Lone Candle
Champion of Truth
When we talk about parts of Germany being “left behind”, we are talking about first-world problems. These areas are still wealthy by world and historical standards. But, their wealth and economic growth is smaller than the big cities.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoQgoV-T8wM
The AfD wants Germany to distance relations with Europe and the United States while getting closer to Russia and China. This is weird for a party that claims to want Germany first and to focus on distinct German culture and values. Shouldn’t authoritarian Asiatic empires be the opposite of German values and culture? And don’t other European countries and the US have much closer values and culture? Long-term, and worst case scenarios, China and Russia are empires that would force the world under their authoritarian heel if they could. Despite America’s many flaws and self-interests, its goals are freedom, trade, and defense. True imperialism is antithetical to its ethos. When the AfD says German values, it seems to mean no immigrants and: imperial, anti-enlightenment, anti-Western, and fundamentally unChristian values.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFmpxuNxycM
The AfD has completely polarized a German town where disputes used to be easily resolved over a beer. They take over German villages as a strategy, first just establishing a base in a pub or something, then spreading their message, then polarizing the town by: ending trust, lying about anyone who speaks out, and suing and criminally reporting people who are against them. They also threaten opponents, especially AfD apostates. When dealing with external and internal opponents, the party focuses on threats and insults over discussion of the issues.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gedOEGjyMHA
In interviews, AfD supporters spout straight up Russian fake news propaganda. Others have the same complaints heard by Trump supporters in the US.
Interviewer interviews AfD supporters and asks them what about your life personally is going wrong that makes you like the AfD, and they talk about immigrants, the EU, etc, but when he asks again about their life personally, they have nothing to say. Another interviewer had the same experience with Trump supporters–they rave about whatever concern is in the right-wing zeitgeist at the moment, but have nothing to say about how their life is bad that makes them want to vote for Trump.
Back to Germany, people often are concerned about immigrant crime, but outside of a few highly publicized attacks, these attacks are rare.
Interviewees are straight up ignorant about the horrible things Hitler did.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2SjWowpynY
The AfD is heavily supported by Russian propaganda. The AfD is against stopping Russia from conquering Ukraine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwgFeOJH6tk
A woman gained popularity in the online right-wing space by pushing back hard against Metoo. She then hung out with Andrew Tate and got raped and assaulted.
We’ve got to be able to recognize the excesses of certain movements without championing actual bad guys, or downplaying how bad they actually are.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyXbhsrb4Rs
Ironically, right-wing nationalists that claim to focus on the priorities of their own country, are heavily funded and aided by foreign oligarchs and dictators. CPAC and the Heritage Foundation receive such foreign funding. Before Trump’s rise, Russia scouted Trump as a talent that could help them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1U0I2wI5UOc
The right’s dishonest response to violence
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANWsT2I6iMY
“Economics creates the conditions — insecurity, a sense of decline, distrust of elites. But immigration (framed as cultural threat, not just economic competition) is what converts that grievance into a right-wing populist vote. The slogan “It’s the economy, stupid” famously explained Bill Clinton’s 1992 win. For right-wing populism, researchers are now saying almost the opposite: it’s the culture, not just the economy.”
https://open.substack.com/pub/lonecandle/p/explaining-the-rise-of-trump-and?r=1o36hf&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
Japan has a right-wing populist movement that is anti-immigrant, wary of foreigners, and wants to return to Japan’s great past. It has connections with right wing movements in Germany and the US.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aynp7cpRlqg