German Federal Election 2017 - or alternatively "the end"

“Wir werden unserer land zurück holen “

#punchaNazi

 

And that 1949 result for the CDU is not the best comparison as there were smaller conservative or center-right parties that won votes that election and who either merged later into the CDU or whose voters ended up there.

I am not German but as I find Merkel the only adult in the west these days I am happy with the result though I hoped for a higher number by the Union.

 

Commies and Nazis battling it out on the streets of Berlin -- what could possibly go wrong?

 

Are the greens even going to make the bundesthing.

They got less than 10%

 

If AfD got at least 11 percent it's Ok to be german citizen.

 

I'd believe this in 2017.

 

What does this even mean?

AfD are pigs just like the alt-right populist movement in the US.

 

It's good for nationalists in Germany !!

 

What I find worrisome is that this happened at a time when the German economy is strong and unemployment low. I also find it worrisome that this occurred even though there is the presence of a left wing populist party so that you have about 22% of the vote going to parties that are not happy with the post war / post reunification consensus.

 

The Germans accepted 1 million new migrants and refugees in the last year. The Germans haven't got a history of absorbing migrants the way the US does. In fact, everyone in Europe is pretty shit at it. So this kind of right-wing reaction is expected.

It will be a real worry if the Syrian war ends and absorption continues to not occur.

 

I get the point that Merkel screwed up, though I think she acted with the best of intentions. I think she figured she would take them in, give them work permits, and then they would spread out within the EU. I was in Germany when the groups were heading up Hungary and I will say there was a bit of panic on the air (we were in Garmisch for a few days and there were Bavarian state police in force at the rail station even though it was sort of our of the way).

If the Syrian war ends (and it is not just Syria at this point but a broader civil war in the Middle East) , hopefully the main reason for the migration will stop. Many of the refugees will want to go back and try to rebuild their lives, but a lot will stay. And you still have the economic migrants coming up from Africa. Fact is there is no easy answer to any of this. And (as Justin Trudeau is learning) a quick PR gain can turn into a political problem.

 

But lots of Germans don't benefit from the country's current economic run of success. Poverty and inequalities are increasing. People rejecting well-established parties and reaching the extremes in no surprise to me. That's what has happened eveywhere in Europe since 10 years. Germany is just the last example of it.

 

National debt is Ok in Germany and Americas.

 

I don't think she screwed up. I think about half of any society is filled with tolerant, welcoming individuals. The other half sees foreigners and feels fear in their amygdalae. Merkel's not to blame for that, although a savvier politician might have coupled the immigration surge with a change in policy regarding multiculturalism.

 

She completely mishandled the situation. She expected that there would be a sharing of the refugees among EU members -- considering the pressure on Greece and Italy from the migrants that washed up there she acted in haste. But most of the rest of the EU just said no. So now what does Germany do about these 1 million refugees?