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submitted 5 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world

Germans under 25 gave the AfD 16% of their vote in the European elections, with particular support in the east

Paul Friedrich, 16, could not wait to cast his first ballot and had no doubt which German party had earned his support in the watershed European elections.

“Correct, I voted AfD,” he said proudly in the bustle of the commuter railway station in Brandenburg an der Havel, an hour from central Berlin.

The far-right Alternative für Deutschland made particularly stunning gains on Sunday among young voters. For the first time in a national poll, 16- and 17-year-olds could cast their ballots – a reform that had been strongly backed by left-leaning parties.

After overwhelmingly supporting the Greens five years ago, Germans under 25 gave the AfD 16% of their vote – an 11-point rise – helping place the party second behind the opposition CDU-CSU conservatives and well ahead of the Social Democrats of the chancellor, Olaf Scholz.

The AfD tapped deep wells of support in the former communist east, winning in every state including Brandenburg, where it claimed 27.5% of the vote.

And his concerns echo those of many teenagers and twentysomethings in town: fears of war spreading in Europe, inflation, economic decline, “unchecked” immigration and, above all, violent crime, which they say is rampant when they use public transport or hang out in public spaces at night.

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[-] doeknius_gloek@discuss.tchncs.de 83 points 5 months ago

And his concerns echo those of many teenagers and twentysomethings in town: fears of war spreading in Europe, inflation, economic decline, “unchecked” immigration and, above all, violent crime, which they say is rampant when they use public transport or hang out in public spaces at night.

The AfD will not solve a single one of these problems. Idiots.

[-] Theprogressivist@lemmy.world 46 points 5 months ago

If anything, AfD is going to accelerate all those problems.

[-] boredtortoise@lemm.ee 1 points 5 months ago

That's the idea. Many think that an accelerated collapse is the time to take power

[-] slaacaa@lemmy.world 17 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Neither do the current governments, hence the rise of far right everywhere (not just Germany).

Left-wing policies would help solve many of these issues, but politicians would rather win the next election, than take a risk and stand for true change - especially if it goes against our billionaire/corporate overlords.

[-] rekabis@lemmy.ca 77 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Crime is a result of desperation and lack of economic opportunities.

Chronic addictions are a result of untreated/untreatable trauma.

Homelessness arises from poverty and precarious economic conditions, and can trigger both of the prior two.

And yet, these people are voting for the parties that would seek to implement and perpetuate poverty, precariousness, trauma and economic inequality.

…the fuq?

[-] Killing_Spark@feddit.de 65 points 5 months ago

What's really important is this: Crime is not on the rise in Germany. The fear is entirely manufactured. The fear is real and explains the results but the fear itself is manufactured.

[-] assassin_aragorn@lemmy.world 18 points 5 months ago

This is common strategy to the right -- they try to convince everyone that there's violent criminals everywhere that no one's taking care of.

[-] KISSmyOSFeddit@lemmy.world 12 points 5 months ago

The only rampant crime in Brandenburg is the food

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[-] Beaver@lemmy.ca 54 points 5 months ago

Jesus Christ people, increasing funding for the police has never been proven to deter crime. It is the result of an economic failure. The parents have failed these kids.

[-] ChicoSuave@lemmy.world 12 points 5 months ago

Reactionary policies are always a bad attempt at solving the problem and it's hard for many folks to see that, much less deeply understand it enough to guide their decisions. People see something they don't and they want it gone, not to study it to banish it.

It's part of the appeal for right wing parties. Authoritarians use force to squash the problem and it feels good to see toxic equivalency meted out to those who hurt us. The goal isn't to stop crime from happening, it's to cause crime to know what it is up against and that will stop most petty crime. But organized crime will rise up and become a second government to those who wanted strength over study, brawn over brains.

Let them live in their cage. They made it, let them enjoy the fruits of their labor.

[-] someacnt_@lemmy.world 2 points 5 months ago

I feel like I shall kill myself before world goes a mess with war..

[-] Beaver@lemmy.ca 4 points 5 months ago

Please don't, you mean something to someone.

[-] manucode@infosec.pub 39 points 5 months ago

Being concerned about "unchecked immigration" in Brandenburg an der Havel of all places. This town has lost more than a quarter of its population since 1990. It has no immigration problem but an emigration problem.

[-] volvoxvsmarla@lemm.ee 29 points 5 months ago

I'm honestly baffled by how immigration in Germany is supposed to be a problem. We have a horribly low birth rate. Our retirement security is basically gone because there won't be enough working people. Retirement homes, hospitals, kindergartens, all these places suffer from a lack of personnel. These jobs are notoriously stressful, have horrible working conditions, and underpay extremely.

