As the AfD (Alternative für Deutschland) shattered the traditional political landscape by coming in as the third strongest party with 13 percent of the vote, last week’s German election continues to unsettle Germans and foreigners who fear for the tolerance and inclusivity that has characterized the political climate in the last decade.
The feeling of losing these ideals prompts some voters to abandon their composure, including the author of “Germany’s Racist Wake-Up Call,” which appeared in last week’s edition of The Campus. When calmness and clarity give way to frustration and anger, they are channeled into rants and polarization, merely galvanizing support for far-right parties.
To put the result in perspective, the biggest takeaway is that 87 percent of those who voted refused to cast their vote for the AfD. 87 percent distanced themselves from a party which shows no restraint in displaying its parallels to nationalistic ideology. Considering the anticipated surge of far-right parties, the moderate gain of the AfD reaffirms that most people believe in the importance of tolerance, and more importantly, the incompetence of far-right thinking in navigating times of moral complexity.
Taking 13 percent of voters to represent a whole society constitutes the same generalizing and fallacious thinking that far-right parties use to attract voters who long for simple solutions to complicated problems. It draws on the same strategies used by the extremists whom they so fervently despise: vague appeals to emotion drown out any flashes of constructive criticism. Yet they win an audience in similarly close-minded circles of the political left.
Far-right parties feed off the image of the political bad boy who stands up to the establishment. Instead of angrily writing about the ignorance of AfD voters, which only consolidates the image of the AfD as rebels, Germans need to calmly expose the flaws in their thinking. In particular, directing attention to their crude ideas on tax policy and education would go a long way in convincing voters of the inadequacy of the AfD as a leading political force.
Of course there is a reason for articles such as the one which appeared last week. It is easy to call out others for apparently racist sentiments and ask them to renegotiate their understanding of racism. It is a way of soothing one’s troubled conscience as part of the society we criticize so ardently, but it does little to provide a meaningful basis for discussion.
Political beliefs have taken on a more important role as an identity marker. Discussing politics today is intricately personal. Attacking someone’s person will not open them up for a sober discussion but only corner them and solidify their beliefs.
Inviting Germans to reconsider the meaning of racism shows this exact lack of understanding of the underlying problems that materialize in what we observe as racist practices. What appears racist goes much deeper.
While a large number of non-voters began voting for the AfD to protest Angela Merkel’s refugee policy, many voters came from the traditionally center parties SPD and CDU/CSU. They voted for the AfD as a sign of disappointment in the politics of the established parties, not because they support the AfD’s racist ideology. Rather than accusing Germans of bigotry, xenophobia and racism, we have to soberly investigate what prompted voters to vote for the AfD in protest, and expose all the ways in which the AfD proves inadequate in fulfilling its promises.
Controversy and insults accomplish nothing. Without them, the AfD lacks the political substance to retain their voters.
