarian in the USA.

[–] gabbath@lemmy.world 1 points 32 minutes ago* (last edited 31 minutes ago)

bullets and bombs

I think it's enough to just do: arrests of leaders (and banning them from public speaking but for life) + breaking up the party + outlawing the party + banning people who decide to take up the mantle of/act as a declared proxy for the party and attempt to visibly pick up where they left off.

That last one I learned from my own country''s current situation: in Romania, a crazy far right candidate came out of nowhere (on the wings of illegal undisclosed campaign donations) to win the first round, and as soon as that happened our mainstream far right party's candidate started supporting him. Then they canceled the election because of the undisclosed donations (he literally declared 0 campaign spending!) so now, in the redo of the election, this other guy is basically running as his proxy and will likely try to appoint him PM if he wins.

[–] seeigel@feddit.org 4 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

Weimar was a small civil war between soldiers who returned from WW1. That's why both the left and the right had fighters. Where should the fighters who shoot the bullets come from now?

The fascists came to power because the elite feared that the communists could win. Otherwise, despite massive manipulation, the fascists never got an absolute majority.

There are many issues that other parties simply ignore. There would be far less voteres for the AfD if the other parties would listen. The AfD started with the demand that the rules about euro stability shouldn't be ignored. That's not a fascist position.

[–] jenesaisquoi@feddit.org 0 points 28 minutes ago (1 children)

The other parties are not taking up AfDs made up causes because they are made up.

For example:

A sack of potatoes falls.

AfD: Stupid foreigners causing the sacks to fall! We must gas them!

Other parties: This is so stupid it doesn't warrant a response.

General public: but the foreigners!!111!1!!!11 and thr potatoes!!1! I am outraged!

Unfortunately, the other parties are very well taking up the Nazis' lies. The Nazis are playing the political establishment like a fiddle.

To stick with your example of the potato sack, the established parties do just jump the Nazi bandwagon and parrot their narrative in a less extreme manner, like "Illegal immigrants kicking over potato sacks is a severe problem, we need to protect our potato sacks by border controls and increased deportations."

Just as one AfD politician remarked last year, (after the election in Thuringia, if I recall right) the AfD is ruling without actually being in the government.

[–] Whirlybird@aussie.zone -5 points 50 minutes ago (1 children)

Just so we’re clear - you’re calling for an end to democracy in Germany? You’re asking for the will of the people to be ignored and actually outlawed?

[–] jenesaisquoi@feddit.org 3 points 32 minutes ago

There can be no tolerance against intolerance, it's a paradox.

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[–] x00z@lemmy.world 42 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

AfD is using fascist manipulation using propaganda (always putting immigrants and immigrant attacks in the spotlight) to gain power and discriminate immigrants even more, causing more retaliation which in turn makes people give the AfD even more power.

In a tolerant society we should not be tolerant of such intolerance.

[–] Whirlybird@aussie.zone 0 points 44 minutes ago

So them shining a light on things that are actually happening is β€œfascist manipulation”?

[–] JokeDeity@lemm.ee 27 points 15 hours ago (4 children)

Someone explain, are these the Nazis?

[–] jenesaisquoi@feddit.org 2 points 27 minutes ago

Short answer: yes.

Long answer: yeeeeeeeeeeeessss.

[–] Honytawk@lemmy.zip 20 points 12 hours ago

It is the party all the fascists vote on.

Should tell you enough.

[–] RowRowRowYourBot@sh.itjust.works 32 points 15 hours ago (1 children)
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[–] BigMikeInAustin@lemmy.world 138 points 20 hours ago (13 children)

Is the proper response: Well shit.

[–] devfuuu@lemmy.world 10 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago) (2 children)

This is why I keep telling people we are fucked by focusing in increasing military power in europe even if it appears and is obviously needed. We are going to put all the power at the hands of insane lunatics ready to wage war and put people in ovens.

It's happening in all countries in Europe. I think in mine we'll have elections next month or something like that and the extreme right is at 2nd or 3rd position ready to take first or will join hands with another to win. It was so close already last time. No matter how many crimes all their members do and show up in the news every week.

It's what the people want. Most people everywhere are ok and want homicidal narcissist and sociopathic people in charge of them.

[–] BigMikeInAustin@lemmy.world 4 points 10 hours ago

Best of luck to you and your country staying sane-ish a little longer.

[–] kayote@feddit.org 10 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

These polls don't matter much. Next major election in Germany is in 2029.I'd argue these assholes didn't win the battle just yet. Anti lobby work, Investments in military power, education and quality of life for people are just some of the things to convince more people. Four years is plenty.

[–] Waldelfe@feddit.org 3 points 2 hours ago

I have no trust in the current coalition to make that happen...

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[–] CyberEgg@discuss.tchncs.de 86 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) (21 children)

Plus two percent, a difference of one percent two second place and an error margin of two point five percent. Congrats.

Besides that, I really start to hate these reports. Weekly updates on the Sonntagsfrage are utterly lacking substance, fearmongering (to left leaning people) and reassurance (to AfD voters). Everything we do not need.

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[–] unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de 61 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago) (2 children)

In phone polls 4 years before the next election...

Dont get me wrong, this sucks, but its not what the germans actually voted for.

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[–] theuniqueone@lemmy.dbzer0.com 16 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Germany should have actually denazified instead of the joke they did. Also should have reunited the two germanys instead of what happened which was basically a west German conquest of east Germany contributing greatly to its impoverershment.

[–] Waphles@lemmy.world 7 points 12 hours ago (3 children)

Honest question, what was wrong with the denazification that was carried out? Did they have any historical example to compare to?

Think about it like this: What do you do if everyone is at least complicit? While the soviets excluded the old elites from their new regime, the west focused more on reintegrating them. That being said, both sides were willing to turn a blind eye if you where qualified enough and needed for the continued function of society.

So for example the head of the neurological society was a doctor who experimented on brains of executed prisoners and children. And unfortunately this was the rule, not the exception.

[–] theuniqueone@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

The fact that it didn't happen? That a lot of the very few who got actual sentences (less than those who worked just at Auschwitz)were pardoned before their time was up. That all levels of the post war German government was filled with nazi party members. That it was quickly abandoned even in the limited and performative form it existed it to unite to fight "the communist threat". I don't need a historical example of a successful de radicalization in order to say this one didn't happen and its a myth it did.

[–] Waphles@lemmy.world 1 points 3 hours ago

Ok I get what you mean. But what was the realistic alternative when (like another poster mentioned) everyone is partly complicit and society has to be rebuilt? Who can the chief surgeon of the hospital be replaced with? Everyone professionally competent in any position of esteem has to have been at least partially complicit or compliant with the previous regime. Historical context is important because I think it is a near impossible task. Pol pot killed everyone, de-Baathification created more of a mess (both efforts to weed things out later, presumably using Germany as a bad example).

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