German Politics (1 Viewer)

[pete]

Germany: Man smears dog feces on far-right AfD politician – DW – 08/26/2023

Alternative for Germany (AfD) lawmaker Beatrix von Storch called the attack "disgusting" and said she had filed a complaint. The far-right party opposes immigration and green policies.

www.dw.com

 

[Deadmanposting]

Germany: Councilor fined for swastikas on Ukrainian cars – DW – 08/28/2023

The Baden-Baden town council is also considering further action in response to the politician's actions. The use of Nazi symbols is banned in Germany.

www.dw.com

Wild bunch of lads over there

I love them

 

[Unicron]

Germany: Councilor fined for swastikas on Ukrainian cars – DW – 08/28/2023

The Baden-Baden town council is also considering further action in response to the politician's actions. The use of Nazi symbols is banned in Germany.

www.dw.com

Wild bunch of lads over there

I love them

There's a Nigerian-British guy I follow on twitter, lives in Berlin. I mostly follow him for football stuff but he does stuff on politics too. He says there's small towns in Germany that never really stopped being Nazi, which is both incredibly weird and kind of terrifying.

I suppose it reminds me of meeting a Texan years ago who told me (for the record she was disgusted by it) that there's still small towns where she's from where if you're black you avoid these places at night time.

 

[magicbastarder]

might that be in old east germany? i think it's the elbe which is kinda a border, east of which is still very 'conservative'. prussian and rural. despite berlin being an outlier; but taubstumm would be the man to ask.

 

[Unicron]

might that be in old east germany? i think it's the elbe which is kinda a border, east of which is still very 'conservative'. prussian and rural. despite berlin being an outlier; but taubstumm would be the man to ask.

Yes, I believe so. In a way it's more surprising that this survived more in the east, you'd imagine that the DDR was extremely hostile to any leftover Nazis and would have stamped it out.

 

[magicbastarder]

i read a book which was a short history of germany a couple of years ago. your head would be swimming with the to-ings and fro-ings; and germany simply disappearing and reappearing years later. you gain a certain satisfaction from coming from an island where the existence of the place is a bit more solid.

 

[David Kronenbourg]

problematic

 

[nuke terrorist]

What domestic issues would German activist, leftist, anarcho types have been most critical of Merkel on?

Every time I meet someone from Germany, I forget to ask what they thought of 'The Bosswoman'.
Her way of doing things was pretty alien to Irish politics.

 

[JohnnyRaz]

Yes, I believe so. In a way it's more surprising that this survived more in the east, you'd imagine that the DDR was extremely hostile to any leftover Nazis and would have stamped it out.

I could be wrong, but the east didn't have a formal process of denazification in the social/educational sense- while they prosecuted leading nazi's after the war, this petered out, and the focus was on the DDR building on the heritage of of the german left/communists (luxembourg etc.)

basically the Nazi's were all west german's in the simplified official narrative

 

[JohnnyRaz]

I could be wrong, but the east didn't have a formal process of denazification in the social/educational sense- while they prosecuted leading nazi's after the war, this petered out, and the focus was on the DDR building on the heritage of of the german left/communists (luxembourg etc.)

basically the Nazi's were all west german's in the simplified official narrative

very scholarly article on this here..

Integration or Exclusion: Former National Socialists in the GDR/Integration oder Ausgrenzung: Ehemalige Nationalsozialisten in der DDR on JSTOR

Dietmar Remy, Axel Salheiser, Integration or Exclusion: Former National Socialists in the GDR/Integration oder Ausgrenzung: Ehemalige Nationalsozialisten in der DDR, Historical Social Research / Historische Sozialforschung, Vol. 35, No. 3 (133), Focus: Integration or Exclusion: Former National...

www.jstor.org

 

[ernesto]

There's a Nigerian-British guy I follow on twitter, lives in Berlin. I mostly follow him for football stuff but he does stuff on politics too. He says there's small towns in Germany that never really stopped being Nazi, which is both incredibly weird and kind of terrifying.

I suppose it reminds me of meeting a Texan years ago who told me (for the record she was disgusted by it) that there's still small towns where she's from where if you're black you avoid these places at night time.

