The Rise of Neo-Nazi Far Right in Former East Germany

mzungu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118552717#Comment_118552717

I think facing the economic issues head-on will go a long way. Will it erase the problem entirely? Absolutely not. Trying to reduce it as much as possible is all that one can do. Stopping the problem at source (spending on housing, employment, infrastructure, education, health etc) is pro-active. Granted, those policies need to be well-thought-out and implemented properly to actually work.

generic_throwaway

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118557021#Comment_118557021

Well the left/right dichotomy is a huge oversimplification anyway, as I'm sure you would agree. You can be socially liberal and financially conservative. And you can (and probably should) have a range of belief from different ends of the spectrum. I find it hard to understand people who take every single position from a single bucket of beliefs, be that liberal, authoritarian, conservative, progressive or whatever.

Hangdogroad

I remember there was a big wave of Neo Nazi attacks on foreginers in Germany in the early 90s following reunification including an incident where a mob firebombed a hostel housing asylum seekers resulting in several killed. Its something that's been bubbling away for decades.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118557034#Comment_118557034

No nation has the resources available to provide the range of economic supports to diminish such movements. Germany has been one of the wealthiest, and most successful nations for decades, and they've failed to limit such movements, because it is a unavoidable aspect of human society, that certain groups will be "left behind". Besides which, there are many "intellectuals", and the educated, who will retain their sympathies with such movements, especially in a time of plenty.

No, TBH, I think it's time we faced the ideology behind such movements, and stop deferring the issues involved. Look at the core issues/agendas being pushed and seek to resolve them effectively. The vast majority of right wing movements in Europe are not genocide driven groups, out to elevate the master race, through the destruction or enslavement of others. Instead, they want preferential treatment for natives over immigrant groups, and the status of native peoples to be protected.. In a world where mass immigration has been encouraged for decades now, it makes sense to look at their concerns and consider whether they might actually be valid in those concerns. I think it's time that we looked at these groups, see how they've evolved away from the traditional motivations, and perhaps consider meeting them halfway.

I think of it in slightly different terms. It's not about the East Germans being nazis. Instead, it's about the West German apathy and lack of conviction in standing up for themselves. Most people alive in West Germany have only known peace and prospetity. They've never had a serious threat to their way of life and as a result are very invidualistic and open to outsider influences (that's also changing but anyway).

By contrast, the East Germans still retain a collective memory of repression under Communism. They still retain a sense of fatalism and they know that the current peace and prosperity is very precious and should be defended against any and all possible threats. Maybe they have a greater social cohesion from what they lived under in Communist times. So they don't feel so open to outsiders who weren't there in the dark old days just showing up when the sun shines and basking in the glow of 21st Century German economy.