This discussion exemplifies the blindness to ethnic realities that afflicts Western elites and is leading Europe and the Anglosphere to disaster.
The two commentators, one German and one English, attempt to explain the dramatic rise of the German political party, the Alternative for Deutschland (AfD). That is an important question. They begin truthfully enough by noting that the rise began when the previous Chancellor, Angela Merkel, opened Germany’s doors to mass immigration from the Middle East and Africa in 2015-2016. That is an important fact, that one might expect to have led to a discussion of the resulting crime wave and cultural shock, and consequent reaction by an angry public.
Instead, the German commentator accuses the AfD of being “far right”. When challenged, he cannot explain why the AfD is not simply “right”. The best he comes up with is the assertion that the AfD seems to end the European Union, a goal he thinks could only be achieved “with tanks”. He reluctantly concedes that it is lawful to withdraw from the EU, but implies that it is unlawful to attempt to end the organisation altogether. The obvious objection is, what is so illegal about attempting to persuade other governments to withdraw? What would be illegal about a German government deploying its diplomatic staff to promote dissolution of the EU?
The discussion goes downhill from there. Despite dating the start of the AfD’s rise to Merkel’s disastrous opening of the border, the two men attribute Germany’s problems purely to economics. According to them, the rise of an anti-immigration party is due to economic problems alone. They offer no poll data on why millions of Germans support the AfD. No crime statistics. No reference to the social science literature on ethnic markers or the psychology of identity and homeland.
They offer no description of demographic change or its origins in globalist ideology. They also think that the pro-Brexit vote was due to Britain’s economic woes, not to popular opposition to rising diversity.
One wonders what it will take to shake such people out of this trance-like state.
Frank Salter