Germany’s domestic intelligence agency last week classified the largest opposition party, the AfD, as “confirmed right-wing extremist.” This has intensified debates over whether or not to ban the party.
On Friday, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) was classified as “confirmed right-wing extremist” by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV).
Now, there has been a first fallout: two AfD politicians and parliamentarians are not allowed to accompany Hesse’s Minister for European affairs, Manfred Pentz, on a trip to Serbia and Croatia. Pentz explained that he could not expect international partners “to sit down at the same table with representatives of a party that has been confirmed as right-wing extremist.”
Further measures also threaten the radical right-wing party: several federal states want to examine whether being a civil servant, including judges, police officers, teachers, or soldiers, is still compatible with being a member of the AfD.
It will only serve to make AfD supporters even more convinced they are right. The leaders of the party might stay quiet but they are not that important, nobody on the top really believes their own ideology.
But the perception of being silenced by the government is a great motivator for those who feel emotionally connected to those ideas which seems to be about 20% of the German voters.
Do you reason with pedophiles, trying to convince them of why what they do is wrong?
Or do you at least stop them from getting material and close to kids first?
Are the Afd voters pedophiles?
If you have large part to f the population moving to support fascism, them they need to be addressed. Their real issues need to be addressed. It doesn’t just go away.
First you cordon, then you address.
And yes, fascists are the pedophiles of politics and society.
Caring what the fascists think is a recipe for failure. All they respect is power. You don’t persuade them, the best you can do is behavior modification.
This only works if fascists are not the majority. But they are.
The often mentioned “silent majority” are actually latent fascists who were previously apathetic. They are awake now and have the momentum, the cultural power, and the dominant position in public discourse. Any move that validates them is dangerous.
You saw the silent majority on the streets when that “remigration” talk leaked out of closed AfD circles: The streets were literally not big enough to contain them. 70% oppose any other party going in coalition with them (unsurprisingly, the rest are AfD, BSW, or FDP voters), about half want to see them banned, which is a question more nuanced than “I want them gone”.
I guess that after a ban, the BSW could gobble up most of that support for them. And while Wagenknecht is a clown and at least veering towards Nazbol she’s far less of a danger to democracy.
They’re convinced they’re right regardless of what we do. You can’t reason with people like that.
Precisely. They’re going to be claiming to be victims regardless. You don’t reason with that.
So let them.
At the very least it will buy us a few years before the next far-right party establishes itself. Don’t see the downside.
Source?
They are constantly invited to talk shows, news interviews, get frontpages of national magazines etc. and they are still convinced they are silenced.