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Mainstream politicians express alarm while lead candidate in Saxony-Anhalt welcomes congratulations from Elon Musk

Mainstream politicians around Europe have expressed alarm after the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) swept to a historic state election victory in Germany, while nationalist figures cheered the result as a mandate for change.

While falling just short of an absolute majority, the AfD surged into first place in the Saxony-Anhalt state election on Sunday, exit polls ⁠showed, putting the far right within reach ​of power at ‌the state level for ‌the first time since the second world war.

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[–] WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world 116 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (8 children)

Now watch as "liberals" continue to do nothing to stop the fascist propaganda machines causing the spread of the mental illness, because they are bankrolled by the fascists in the corporate economic elite.

They'll also continue sowing the seeds of fascism by colluding with the elite to extract wealth from the population. Buckle up. All of this has happened before, and all of it will happen again.

The Weimar Republic did the same god damn thing.

[–] MiddleAgesModem@lemmy.world 69 points 2 weeks ago (9 children)

As usual, the conservatives are given a pass and then liberals assigned all the blame.

This place is absolute fucking joke.

[–] TheJesusaurus@piefed.ca 47 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

No they aren't. The liberals and conservatives are both being blamed because they are both part of the problem. 2 sides of the same coin.

Liberals are being assigned blame because they are worthy of blame.

Conservatives know they are to blame, telling them that does nothing. Liberals think they are helping the working class and at the very least are discomforted when confronted with the reality of their actions (sometimes).

[–] LittleBorat3@lemmy.world 7 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

We don't have liberals or a two party system or whatever you have in the US.

This dumb Propaganda shit on lemmy that the left is to blame for the fascism that people voted for really bores me by now.

None of this is the lefts fault.

[–] TheJesusaurus@piefed.ca 11 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

I'm not American and you do have liberals, and liberals aren't the left.

[–] SpongyAneurysm@feddit.org 2 points 2 weeks ago

Our so-called liberals are the FDP.

But this term means very different things here, than it does in US politics. But you're right: they are definitely not the left.

[–] Tempus_Fugit@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

In the US, the neoliberals have held power over the Democrat party since Ronald Reagan was president in the 1980s. Liberal is shorthand for neoliberal and are considered left here. They are very much to blame for the current state of the US. They offshored jobs, busted unions, weakened education, and cut welfare programs to benefit the elites just like the conservatives have.

[–] visch@quokk.au 5 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Surely liberal isn’t short for neoliberal.

[–] Tempus_Fugit@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

It is in american parlance. When you hear right-wingers rally against "liberals" they are talking about neoliberals. If they meant classical liberals they'd be talking about themselves.

[–] anewfox@lemmy.zip 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

It is in american parlance.

no it is not. in common american parlance, "liberal" refers to the democratic party and is treated like a left-wing position. only leftists use "liberal" (well, "libs") to mean "neoliberal." the latter is obviously way more correct, but that doesn't mean the average person uses it that way, the average person is politically illiterate.

[–] WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

Nah. You just don't understand how uneducated, indoctrinated, and mentally-ill American conservatives are.

90+% of them absolutely have no fucking idea what the difference between a classical liberal or neoliberal is. Conservatives are closer to neoliberals than classical liberals. They don't care though, because they've been indoctrinated with the mental illness of fascism.

[–] Miaou@jlai.lu 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

But you also don't have any left at all, which doesn't help.

Even fucking bsw has a point when calling die linke just another socdem party. And neither of these party is even doing well in the urns.

From a French PoV, German politics are really cooked. Overton window is more right wing than us, and the votes are also more concentrated to the right.

[–] LittleBorat3@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

BSW should figure out who they even are before they sling any shit. They are putins Nazicommunist party and you need to mentally unwell to vote for them.

I don't have a problem with the socialists going socdem because there is presumably a large gap there.

The Socdems by name sold out more than 25 years ago.

[–] lemdeggity@lemmy.dbzer0.com 16 points 2 weeks ago (6 children)

There may be a gap here in the definition of "liberal". Liberalism is a political philosophy that also encompasses most traditional conservatives. It is different from the colloquial usage. It's loosely defined as the belief in individual freedoms, including the right to private property. It is inherently capitalist and therefore socialists, communists and anarchists generally do not consider them to be of the left.

[–] LittleBorat3@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

If you split yourself off the "left in the widest sense" you have 5 percent of the votes and you are essentially meaningless. Stuck to your values but meaningless.

The left does not need more splitting while the right manages to rally behind one or two people.

[–] lemdeggity@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 2 weeks ago

As I say, liberals believe in capitalism by definition. The impact of your vote once every few years in an election under this system pales in comparison to the influence that the owner class have due to their wealth and power. This is fundamental. This is why you get all the anti-liberal sentiment from anti-capitalists.

Furthermore you talk about convincing some percentage of voters in order to change the system. The early turnout figure for this election is 54% and that's considered high... What of the non voters?

[–] Miaou@jlai.lu 3 points 2 weeks ago

Unless your election system is FPTP, I don't see a problem with doing just 5%.

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[–] dreadbeef@lemmy.dbzer0.com 13 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

When the home team who is on defense just allows goal after goal with no defense, and scoring no goals of their own... that's a bad team and deserves criticism if they're the bulwark defenders who are supposed to oppose fascism. Fascists are winning and that is the fault of liberals for a lack of opposition.

[–] UnequalExchange@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

Exactly.

If I hire a body guard and theyve allowed me to get shot 69 times over the last 20 years and they NEVER change their tactics or our tactics to keep me and them safe.... what do you think Im eventually gonna think about them? ...

[–] Tja@programming.dev 11 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Sometimes I think it must be a psyops by the billionaires to divide and demoralize the left. Then I remember some people are just so dumb.

