I do not think it's working. The AfD was the second most voted party for the European parliament, despite their candidate literally defending the SS a few weeks prior.
European elections are usually used to deliver a "Denkzettel" to the currently governing party, it's the same across Europe as these elections are (wrongly) seen as consequenceless.
Federally, the AfD is around 15-18% [1], which is still way too high in my opinion, but they're far from any chance to gain relevant influence on politics. Statewide is a different beast, sadly in Eastern Germany (the equivalent of the "flyover states" in the US) they're almost at the 33% required to block major legislation [2]. I'm honestly not sure how to combat that any more, outside of a (well deserved, given e.g Höcke directly using banned NS slogans) ban on the party.
I'm honestly not sure how to combat that any more, outside of a ban on the party.
Perhaps by getting rid of these haughty, and one simply has to say: typisch-Wessi notions of the new Länder as being "flyover territory". Which is part of what drives people to vote for AfD in the first place. As if the former West Germany doesn't have its own stereotypically maligned areas as well.
Excuse me, are you saying that teaching kids about past horrors including onsite visits to places where those horrors took place, with pictures and film and everything is "brainwashing"?
He’s making the point that poor governance delivering poor outcomes will eventually by replaced by its ideological opposition, no matter how distasteful.
No, he isn't saying that. The context was "children are taught why Nazis are bad but now people are voting for Nazis" and his response was to say people were brainwashed to defend going against their interests.
He may not be saying this to imply that the Nazis would have been acting in the interests of the voters but that's what the notion that teaching children Nazis are bad is brainwashing (to allow the government parties to go against the interests of their voters) strongly suggests. Couple this with a comment history of being vocal against "economic refugees" and a German political context of the AfD heavily using migrant scares in their rhetoric and it's entirely legitimate to challenge this statement.
It's also worth mentioning that AfD politicians have not only defended the SS but also loudly complained about Holocaust remembrance and downplayed the extent and significance of the Holocaust.
Your reply completely ignores that he deliberately used the word "brainwashing" which the comment you replied to called out. Intentionally or not, your reply demonstrates a motte-and-bailey (the bailey being that teaching about the Third Reich is brainwashing, the motte being the content of your reply).
Technically, I think teaching in general is basically brainwashing/propaganda. The primary difference is that what we're teaching us socially/culturally acceptable, if not actively _wanted_. Much like the thing about paranoia only being related to what you're thinking/feeling, regardless if you're correct.
