Live data from Hacker News

Tens of thousands protest in Germany against the rise of the far right

npr.org

11–20 of 226 posts

Re: Tens of thousands protest in Germany against the rise of the far right

#11

That's not a lot, in a country of millions. We do much more in France, every year. And it's been showing diminishing returns, as the government realized it could just not listen, and nothing bad would happen. In fact, it's a drop in the sea, compared to the rising casual xenophobia I can notice with my German acquaintances, friends, and even family. Medias, general discussions, and overall atmosphere is not going in…

> That's not a lot, in a country of millions. We do much more in France, every year. And it's been showing diminishing returns, as the government realized it could just not listen, and nothing bad would happen.

You guys have a protest culture I'm pretty envious of. Meanwhile, here in Germany you can and will get arrested for wearing a bicycle helmet...

Re: Tens of thousands protest in Germany against the rise of the far right

#12
Speaking only for myself with no sense of authority: there's something in the air that I'm not the only one feeling. Something very subtle seems off. The water is a little hotter, but subtly enough to say "nah it's not like that". The way I see it, tens of thousands took to the streets to make damn sure it won't be like that on their watch.

The AfD has gotten louder and stronger last year, and it's reaching further and further into other parties' voter bases, fueled by growing economic problems and contentious immigration policies.

Re: Tens of thousands protest in Germany against the rise of the far right

#13

That's not a lot, in a country of millions. We do much more in France, every year. And it's been showing diminishing returns, as the government realized it could just not listen, and nothing bad would happen. In fact, it's a drop in the sea, compared to the rising casual xenophobia I can notice with my German acquaintances, friends, and even family. Medias, general discussions, and overall atmosphere is not going in…

In a democracy, the people have a right to control immigration. Uncontrolled immigration has been very anti democratic and has angered people literally all over the world (you can find many examples). I’m tired of people thinking that just because they have some reflective empathy doesn’t make their policy choices better or morally superior. There are real negatives when it comes to it that many in the left pretend don’t exist

Re: Tens of thousands protest in Germany against the rise of the far right

#14

Do the reverse of these protests ever happen? Are there some days where right wing people protest with similar numbers?

"Right wing" can be pretty broad. The recent farmers protests, where traffic was blocked by convoys of tractors, were seen as an opportunity for AfD.

Re: Tens of thousands protest in Germany against the rise of the far right

#15

That's not a lot, in a country of millions. We do much more in France, every year. And it's been showing diminishing returns, as the government realized it could just not listen, and nothing bad would happen. In fact, it's a drop in the sea, compared to the rising casual xenophobia I can notice with my German acquaintances, friends, and even family. Medias, general discussions, and overall atmosphere is not going in…

Nothing is a lot compared to France. It's a lot for Germany, especially without a huge catalysing event.

Re: Tens of thousands protest in Germany against the rise of the far right

#16

Do the reverse of these protests ever happen? Are there some days where right wing people protest with similar numbers?

> Are there some days where right wing people protest with similar numbers?

No, not even close. This weekend were more than 1 million people on the street, spread all over Germany, with several protests that had to be cancelled for safety reasons, as way too much people tried to come. In contrast, one of the biggest right wing demonstrations in the recent years was in 2015 Pegida, who had like 25k participants on their biggest protest in Dresden. I do not have the countrywide number for these right wing demonstrations around 2015, but Dresden was kind of the center of their movement and usually the most.

Re: Tens of thousands protest in Germany against the rise of the far right

#17

Do the reverse of these protests ever happen? Are there some days where right wing people protest with similar numbers?

Not in modern Germany yet, no. Their protests are rather small in comparison and often met with much larger anti protests. However, the far right party AfD has been gaining lots of votes over the last few years. It will be interesting to see whether these protests are the beginning of a reversal of that trend.

Aren't there farmer protests in Germany right now?

Re: Tens of thousands protest in Germany against the rise of the far right

#18

That's not a lot, in a country of millions. We do much more in France, every year. And it's been showing diminishing returns, as the government realized it could just not listen, and nothing bad would happen. In fact, it's a drop in the sea, compared to the rising casual xenophobia I can notice with my German acquaintances, friends, and even family. Medias, general discussions, and overall atmosphere is not going in…

  And when people are unhappy, you can sell them an enemy.
In the US, the enemy being sold to the public is China. It's China this. China that. China is stealing your future. China is stealing our technology. Both parties are happy to throw China under the bus to win some votes and hide their deficiencies.

Re: Tens of thousands protest in Germany against the rise of the far right

#19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not in modern Germany yet, no. Their protests are rather small in comparison and often met with much larger anti protests. However, the far right party AfD has been gaining lots of votes over the last few years. It will be interesting to see whether these protests are the beginning of a reversal of that trend.

Aren't there farmer protests in Germany right now?

These were ridiculously small in actual numbers, they were just effective at creating traffic chaos since they used tractors.
Post reply on HN