[–] Tolc@lemmy.world 10 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

you seriously think liberals are part of left? lol.

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[–] TheJesusaurus@piefed.ca 6 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)
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[–] Tolc@lemmy.world 10 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

because liberals are the prime reason of fascists rise in power. They pretend to be good while oiling the fascist machine

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[–] timbuck2themoon@sh.itjust.works 9 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

It's their go to.

Like yeah, milquetoast policies ultimately lead us here but they have more fury for the people doing moderately OK but ultimately unsatisfactory things than the people actually going hog wild, robbing everyone blind, instituting fascism, etc.

[–] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 4 points 2 weeks ago

The person breaking the lock and leaving deserves about as much blame as the burglar.

[–] ddplf@szmer.info 6 points 2 weeks ago

Who are the liberals if not the conservatives?

[–] Tempus_Fugit@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (6 children)

Liberals are fascist collaborators and work on behalf of the elites. The sooner liberals are gone the faster we can fix these issues. Conservatives are just plain evil.

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[–] Waterpumpee@lemmus.org 17 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Ppl vote them because other (big) parties dont address their problems. Also % thresholds for democratic participation keeps smaller parties with reasonable programmes away from the table. Wasnt too long ago EU intruduced this. So this is the consequence of continous political failure. I'd also argue voters are aware they get robbed by politicians accepting bribes direct or indirect. And they vote any party (falsely here, see tesla feat) promising to crack down on the old political class. Trump did the same (but didnt follow through obv).

People are desperate.

[–] LittleBorat3@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

No the regions in the east have gotten too much funding for infrastructure and such. The money that was worth exactly zero got exchanged 1:1 to DM.

This cost billions. Streets in the east look fantastic. Where I grew up in the west everything is broken.

This is the thanks the west gets from these fuckin people.

Fuck them, fuck their "problems"

[–] Miaou@jlai.lu 1 points 2 weeks ago

I'm not German but I've always heard the exact opposite...

[–] y0kai@anarchist.nexus 11 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

"History repeats itself first as farce, then as tragedy"

Let's hope we're just on the "farce" part lol

[–] Aqarius@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago

Other way around: the tragedy is first.

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[–] Taldan@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

Can you explain what you mean by liberals in this case?

It's an overloaded term that means very different things when used by different people in different contexts

[–] Smaile@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Lot of you loser have been chomping at the bit to point the finger back at other, Germany had one state flip not the nation as a whole, and not the eu as a whole either, no in any way the same as americas failure at all.

[–] Buffalox@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (5 children)

Now watch as “liberals” continue to do nothing

This comment is so ignorant about the reality it hurts.
There are many actual legal actions taken against AfD and AfD members already, including a period of time where AfD was not allowed to receive briefings regarding national security, something that is a right for all members of the Bundestag.

Personally I'm sad they didn't get a majority, because that's probably the best cure, people need to see how damaging their policies are, and how stupid they really are. AfD is a protest party, people vote for because they are unhappy with the current situation. Caused by Covid, Ukraine War, Russian energy sanctions against EU before the Ukraine war that was very damaging to German industries, and now Eu sanctions against Russia that have similar effect. Followed by the damage on energy supplies like wood pellets from the Ukraine war, and on top of all that Trumps ridiculous tariffs and the effects of the Iran war.
This is at the same time we have increased competition from China.

Europe has been in a perfect storm for nearly a decade now caused by outside forces. Except of course Brexit can be argued to not be outside when that happened. And although Brexit was far worse for UK, it was also damaging to EU.

AfD is by far the strongest in the old Communist Eastern Germany, because despite massive support from the old Western Germany they feel cheated, and some accuse the politicians of privatizing only to the advantage of West Germany. They simply refuse to realize how far behind they were economically at the time.

On top of all the above Putin has made a massive effort of misinformation in Germany, to promote the extreme right, and dissatisfaction. Despite we are actually doing pretty well in EU considering the circumstances this past decade.

[–] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 13 points 2 weeks ago

There are many actual legal actions taken against AfD and AfD members already, including a period of time where AfD was not allowed to receive briefings regarding national security, something that is a right for all members of the Bundestag.

But nothing to actually solve ordinary people's problems and show that there's a way other than fascism. In the absence of that, defensive democracy is nothing more than theater.

people vote for because they are unhappy with the current situation. Caused by Covid, Ukraine War, Russian energy sanctions against EU before the Ukraine war that was very damaging to German industries, and now Eu sanctions against Russia that have similar effect. Followed by the damage on energy supplies like wood pellets from the Ukraine war, and on top of all that Trumps ridiculous tariffs and the effects of the Iran war. This is at the same time we have increased competition from China.

Yeah, it's all those evil foreigners. It can't be the awful mismanagement of the political establishment. Housing crisis? No way.

PS: The impact of Ukraine on energy prices is a direct consequence of EU countries slow-walking decarbonization.

[–] jaxxed@lemmy.world 10 points 2 weeks ago

Legal actions are the anti-solution. Making people feel that they don't need the afd because other parties are meeting their needs is the real solution.

[–] Seleni@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Personally I'm sad they didn't get a majority, because that's probably the best cure, people need to see how damaging their policies are, and how stupid they really are.

Be careful what you wish for. That’s the attitude America had that earned us another run of the Orange pedo.

It was also the attitude of Weimar Germany towards the Nazi party.

[–] Buffalox@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

That’s the attitude America had

No it's not, Trump was a proven malignant narcissist. AfD is not a person, but a political party, as soon as such people have to agree on things to make real policies, they tend to crumble.
The US situation is very very different, and is based in a society that has become more sociopathic over many decades. The role has as President of USA has no equal in Germany, nobody is granted that much power in Germany. Trump with his extreme narcissism would be very unlikely to be able to function in German politics.

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