Distance yourself from right-wing extremist (but don’t use it to get absolution)

1000 ways to improve our lives / No. 45

Good morning from Germany,

According to prominent sources, the success in election polls of the right-wing extremist AfD party is endangering Germany as a business location. Xenophobia discourages investments and migrant workers, which Germany urgently needs, it is said. The industry is, therefore, against the AfD.

That's good. But it's not enough.

Here is what I think about it.

Basically, the problem is not the AfD; the problem is the thinking and attitudes that make people vote for the AfD. The problem can neither be solved by publicly condemning the AfD nor by other parties adopting the AfD's ideas and language.

In this respect, those who only distance themselves from the AfD take the easy way out.

The problem goes deeper. Resentment towards people from other countries and cultures and resentment towards change per se is widespread in Germany – and has been for a long time. Although the proportion of foreigners in this country has been growing continuously for six decades, and Germany has benefited more from cosmopolitanism than most other countries, still the (Karl Popper's) open society has many enemies.

It's a long way to change that. The sharp distancing from right-wing extremist parties must be more than trying to get absolution. We all must turn against those full of resentments, no matter which party they belong to, no matter what party they vote for. Better yet, we shouldn’t turn against them, we should turn towards them. We have to understand, enlighten – and argue for the benefits of an open society.

Because, in the end, the majority decides. Persuasion is the most important political tool in democracy. We have to keep reorganising this majority for an open society. Otherwise, the open society will disappear – and everything we love about it, the diversity, the prosperity and the freedom.

Greetings from Germany, 

Johannes Eber

---

Tell your friends!

---