Let's Talk About The German Political Situation...

The Situation hey everyone you might have seen that German politics is trending in the news these last few days uh and that is because recently the afd or alternative for Deutschland party which is often described as a populist right-wing party they had major wins uh in the state elections in turingia and a strong showing in Saxony these are two former East German states Germany's far right party the Nationalist alternative for Germany or afd won its first state election on Sunday and came a close second in another state and there's also a new Party On The Rise the BSW which is sort of a populace left party a new populist left-wing party also made big gains in what turned out to be a bad night for the ruling coalition government both of these things are stirring things up uh I think that we should talk about them I'd like to say a few words on it I also like to say that these topics can be really sensitive and devices and can kind of bring out the worst in people and I think it's really important to be able to just talk about them in a way that doesn't demonize other people and we've got to remember that everyone has different experiences different genetics different ways of thinking um and they're all people I think political discussion is important but fighting and and demonizing one another does not get anything done so let's talk a little bit about this while keeping that in mind so first a little Rise of the AfD bit of context about the afd alternative for deuts alternative for Germany uh this is a party that was founded in 2013 and initially uh it was mainly opposed to the European Union's handling of the Eurozone crisis and the party actually started out relatively mainstream it was economically conservative in its movements and it also appealed to those who are skeptical about the eu's financial policies but then as Germany faced a series of crises most notably the 2015 Refugee crisis the afd began to shift its focus and the party's ideas became a bit more populist more Nationalist and critical of immigration and sort of positioned itself as the main political force against Chancellor Angela merkel's open door policy for refugees at the time so over time the afd has evolved into a party that's often described as far right it's pretty strongly Nationalist and it calls for a significant tightening of Germany's immigration policies they're also critical of the EU and advocate for like a a roll back of the eu's powers and for more sovereignty for Germany as a nation the afd's rise has been quite fast especially in the Eastern parts of Germany where they won those elections like in regions like turingia and Saxony the party has really capitalized on places that have economic discontent uh and also cultural anxieties and then a general distrust for the current political establishment the recent election in turingia the IFD won 32.8% of the vote and I think that's a testament for How Deeply these issues resonate with many voter out there and this is a pretty big deal for Germany and for German politics that's why I see a lot of people talking about it and me talking about it here today now we got a little bit of background on the afd let's let's try and dive into why these parties are gaining so much traction I think there's a few reasons and I think they tell us quite a bit about the current state of Germany today the first would be economic discontent particularly people in the former East Germany those places that we mentioned they haven't really seen the same level of economic recovery as other parts of the country in in former West Germany the jobs are fewer people make less money the wages are lower and I think people are feel left behind by globalization and economic policies of the traditional parties that are currently in power uh the afd it Taps into this by promising to prioritize Germany's own citizens protecting jobs for German citizens curbing the immigration and pulling back from what they kind of see as overreach of the European Union so there's that with the economic issues then the big thing I think Refugee crisis a a turning point for Germany and the afd was the ref Refugee crisis in 2015 and when Angela Merkel who was inow at the time took in over a million refugees many fleeing war in Syria and other conflict zones side note thanks to the United States's horrible foreign policy and our war hawk leaders who love to Fe the military industrial complex creating these issues but don't get me started on that talk about that in another video but so anyway while this humanitarian effort of bringing in all the refugees it was praised by many it also sparked really significant backlash uh from others and this all fueled support for the afd and the afd has positioned themselves as the party that will put an end to what they describe as uncontrolled immigration uh and I think that really resonates with voters that feel that Germany's generosity in this humanitarian issue has come at too high of a cost so I think those are some of The New BSW Party the big reasons but it's actually not just like we said the afd there's also the BSW the new parties founded by Sarah vean connects it's a major political figure in Germany this is also attracting a lot of attention this had significant voting turnouts and the party is really new and it was started by people who formerly on dink or the left party uh and this is sort of described as a leftwing populism it's uh pulling voters who feel also economically insecure same as the afd party advocates for a strong social welfare program economic protectionism and greater government intervention to support German Workers uh and then they also have a cautious approach to immigration unlike many parties on on the traditional left the BW takes a more cautious stance on immigration and and they argue that Germany needs to ensure that its social safety net and public services aren't overwhelmed by the high levels of