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- cross-posted to:
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Summary
Germany’s parliament erupted in controversy after the far-right AfD backed a CDU-led motion for stricter asylum policies, breaking a long-standing “firewall” against cooperation with extremists.
CDU leader Friedrich Merz defended the move, but Chancellor Olaf Scholz condemned it as an “unforgivable mistake.”
The AfD, polling second nationally, celebrated the vote as a victory.
Merz’s stance signals a shift from Angela Merkel’s centrist policies, sparking concerns that mainstream conservatives are normalizing far-right influence ahead of Germany’s upcoming snap election.
It’s not really a question of democracy as such, it’s a question of media literacy and policy.
Kids under 16 should not be on social media. Social Media should be required to expunge all their data every 30 days. Influence campaigns that we know russia and China run should be illegal, and punishable.
That’s for starters. Media theory for everyone. Explain how television works on television. Limit advertising. Limit demographic data for private interests, not much more for government interests.
The hole that we’re in isn’t because people have racist views (though they do) , or that the mechanisms of democracy are under attack (though they are) - it’s that we all stare at lighted rectangles all day. And what those rectangles are doing is grinding everyone’s discourse into mush.
And who do you think is controlling the media and funding the educational systems? Olligarchs and their puppet politicians. You won’t get rid of them and the system they perverted beyond recognition without luigis and guillotines.