German elections

[Dill]

(09-27-2017, 06:22 AM)hollodero Wrote: This is certainly true, they were split; and now joined the rest of Europe (well... most of the rest) in having one distinct anti-establishment, right-wing populism party. Still not too united though. AfD is still engaged in trench warfares. (When my countrys right-wing party engaged in actual governing, they split.)

As for the educated peope being part of the party, demagogry doesn't know these boundaries that would seem logical maybe. I don't wat to make too many cross references, but American AfU has a well connected millionaire as leader, and his administration is full of generals and wall street guys. The little guy doesn't rise to power with these movements. Didn't in my country, doesn't in the US, wouldn't in Germany.

I speculate extremist parties may do this because they are tired of "compromise" and are responding to authoritarian leadership. That increases the potential for fracture--till the movement gets a very strong leader and a real chunk of power.

Trump appointing Wall Streeters and Generals doesn't seem the same to me.  Many of those came after he was in power; Flynn fits Trump, but the other generals look like they came on board to save the country and manage Trump as best they can. And while many of his appointees may have college degrees, they are not academics (who live by research and teaching) and did not stump with him on the campaign trail. The Lawyers and prosecutors who support him, like Sessions, I guess that compares. But here as there, you are right the angry "little guy" does not rise to the top. The little guy's anger and energy are harnessed to pull the big guys' sled. In our case, a wall or a Muslim ban is dangled in front of them instead of a carrot. The AfD has real academics, people who teach philosophy and do research in economics. I don't see their counterparts in the Trump movement.

(09-27-2017, 06:22 AM)hollodero Wrote: Yeah, isn't that the most astonishing thing. It's not new. The less migrants there are in one region, the more rallied up people seem to be about migration, it's the same in Austria as well. Right-wing populism, as of now, doesn't do too good in cities where the migrants are. They do well on the countryside where people seldomly would even see one. Was the same with Pegida, if you know that one, only had success in low-migration regions as well.
Especially for Germany, I want to add that the former Soviet countries, including East Germany, seem very susceptible to right-wing rhetorics. Why, I still haven't figured out completely. But it's everywhere in the East of Europe.

I can understand this. People lived under authoritarian dictatorships, with little experience negotiating power and compromising. They were told what to do.  Harshness varied considerably from regime to regime, but even "liberal" Hungary seems to have lurched rapidly right.

Before and after the fall of the wall, images of Western affluence were dangled before East block citizens, and then after the fall they still felt powerless as makeshift governments sold off government assets and fired large numbers of people. In the case of Germany, the Ossi's looked to be in good shape at first, as no other Warsaw Pact country was so immediately "brothered" to a Western economic power the way they were. Teary eyed Wessis were prepared to absorb higher taxes and other economic shocks to make their county whole again. Then the ethical leaders who led the revolution were eased out of power, prices for everything rose to Western levels. Bruederwessis became Besserwessis. And once again large groups of people felt unable to exercise political agency. Where they lack any cosmopolitan ethic and foreigners are welcomed into the country and housed and fed, then "Blut" becomes once again a talking point as a condition for political rights and power. 

At the same time, there were/are still many in the former DDR who learned how to analyze Capitalism and so have a model for explaining their situation and organizing to better it.  So I am not at all surprised that BOTH the Linke and AfD have stronger support in the former DDR than anywhere else.

It still isn't clear why areas of the former BRD with few immigrants might be so hostile to migrants.  I wonder if maybe their news sources are constricting, so they are paying more attention to right wing websites. Hearing stories of mass rape and the like, which would puzzle city dwellers, they want their country back.