In Europe. This is about Europe. America is not the center of the world.

Keep in mind, that the past decade centrist and right wing media did everything to give the AfD maximum attention and for the past 3 years every party from left of center to right bent over backwards to push themselves to the right and far right. the Greens and Social Democrats passed a law to make deportations easier just a week after investigative journalists uncovered a meeting by the AfD, other Fascists and the CDU to discuss plans for large scale deportations. sitting chancellor Scholz had declared "We need to deport in grand style" a few months earlier.

Now for the AfD ban innitiation a relevant faction of the Green party want to block it on the basis of "wanting more time, a parliamentary inquiry and not to risk giving the AfD a carte blanche if the ban case fails." I think it is more because they are worried that some of their right and far right policies could come under scrutiny too.

The reality is that large parts of German politics have been infiltrated by and wanted to move to the right very hard. They just waited for a pretext to do so, where they don't end up being the far right all of a sudden.

I'm just mentioning the Green party as an example, because they used to be a progressive party, left of the social democrats and right of the Left party, and i am dissapointed the most in them. But the CDU is using the same election slogans as the AfD currently and the Bavarian abomination CSU now has posters that look the same to posters of the NPD, which is the skinheads with baseball bats style Nazi-party.

https://mastodon.social/@peterjelinek/113770253157050313

https://feddit.org/post/6986463/4242805

Wealth distribution (wages, cost of living, housing) is one thing.

The demographic changes caused by low birth rates and immigration are not to be underestimated. They have a huge impact on identity, outlook towards the future, and societal cohesion.

A majority of older people, many without children, who only care about their own pensions and benefits are not conducive to societal change, growth, and adaptation. Wealth distribution plays a role here too of course. The younger generations realize they won’t be able to live the lifestyle of their parents is a huge blow to overall morale. Disintegration of institutions (church, unions) only accelerate the alienation and destruction of social cohesion. Families are also much weaker. They are smaller and their members are more likely to live further apart. Divorce adds further instability and disconnection. That all contributes to increased mental health issues and loneliness.

Society is in crisis in many ways. People promising radical change (back to an imaginary glorious past) become more and more attractive.