Conservative politicians like Merz get into power -> the overall situation for the average citizen gets worse -> far right parties parties gain popularity
It’s so predictable it’s just sad. As much as I’d like to see the current government fail I know that it would help the AfD even more. The possibility to vote for left-wing parties that might actually begin to solve some economic and social issues just doesn’t seem to be in anyone’s radar, and even if it happened the fixes would probably take years to have tangible effects.
Conservative politicians like Merz get into power -> the overall situation for the average citizen gets worse -> far right parties parties gain popularity
That’s a bit too simplified, tbh.
From the 76 years of Federal Republic of Germany until now, only 24 have not been under a conservative chancellor and the overall situation for the average citizen has definitely improved in those 76 years. I’d argue the problem isn’t conservative politicians per se, it is that politicians such as Merz apparently cannot offer what is needed at this moment.
It improved in spite of them, not because of them. Worker organizing and direct action is the stick that forces governments to occasionally go against their capitalist overlords; remove that and the current state of the West is what you get.
I agree that the overall situation has improved, but there’s policies like the entire pension system that are fundamentally broken and requires more and more money each year, but enacting significant changes is something a conservative party just won’t do. And there’s stuff that could be done, like the Scandinavian model where part of the pension fond is invested in the stock market, or just reintroducing a wealth tax, among other things. But you need a progressive party to do anything except keep the status quo and watch everything go to shit. (Well I guess the AfD would also enact significant changes but let’s not get into that)
In the 2021 federal election the AfD lost 2.2% compared to the 2017 election. That was under Merkel. Given Covid the economy was not doing amazing either. The big difference was that climate change was a huge issue, with is something the AfD does not serve well.
The simple truth is the next election is likely in three years. The left-wing parties are reorganising and some big things might very well happen in the meantime. An end of the war in Ukraine might happen. That might well remove Russian money for the AfD. Also US sentiment tends to flow towards Germany. So a big left wing victory might very well help the left here. You also have the very simple fact that in the last election the left party came back from near death and the Greens managed their second best result ever, while part of a deeply unpopular government.
Germany is not lost and it is foolish to pretend it is. The next elections are certain to be democratic and banning the AfD remains an option.
Conservative politicians like Merz get into power -> the overall situation for the average citizen gets worse -> far right parties parties gain popularity
It’s so predictable it’s just sad. As much as I’d like to see the current government fail I know that it would help the AfD even more. The possibility to vote for left-wing parties that might actually begin to solve some economic and social issues just doesn’t seem to be in anyone’s radar, and even if it happened the fixes would probably take years to have tangible effects.
That’s a bit too simplified, tbh.
From the 76 years of Federal Republic of Germany until now, only 24 have not been under a conservative chancellor and the overall situation for the average citizen has definitely improved in those 76 years. I’d argue the problem isn’t conservative politicians per se, it is that politicians such as Merz apparently cannot offer what is needed at this moment.
It improved in spite of them, not because of them. Worker organizing and direct action is the stick that forces governments to occasionally go against their capitalist overlords; remove that and the current state of the West is what you get.
So much this!
I agree that the overall situation has improved, but there’s policies like the entire pension system that are fundamentally broken and requires more and more money each year, but enacting significant changes is something a conservative party just won’t do. And there’s stuff that could be done, like the Scandinavian model where part of the pension fond is invested in the stock market, or just reintroducing a wealth tax, among other things. But you need a progressive party to do anything except keep the status quo and watch everything go to shit. (Well I guess the AfD would also enact significant changes but let’s not get into that)
In the 2021 federal election the AfD lost 2.2% compared to the 2017 election. That was under Merkel. Given Covid the economy was not doing amazing either. The big difference was that climate change was a huge issue, with is something the AfD does not serve well.
The simple truth is the next election is likely in three years. The left-wing parties are reorganising and some big things might very well happen in the meantime. An end of the war in Ukraine might happen. That might well remove Russian money for the AfD. Also US sentiment tends to flow towards Germany. So a big left wing victory might very well help the left here. You also have the very simple fact that in the last election the left party came back from near death and the Greens managed their second best result ever, while part of a deeply unpopular government.
Germany is not lost and it is foolish to pretend it is. The next elections are certain to be democratic and banning the AfD remains an option.