Germany is an interesting variation on the post-Soviet problem. Fundamentally, the former Warsaw Pact countries all lacked market institutions, and faced a difficult transition developing these. I almost spent a year during in graduate living in Budapest teaching economics to faculty as part of a program that Jeff Sachs put together. The most serious problem was always who would end up controlling existing wealth and institutions (it was comical how we avoided calling it ‘the means of production’).
In most places, the process did not work well. In Russia, the criminal likes of Abramovich ended up controlling everything. One way or another, capital concentrated. The oddity of Germany compared to the others is that the ‘capital flight’ and concentration problems were both domestic, where in most places the capital flight involved taking wealth out of the country. Eastern elites really did not capture much of anything - and I suspect have been nurturing a grievance as ‘past elites’ ever since.
@Arminius
Not exactly the type of ‘elite’ you were talking about - but one of my ex-girlfriends had a father that was a singer/entertainer in the GDR, not huge but still had a somewhat privileged status.
When the reunification happened, he apparently was ecstatic expecting to now have a much bigger ‘market’ with the West and make more money. Instead at the time, East Germans just wanted the Western stars and West Germans mostly didn’t care about GDR singers.
Wars, invasions, famines, individual or mass migrations. All of this has made Europe what it is today: a vast and ever changing melting pot of different cultures, languages, religions. Since centuries.
As others have said, the mere idea of ‘pure’ blood linked to one nation or another is nothing more than a sick dream.
That is probably a great example, because you don’t ever pick that up in any ownership surveys or the like, but one can readily see how the resentment would last. Any idea what his politics are/were like?
He’s long dead, so I can only speculate about now…But like many at the time he fairly quickly turned to what was called PDS at the time (the de-facto successor to the SED) - although afaik he formerly really had been only a Socialist on paper (kind of had to to be in entertainment in the GDR), privately having sympathies for the more glamourous West.
You’d be a stump and you’d have died out a fair while back.
It is for right wing parties to stand down this hate rather than dabble with it. Ultimately the “union” would shaft itself if it does a deal with the AFD.
It seems here the Tories have signed up to it fully.
The Union is full on dabbling with it atm. Basically taking one AfD position after the other. Atm they’re trying to pull a stunt with a legislative proposal on immigration - leaving aside the concerns over whether that’s even going to stand any legal tests (international/national) - he’s explicitly stated that he doesn’t care if the AfD votes with them. It’s just a campaign stunt, but there’s a clear shift.
It might not happen now/after the next election, but the CDU at one point doing an alliance with the AfD is the real danger imo. Just look at what happened in Austria.
It almost looks as if the CDU might even opt for a minority government… with the tolerance of the AfD.
But I now believe them to be capable of anything, Merz is dangerous, the whole thing is really giving me a stomach ache.
The so called concept of pureblood is utterly an archaic shit thinking.
But don’t think Germans or any Europeans would have the same problem if it were other Europeans emigrating in.
It’s only when it’s people from another religion coming in that they find their way of life is threatened.
In some way, I do agree that stricter immigration controls are needed. That doesn’t put me in the far right bit. Maybe center - right on issues related to immigration. Might not even be a popular stand to take on here.
It’s not in the favour of any country to have a very lax immigration process. And neither do the right wing extremists’s version does them any favours.
But I suspect the ship has long since sailed for there to be any rational discourse on immigration now.
But by having idiotic immigration requirements, you are going to face stupid consequences.
One of which entails the immigrants carrying their quarrels/disputes over to the adopted homeland. (I’m looking at you Canada)
And the other being , radical far right retards taking this on as an election issue and turning the country’s direction into a wholly unneeded direction.
Musk’s comment was about ancient ‘nation’ stuff. Which is particularly ridiculous given Germany’s history. Germany as a nation state in the modern sense didn’t start before 1871.
There’s obviously racism and various religious isms, but there also are strong nationalist elements within these European right wingers.
And the constant mixing up of ‘lax immigration’ and asylum isn’t helping either.
Personally don’t believe isms are a European or ‘Western’ exclusivity and it’s fairly easy criticism from countries that don’t have to deal with mass immigration
India’s having its problems with illegal immigration as well.
And fwiw. I’ve worked for a company in the past which was specialising in legal immigration to Canada , Australia. The standards of the Canadian and Australian authorities then were lax AF. They were happy enough accepting people who wouldn’t cut it in the Indian workforce.
I’m assuming that the same standards w.r.t quality of labour exist for other countries too.
When you dig into how a country actually managed their immigration system it is generally night and day different than the criticisms of it.
I do not know the details of how Germany manages immigration. But I know how America does and see the same people lying about that, purposefully confusing the conversation, now chiming in regarding Germany and other European countries.