The free market has obviously failed to solve this problem. Even with unions and tariffs: An increase of 1€ per hour does a good living not make. Neither are bonuses a long term solution. And even if you made these jobs attractive af: we will still not have enough people choosing them anytime soon. And even if we did, it's simply still not enough people in the workforce to secure pension for the elderly and generations to come.

And let's be very real for a second here. Skilled immigration from third countries (i.e. not EU, not talking about third world here) isn't an easy ride. These high paying job offers of privileged jobs like IT or science are not going away but they are also rather rare. It's a niche thing compared to the waves of immigration of, well, low paying and often low skilled jobs.

And while I can "understand" if an asshole wants to cut the former, why would you want to cut the latter? Jesus, no one is stealing your job because I doubt you want to work cleaning toilets at McDonald's. If you want to go wipe asses in retirement homes you'll find a job stat no matter whether the Ukrainian, Romanian or Syrian girls apply too.

We are literally insanely exploitative of immigrants. We either have a brain drain from countries that immensely need them, or cause them to have a demographic crisis of their own by buffering our birth rates with their people, or we simply give them jobs that pay so little that they hardly survive. All that while doing shit for their integration into society. But they still pay taxes and buy products in the supermarket and ride the tram and everything. We get all the positives and they get all the negatives. Why would you even want to get rid of that if you're a cunt?

[-] sensiblepuffin@lemmy.world 13 points 5 months ago

This is the case in essentially every developed nation. Immigration is not just beneficial, but necessary for the wheels of capitalism to churn. Not sure what people think is going to happen when those who pick fruit for cash under the table or those who man the Taco Bell drive-thru at 2 am are deported, but I'm guessing their plan doesn't involve applying for those jobs themselves.

[-] Treczoks@lemmy.world 38 points 5 months ago

And how much of that violent crime is committed by rightwingers and politically motivated?

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[-] 555@lemmy.world 16 points 5 months ago

Okay Germany, you had two strikes. Let’s keep it there.

[-] unminded@feddit.de 3 points 5 months ago

As a german, pls keep harris on standby.

[-] Skates@feddit.nl 13 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

What the fuck do you mean crime is out of hand. Motherfucker, you had nazis putting people in concentration camps, your current crime is well in hand you literal fucking 16 year old. This is really getting on my tits.

[-] GeoGio7@lemmy.world 6 points 5 months ago

This kid is going to feel so embarrassed looking back at this after a few years... He's only 16.

[-] Everythingispenguins@lemmy.world 5 points 5 months ago

Okay setting aside the politics, fear mongering, and whatnot. Is there any verifiable truth to this?

The fear mongering around crime is happening in the US too, which is verifiably untrue.

[-] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 6 points 5 months ago

It's true, to an extent, but not because migrants bad. You can look at this, but the short of it is that the stats you see in the news are like that mostly because they're counting illegal immigration and illegal stay as crimes in their stats, which as you can probably guess is pretty flawed. You remove that and the numbers look... still bad but a lot more realistic. Then you realize that migrants are more likely to be poor young men (aka the demographic most likely to commit crime). As the article explains, Syrians for example are actually underrepresented in crime stats, because they tend to be complete family units (most Syrians in Germany were allowed to bring their families over) so the demographics are more representative of a normal society.

[-] Everythingispenguins@lemmy.world 2 points 5 months ago

Thank you that was an interesting read. I have always been amused by the ridiculousness of branding immigrants as criminals for immigranting illegally there for making them ineligible for immigration because they are criminals.

It sort of seem like the secret take away is that the much of the perceived crime is being created because of immigration, but not by immigrants. These attacks on immigrants would be unreported. So not in the statics but still perceived by the public. Very catch 22.

Also it is "amazing" how when men feel they are need and useful to there society, family unit, etc. They tend to be much better, productive members of society. But when you tell them that they are useless and unneeded. They quickly become the useless people they are told they are. (I am sure this is woman thing too, I feel it worse for men idk)

[-] Wanderer@lemm.ee 2 points 5 months ago

Germany doesn't report crime as clearly as the Danish do but the countries share a lot of similarities.

https://inquisitivebird.substack.com/p/the-effects-of-immigration-in-denmark

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[-] veganpizza69@lemmy.world 2 points 5 months ago
[-] Duke_Nukem_1990@feddit.de 1 points 5 months ago

What is the gender divide on those votes?

[-] Killing_Spark@feddit.de 5 points 5 months ago

That apparently differs a lot for age groups. Seems like in younger cohorts it's more evenly distributed, but overall it's the males that are overrepresented

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this post was submitted on 14 Jun 2024
158 points (95.9% liked)

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