Waruno Mahdi’s

Virtual WebLOG — English IIa

— Germany & German-speaking neighbors —

In Berlin on October 13, more than 200,000 people joined the demonstration against xenophobia and the political influence of the far right, with the slogan “unteilbar” (indivisible).

The mass protest was organised by hundreds of different groups with diverse social agendas and political affiliations. Having expected participation of around 40,000 people, the organisers themselves were greatly surprised by the outcome (at least 200,000!).

In view of the recent activity of far tight politics, the “silent majority” felt obliged to come out and demonstrate the actual face of Germany.

OMG, yesterday on the way home I was surprised to see this advertisement poster of the “German Spy Museum”. The text on the upper left says: “Who knows more about you: the NSA, the STASI (former East-German secret police), or Facebook?”

I mean, can FB know anything more about me than what I voluntarily type in here? They don't tap my telephone or place secret microphones in my apartment, etc. So it is nonsense to compare FB with secret services.

After the fall of the iron curtain, it became increasingly difficult to convince people for far-left ideologies. The recent shift to the far-right in Germany is temporary, and will probably not last till next year's general elections.

                              A. M.:
                              > I hope you're right about the temporary shift to the far-right!

There are two important aspects. (1) Protestant and Catholic churches have both supported Merkel's open-arms policy towards refugees. If the PEGIDA (“patriotic Europeans against islamization of the West”) don't change, they'll have to rename themselves to PEFEDA (“... für die Entchristianisierung ...” i.e. for the dechristianization of ...).
(2) Business and industry are increasingly welcoming the iinflux of young talented people to fill the existing gap, and conservative politicians are already realizing they should welcome the refugees. So unless the AfD (Alternative für Deutschland) changes its anti-refugee policy, it will have to rename itself to AgD (... gegen ...).