immigration and that sort of appeals to voters who might like more left-wing economic policies but are still at the same time uneasy about the cult cultural and social changes so it's uh it's interesting that both the afd and the BW are pulling voters and some of the these these issues are crossover for both both parties uh I think it's Political Framing really important to move on beyond the idea that politics is just a left versus right Spectrum I that's an oversimplification I know as humans we like to have simple answers and explanations that are easily digestible but in reality I think it's a lot more complex than that in one way that I like to think about politics is the political quadrant so you've got four quadrants and it looks at both economic and social issues so explaining here putting it up uh the the political quadrant here this is the economic dimension on one axis you have the economic policies ranging from left which is more government intervention in and more social welfare to the right which is more Market driven with less government involvement and that's the economic scale and then the social Dimension uh which ranges from libertarian which favors individual freedoms and less government control and social issues to authoritarian favoring more government control often in the name of security uh for the country so I think this uh is a better way to think about politics and then in this framework the afd might be seen as economically right leaning and socially authoritarian so up in the top right from the BW on the other hand would be economically left laning and uh and socially authoritarian pushing for a strong government to support its workers its German National workers so I think that this gives a little bit more of a complete picture of politics than just looking at it left vers right uh and like I said it's not just about left versus right it's about where people stand on a whole range of issues um including how much they value security versus Freedom or Community versus individualism uh and one thing that I like to think about um is the Horseshoe theory of politics so the Horseshoe Theory suggests that the far left and the far right rather than being at opposite ends of the political spectrum they actually end up quite close to each other uh in terms of tactics and certain beliefs especially when it comes to authoritarianism this is why going too far down the political Spectrum or in the political quadrant is is not good both extreme they'll reject sort of mainstream ideas and offer Simple Solutions to complex problems uh and sometimes even crossing paths on issues which we're seeing here with the afd and the BSW and this is what can explain why voters who are disillusioned with the traditional parties right now might be drawn to either the afd or the BSW even though these parties are traditionally seen as being on the total opposite ends of the political Spectrum that's why I What this means for Germany kind of like to think about the Horseshoe Theory there and I think overall there's a few implications for all of this that's going on with the German political situation one would be that Germany's political landscape is becoming more fragmented uh it voters are moving away from the traditional parties and towards more extreme and more populist parties and this makes it harder to form stable governments and could like also lead to more political instability in the future when you have a pendulum squeaking back and forth and both sides moving further and further to their respective sides it's not great and I think this also puts pressure on the traditional parties like the rise of the afd and BSW is a wakeup call for the CDU and the SPD and these traditional more Center parties uh and if these mainstream parties don't start addressing the concerns that these voters have it's just going to drive more people to the afd and to the BSW they'll risk losing even more ground so it' be interesting to see what they do in an effort to win back the voters but I think most importantly to to think about uh and remember is there we need more dialogue and understanding it's so easy to dismiss these voters as extremists but the truth is they have real concerns about their jobs their communities their families and the the future of the country that they live in and I think addressing concerns with empathy and open rather than condemnation is absolutely crucial for finding common ground and building a better political landscape where there can be positive change in the future and um yeah that's kind of those are some of my thoughts uh on on this right now guys I think it's really important also to understand that and this is really kind of my opinion but I think that no single human has the capacity or the ability to see the entire political Spectrum um in a broad way I think we all see it from our little corner um and there's no way to get the full picture we need back and forth between the political parties but the problem comes when these political parties get extreme and when one moves to the extreme then it's going to move to the extreme on the other side in reaction to it and so swinging the pendulum back and forth too far is always dangerous we need different sides of the political Spectrum uh a push and PLL a healthy push and poll with political parties uh that allow for our country to make good choices and move forward uh in in a a proper way but when you start getting extreme it's no good for anybody yeah that's that's just what I think very very curious to hear your guys' thoughts on the these issues whether you are German or whether you are or American or from another country and you have a different perspective on this whole thing please uh leave a comment and give me your thoughts on this whole German politics issue because there kind of a big deal right now so it's all for today guys thank you so much for watching I really appreciate it hope you have a lovely day and I will see you next time