Elon Musk has written an opinion essay that was so controversial it caused the opinion editor at the paper where it was published to immediately resign yesterday.
When you look at the authoritarian traditionalists (Horthy, Franco), actual Fascists (Mussolini) and actual Nazis (Hitler) of the interwar period, it is very clear that they were able to gain power precisely because of the threat of the revolutionary left. A large part of the madness and cost of left-progressivism is precisely what they drive people towards out of rational fears of what left-progressivism would, and did, entail. This is ignored due to the fable of progressive innocence—that they are never responsible for anything bad.
Living in Seattle and reading your essay gave me some sense of relief in my determination to convince liberals of what progressivism actually is. That one line where you talked about people just wanting to get on with their lives rings so true for so many people. They just phone it in and vote left because of their tribal association with "liberals", but the party is owned by progressivists, so their tribe is actually illiberal. The progressivists here frame the right as "business" and the left as "labor" and of course anyone who doesn't toe the line is MAGA. It's a tough nut to crack.
David, I had read that the police chief of Berlin warned Jews and gays to stay out of Muslim/Arab sections of Berlin. Did you hear anything about that?
The British immigration dilemma sounds like a really bad cultural and economic Ponzi scheme. And gays and jews seem to be paying an especially heavy price already.
Germany has some pretty significant problems that they brought on with horrible policies. No clear or easy way out. More of the same won’t work. Great comments and informative article.
“Only the AfD can save Germany” doesn’t require the AfD to be perfect. The statement simply requires the AfD to be the only entity on the correct side of major, deal-breaker issues.
Worrying about NAZIS!!! when Islam has a scimitar in its hand seems utterly dumb. Russia is interested in Russian peoples and the peoples of the former Russian Empire. This can get dicey, but it CAN also be managed quite well, with competent leadership. The AfD is NOT going to become a Russian sock puppet. Conversely, all the leftist/progressive parties WILL become Islamic sock puppets.
We can walk and chew gum here, but also, DEI is both fascistic and allied with Islamist radicals, as we saw most clearly post-October 7. I can’t predict the degree to which the AfD might suck up to Russia or China to counterbalance negative Western social trends, but I do agree that Islamic extremism is of course a far greater threat than contemporary Nazism. That’s clear. In Europe more than anywhere else, but in the American woke movement too.
When you look at the authoritarian traditionalists (Horthy, Franco), actual Fascists (Mussolini) and actual Nazis (Hitler) of the interwar period, it is very clear that they were able to gain power precisely because of the threat of the revolutionary left. A large part of the madness and cost of left-progressivism is precisely what they drive people towards out of rational fears of what left-progressivism would, and did, entail. This is ignored due to the fable of progressive innocence—that they are never responsible for anything bad.
https://www.lorenzofromoz.net/p/the-fable-of-progressive-innocence
Living in Seattle and reading your essay gave me some sense of relief in my determination to convince liberals of what progressivism actually is. That one line where you talked about people just wanting to get on with their lives rings so true for so many people. They just phone it in and vote left because of their tribal association with "liberals", but the party is owned by progressivists, so their tribe is actually illiberal. The progressivists here frame the right as "business" and the left as "labor" and of course anyone who doesn't toe the line is MAGA. It's a tough nut to crack.
David, I had read that the police chief of Berlin warned Jews and gays to stay out of Muslim/Arab sections of Berlin. Did you hear anything about that?
The British immigration dilemma sounds like a really bad cultural and economic Ponzi scheme. And gays and jews seem to be paying an especially heavy price already.
Yes, sadly.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/berlin-police-chief-warns-jews-gay-people-to-be-careful-in-arab-neighborhoods/
Germany has some pretty significant problems that they brought on with horrible policies. No clear or easy way out. More of the same won’t work. Great comments and informative article.
“Only the AfD can save Germany” doesn’t require the AfD to be perfect. The statement simply requires the AfD to be the only entity on the correct side of major, deal-breaker issues.
And it is, because none of the other parties are.
Worrying about NAZIS!!! when Islam has a scimitar in its hand seems utterly dumb. Russia is interested in Russian peoples and the peoples of the former Russian Empire. This can get dicey, but it CAN also be managed quite well, with competent leadership. The AfD is NOT going to become a Russian sock puppet. Conversely, all the leftist/progressive parties WILL become Islamic sock puppets.
We can walk and chew gum here, but also, DEI is both fascistic and allied with Islamist radicals, as we saw most clearly post-October 7. I can’t predict the degree to which the AfD might suck up to Russia or China to counterbalance negative Western social trends, but I do agree that Islamic extremism is of course a far greater threat than contemporary Nazism. That’s clear. In Europe more than anywhere else, but in the American woke movement too.
Great post, David. You can't have some imaginary perfect party or candidate. You can only choose from the menu you're given.