To assuage you a bit. The AfD is a paper tiger inflated by the media. I’m not saying there is no chance for them to ever reach power, but right now it’s not very likely. They lack something important: competent people in local politics. They don’t care about local politics, they often lack the shoes to fill posts, or have people nobody likes, or have people whose only competence is to wail on immigrants.
Media control over time is exactly how you build a base though. It’s very fair to be concerned about the monster they could grow into in the future, especially with all the different news sources getting picked up by billionaires. By the time they’re running the school boards and town halls it’ll be too late.
The mouthpieces are replaceable. Considering how fast the AfD is radicalising it is likely they’ll sabotage themselves before ever gaining real relevance. It’s much more important to look at what put them there in the first place.
The way I see right wing misinformation pop up more and more as “sponsored” content here in Germany is worrying. The next far right party that eventually pops up will likely have a much bigger politically active base. And I don’t want to think about the influence global warming will have…
“Shitty candidate who only gets taken seriously because of the media coverage” is a trap many of my fellow Americans fell into in 2016. Don’t make the same mistake we did and stomp them out while you have the chance.
You’re correct, but current Germany’s democracy is way more robust than US was. A party can’t just rise to power with the power of bullshit, not quickly anyway. A party has to play with others, it is almost impossible to have all the power, so crazy people can’t just usurp the country. AfD tries to appear less crazy than they are, but the evil shines through, so nobody wants to play ball with them
We’re lucky that the allies did such a wonderful job of correting their own mistakes and making our system more robust after WW2 (not /s, seriously good job).
Yeah, it’s a shame that they did such a good job in Germany but weren’t able to import it back to their own countries. Imagine if it was as hard for right wing populists to get the power in the US, Russia, UK…
That is the result of the media propping them up as a real threat and people taking them too serious. Like I said, they have the voters but not the manpower to back it up at leat not yet. (And polls tend to be higher for protest vote parties, as many decide to not follow through).
More concerning is the influence all the misinformation that is bombarding the next generation will have. The next far right party might have more fertile ground.
To assuage you a bit. The AfD is a paper tiger inflated by the media. I’m not saying there is no chance for them to ever reach power, but right now it’s not very likely. They lack something important: competent people in local politics. They don’t care about local politics, they often lack the shoes to fill posts, or have people nobody likes, or have people whose only competence is to wail on immigrants.
Media control over time is exactly how you build a base though. It’s very fair to be concerned about the monster they could grow into in the future, especially with all the different news sources getting picked up by billionaires. By the time they’re running the school boards and town halls it’ll be too late.
Yup that is the thing to be concerned about.
The mouthpieces are replaceable. Considering how fast the AfD is radicalising it is likely they’ll sabotage themselves before ever gaining real relevance. It’s much more important to look at what put them there in the first place.
The way I see right wing misinformation pop up more and more as “sponsored” content here in Germany is worrying. The next far right party that eventually pops up will likely have a much bigger politically active base. And I don’t want to think about the influence global warming will have…
“Shitty candidate who only gets taken seriously because of the media coverage” is a trap many of my fellow Americans fell into in 2016. Don’t make the same mistake we did and stomp them out while you have the chance.
You’re correct, but current Germany’s democracy is way more robust than US was. A party can’t just rise to power with the power of bullshit, not quickly anyway. A party has to play with others, it is almost impossible to have all the power, so crazy people can’t just usurp the country. AfD tries to appear less crazy than they are, but the evil shines through, so nobody wants to play ball with them
We’re lucky that the allies did such a wonderful job of correting their own mistakes and making our system more robust after WW2 (not /s, seriously good job).
Yeah, it’s a shame that they did such a good job in Germany but weren’t able to import it back to their own countries. Imagine if it was as hard for right wing populists to get the power in the US, Russia, UK…
And yet they’re very present on the federal stage.
Yeah, they have to be. Else the media propping up a tiny party of the rich as party of the small man wouldn’t work half as good.
I meant they’re polling at 20% of a Bundestag. They’re more represented than some of the more traditional parties. They have supporters.
That is the result of the media propping them up as a real threat and people taking them too serious. Like I said, they have the voters but not the manpower to back it up at leat not yet. (And polls tend to be higher for protest vote parties, as many decide to not follow through).
More concerning is the influence all the misinformation that is bombarding the next generation will have. The next far right party might have more fertile ground.