Can confirm.
Was in Ruddelstadt on paddy's weekend. 4hours on a bus east of Frankfurt.
There waste lads walking around with 'white power' hoodies and there was a far right bar and lads with gang patches on their denim jackets, big scary looking cunts.

 

[David Kronenbourg]

*takes a huge sip of coffee and looks up German politics*

 

[taubstumm]

germany, mad place altogether

next possible big things on the horizon:
- wagenknecht splitting from die linke and starting a new party
- afd continuing relentless rise, starts forming coalitions with CDU in various bundesländer
- german greens having some kind of political nervous breakdown after ukraine disaster reality becomes undeniable
- some kind of truly nasty spat with poland, who the hell knows how that shakes out
- some sort of real deindustrialisation or general economic shock happens, somewhere
- franco-german tandem falls apart somehow, germany stops gaining the benefits of being a silent co-owner of big parts of north africa

or maybe something else entirely...

basically something has to break in germany, somewhere, probably some time soon

 

[Deadmanposting]

Germany's in a tough spot of stagnation and borderline malaise

It has coasted on it's mastery of old industries for too long, not given enough investment to newer ones.
There's an obsession in German politics with fiscal prudence, and this has hurt infrastructure and otehr investment
It can't buy cheap Russian gas, and the Chinese economy cratering means they can't sell their way out of it. Also local Chinese firms have nicked the German know-how and don't need Germany as much anymore.
In a time where reducing carbon is of prime importance, Germany performed the spectacular own goal of banning nuclear power
Germany has a dwindling population of workers, immigration is not helping brigde this gap - most of the UKR refugees they took in are women and children. Germany is much better at welcoming refugees than skilled workers.
The trains have stopped running on time.

The ever-more fractured make up of the German government make the necessary fixes harder to come by. Not that just getting different parties to agree with each other - but the kind of big changes needed (more of the same from the same old folks won't work) might mean agreeing with the AfD on some things, and no one wants to hand a win to a burgeoning competitor that their base hates.
And teh bureaucracy there makes change harder to implement than other countries

She's in a right old pickle, Frau Deutschland. But I still like her chances.

 

[pete]

Germany's in a tough spot of stagnation and borderline malaise

It has coasted on it's mastery of old industries for too long, not given enough investment to newer ones.
There's an obsession in German politics with fiscal prudence, and this has hurt infrastructure and otehr investment
It can't buy cheap Russian gas, and the Chinese economy cratering means they can't sell their way out of it. Also local Chinese firms have nicked the German know-how and don't need Germany as much anymore.
In a time where reducing carbon is of prime importance, Germany performed the spectacular own goal of banning nuclear power
Germany has a dwindling population of workers, immigration is not helping brigde this gap - most of the UKR refugees they took in are women and children. Germany is much better at welcoming refugees than skilled workers.
The trains have stopped running on time.

The ever-more fractured make up of the German government make the necessary fixes harder to come by. Not that just getting different parties to agree with each other - but the kind of big changes needed (more of the same from the same old folks won't work) might mean agreeing with the AfD on some things, and no one wants to hand a win to a burgeoning competitor that their base hates.
And teh bureaucracy there makes change harder to implement than other countries

She's in a right old pickle, Frau Deutschland. But I still like her chances.

You wouldn’t bet against them in a global competition eh?

 

[Deadmanposting]

You wouldn’t bet against them in a global competition eh?

They are the most Chumbawumbaist of nations. Can't keep 'em down.
A remarkable, resilient, and sexy people.

If they can make reunification look like a speed bump, they can get through this.
Failing that, I will have to make Switzerland my new best friend.

 

[pete]

Bavarian deputy leader Aiwanger under pressure for old anti-Semitic flyer

The deputy premier of Bavaria, Hubert Aiwanger, is under pressure over a 1980s leaflet.

www.bbc.com

 

[Deadmanposting]

Someone showed Olaf my comments on this thread

German government pledges to cut taxes, bureaucracy – DW – 08/30/2023

The leaders of Germany's ruling coalition sought to project unity during a two-day retreat outside Berlin. Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced a major tax cut.

www.dw.com