200,000 march against far right in Munich
200,000 march against far right in Munich
With legislative elections two weeks away, massive demonstrations took place across Germany under the slogan 'democracy needs you,' warning against any party working together with the far-right AfD.
Summary
Over 200,000 people marched in Munich against the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, with organizers claiming 320,000 participants.
The protests, held under the slogan “democracy needs you,” warned against any party collaborating with the AfD, particularly the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), ahead of legislative elections.
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That's a whole lot of people. Good on them!
America needs to learn from Germany. This example. Not the other one. We are currently FAFO on that one.
They have an economic system where they can take days off without losing their homes.
We don't. It's part of the plan. Can't have mass protests when you're about to lose the roof over your head.
You can't take days off for protests in Germany either.
Which is why protests are almost always held on the weekend to allow as many people as possible to join them, since significantly fewer people are working.
There's also public transport, healthcare, literally weeks of paid days off. They simply have better social resources than we do.
Sure, but I'd argue the largest aspect is cultural.
There's a reason France's protests are significantly more disruptive than those of other European nations, despite similar social resources and significantly worse police brutality.
I mean, the US has denser cities than most of Europe. It's not impossible to have large-scale demonstrations with hundreds of thousands of protestors in them.
I suspect it's just that most Americans aren't all that interested in changing the status quo for the better. The amount of apathy is perhaps only topped by Russia.
the US has denser cities than most of Europe
Citation very needed
Ah, turns out I'm somewhat wrong. From what I can tell, the city centers in the US are denser but if you include the entire city Europe has generally denser cities.
Most US cities are significantly taller in the center due to skyscrapers and highrises. Most European cities are more "horizontal" in that regard by having many multi-story apartment blocks instead of a handful of highrises.
Most American cities aren't New York.
We have no real public transit, and many of our cities were urbanization following the invention of the automobile and are spread out to accommodate the automobile infrastructure and longer commutes.
Houston is our third most-populous city and has a metroplex with a Combined Statistical Area of over 12,000 square miles. That makes it roughly the size of the Netherlands, with around 40% the population of the Netherlands. Soon, Houston, Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio are going to form one giant metroplex that's 60,000 square miles.
Public transportation is pathetic in the USA. I guarantee most of the 200,000 German protestors used the U-Bahn and S-Bahn.
It's Sunday.
And the majority of us work weekends
No you don't. It's high but 30% is not a majority, also, that's 30% of people who work, not of those who could show up at a protest. Students, kids, non-working spouses, pensioners, etc, where's them.
I can't give you one solid answer because it's a situation that has nuance.
Not everyone owns a car. Not everyone is educated well enough. Many times people are exhausted by the time they have a day off.
I'm not letting my KIDS put themselves in danger. That's insane.
But okay. This is a black and white issue with easy, simple answers. Like most issues are.
You are simply making excuses. There are sacrifices to peoples time and energy to attend a protest, that is true. They may even be a bit higher in the US.
This big problem is culture. North Americans lack the culture of protest. We're all too wrapped up in our lives with little thought for the collective at large. We live in urban sprawls where we feel disconnected. We need to get together to change this culture or we're going to get trampled.
Okay
You literally said points I made but I guess they're better when you say them
It's not that they've better when I say them, it's that they're true but ultimately unimportant.
I'm not refuting its harder to protest in the US, but I am saying that it needs to be done regardless. It's unfortunately not fair, but it is what it is.
If westerners don't learn to overcome the obstacles in place and organize then we're done for.
You told me "I'm simply making excuses", when all I'm doing is trying to do is bring nuance to the conversation. Something people have a severe problem with. They'd rather win an argument than have an actual discussion.
There ARE protests happening all over this country. Get off your butt. I was in Louisville last Saturday at one. There's also a KKK rally that's we're heading out to counter protest. You want the details I'll be glad to share em
But you'll have to find a way there. And you'll have to have the day off. Depending on where you live you may need two or three since our country spans from one ocean to another.
There's so many points people keep making without even taking into consideration the huge differences between the US and Germany.
Germany is small. Takes nothing to hop a train a wait a couple hours to protest. You think everyone there lives in town? Of course not. They're using their much superior infrastructure and education to get there. Really easy to get a large mass of like minded people when you aren't spread out across an entire continent.
You think being educated is unimportant? That not having public transportation or the ability to take more than one day off is unimportant? Bullshit. Absolute bullshit.
Yeah, we need to wake up a huge swath of the population. No one is arguing that. The entire point (that keeps getting missed) is that we, as a people, have a lot more obstacles to overcome in order to see the results we want.
But nooooooope. Y'all have decided easy answers to nuanced situations are definitely the way to go here.
This is day three of people trying to convince me of a black and white answer and I'm not wasting another second on this conversation.
If you want to join the Klan counter protest hit my dms.
I would implore y'all to practice what you preach instead of complaining that others need to do something. Be the change. Cause that's the biggest problem we face right now, the idea that someone else is going to help us.
Have a good day.
Came here to say the same thing. Time for Americans to step up and step out.
If it helps, in 90 years Americans will have anti-fascist rallies...
I agree. We won't see a huge response until people start getting hit by high prices for most things and they see items missing at their grocery stores. My guess is May/June - especially when the temperatures warm up across the U.S..
"Ah, here's the problem: Germany didn't control the most powerful military force on the planet and was therefore defeated. Won't happen this time!"
Unfortunately people are just showing up to the protest but they aren’t fighting the creep of right wing extremist rhetorics into centrist parties and mainstream media.
I was there, it was awesome. Bit short though and the audio equipment wasn't suitable for so many people.
Thank you for showing up!