1930s in social media | 91 comments (91 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

There is one angle of this debate in Germany which I ought to add.

Back in 2000, there was a fire-bombing of a synagogue in Düsseldorf. Then chancellor Gerhard Schröder reacted by calling for an Aufstand der Anständigen, that is, an "uprising of decent people", which led to the organisation of several protests (which ended when two Arab-Germans were caught as culprits). In her TV commentary, Anja Reschke called for another Aufstand der Anständigen.

What remains to be seen is whether a second large-scale Aufstand der Anständigen will now form. It didn't happen over Greece or Pegida (and Merkel is no Schröder to call for it).

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Tue Aug 11th, 2015 at 05:39:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Aufstand der Anständigen (4.00 / 2)

Gauck could call for it, too.

A society committed to the notion that government is always bad will have bad government. And it doesn't have to be that way. — Paul Krugman

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Wed Aug 12th, 2015 at 04:02:11 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Aufstand der Anständigen (none / 1)

Ah, Gauck...

By Merkel's logic, one disincentive is that it would mean conflict with the Bavarian CSU. And, as Süddeutsche said:

Ressentiments gegen "Armutsflüchtlinge" - Viel zu tun für die Anständigen - Kultur - Süddeutsche.de		Resentment against "poverty refugees" - much to do for the decent ones - Culture - Süddeutsche.de
Der Appell von Fernsehjournalistin Anja Reschke gegen Fremdenhass könnte verpuffen - weil die Ressentiments etwa von der CSU verstärkt werden.		The appeal of television journalist Anja Reschke against xenophobia could fizzle out - because the resentment is being amplified by the CSU, for example.
...Ressentiments gegenüber den sogenannten Armutsflüchtlingen, von denen sich viele, nicht nur Hardliner, wünschen, dass sie unser Land auf schnellstem Weg wieder verlassen, werden von der gegenwärtigen Politik nicht etwa hinterfragt, sondern oft sogar verstärkt. Etwa durch die CSU, die schon Anfang 2014 eine sachlich kaum zu begründende Kampagne gegen Einwanderer aus den EU-Ländern Rumänien und Bulgarien startete und zuletzt spezielle Abschiebelager für Flüchtlinge vom Westbalkan ankündigte.		... Resentment towards the so-called poverty refugees - who face the desire of many, not only hardliners, to leave our country again in the fastest way possible -, are not just not challenged by current politicians, but often even amplified. For example, by the CSU, which launched a hardly justifiable campaign against immigrants from the EU countries Romania and Bulgaria back in 2014 already and just recently announced last special deportation camps for refugees from the Western Balkans.

And now there is this:

Kritik an Alexander Reissl - München - Süddeutsche.de		Criticism of Alexander Reissl - Munich - Süddeutsche.de
Aussagen des Münchner SPD-Fraktionsvorsitzenden Alexander Reissl zur Flüchtlingssituation sind innerhalb seiner Partei auf heftige Kritik gestoßen. "Wir sollten nicht suggerieren, dass alle Flüchtlinge bei uns willkommen sind", sagte Reissl und forderte, zwischen verschiedenen Flüchtlingen zu differenzieren. SPD-Parteikollegen zeigten sich am Dienstag verärgert bis entsetzt über diese Aussagen und betonten, dass die Haltung Reissls keineswegs der Meinung seiner Fraktion entspreche.		Statements of Munich SPD faction leader Alexander Reissl about the refugee situation met upon strong criticism within his own party. "We should not suggest that all refugees are welcome here", Reissl said, urging to differentiate between different refugees. On Tuesday SPD party comrades showed themselves angry to appalled by these statements and stressed that the Reiss's attitude does not correspond the opinion of his faction at all.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Wed Aug 12th, 2015 at 05:31:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Aufstand der Anständigen (4.00 / 2)

Well, if it was only Bavaria... It isn't. Here is the CDU Saxonia demanding a "discussion" of Schengen, and trying to be at least as tough on refugees as the AfD which has been doing the same all along. And it is not only Bavarian SPD politicians who cosy up to the racists: The SPD in general is careful not to exclude racists and racism. Fascism always grows in the centre of a society, not on the margin.

by Katrin on Thu Aug 13th, 2015 at 04:00:48 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Aufstand der Anständigen (4.00 / 3)

And Sigmar Gabriel's ham-fisted attempt to woo Pegida participants pales in comparison to what Helle Thorning-Schmidt did during the campaign for Denmark's elections this year, or what Manuel Valls did in office when he was interior minister.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Thu Aug 13th, 2015 at 05:14:41 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Aufstand der Anständigen (none / 1)

#Germany Chancellor Merkel visits riot-hit #Heidenau refugee center, makes strong statement ► https://t.co/NCVMs84F3u
— Yannis Koutsomitis (@YanniKouts) agosto 26, 2015

A society committed to the notion that government is always bad will have bad government. And it doesn't have to be that way. — Paul Krugman

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Wed Aug 26th, 2015 at 10:57:00 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Aufstand der Anständigen (4.00 / 3)

Merkel broke her loooong silence. Sigmar Gabriel was there two days earlier. With the following result:

German party receives far-right threats after refugee visit - Yahoo News

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's Social Democrats (SPD) were forced to evacuate their headquarters on Tuesday after receiving a bomb threat and flood of racist emails and phone calls the party said were linked to leader Sigmar Gabriel's visit to the eastern town of Heidenau.
...Gabriel, who is also vice chancellor and economy minister in Chancellor Angela Merkel's government, traveled to the town on Monday and denounced the "mob" behind the violence.
...The center-left SPD, which shares power with Merkel's conservatives, said that in the 24 hours after Gabriel's visit it had received 300 emails with "misanthropic" content and about 150 calls in which its employees were insulted and threatened.

I don't think the SPD leadership will deny that on-line violent racism reached a markedly new quality and that it is linked with a specific new wave of off-line violent racism.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Wed Aug 26th, 2015 at 11:31:40 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Aufstand der Anständigen (none / 0)

If you say so.

(Of course, you don't need "online"at all for this reaction. Just a tv set and then a telephone.)

by IM on Thu Aug 27th, 2015 at 05:24:23 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Aufstand der Anständigen (none / 0)

Well, justice minister Heiko Maas (SPD) is definitely past denial:

Facebook must ban abusive content, says German Justice Minister Maas | News | DW.COM | 27.08.2015

Heiko Maas wants Facebook to better enforce its community standards to rein in abusive users. Given the recent rise in anti-migrant and xenophobic posts, he has called for a meeting with Facebook's European managers.
...In the letter, which he sent to Facebook's European head office in Dublin as well as to its German subsidiary, he says the social media site's community standards needed to be more efficient and transparent.
In the wake of the recent openly xenophobic and hateful attacks on and protests at refugee camps in Germany, Maas said that the Justice Ministry had received many complaints about abusive content not being banned on Facebook.
Often, users get a message saying that the posts they reported did not violate Facebook's community standards without giving any further explanation "even in very obvious cases," according to Maas.
He says this standard response had become a "farce" and that users were struggling to understand why Facebook is quick to ban nudity, for example, referring to its community standards, but often fails to ban xenophobic and racist posts.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Thu Aug 27th, 2015 at 10:41:23 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Aufstand der Anständigen (none / 0)

I almost linked that but rightly suspected you would complain anyway.

by IM on Thu Aug 27th, 2015 at 11:04:17 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Aufstand der Anständigen (none / 0)

"rightly"?

I don't see DoDo complaining.

A society committed to the notion that government is always bad will have bad government. And it doesn't have to be that way. — Paul Krugman

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Aug 27th, 2015 at 11:22:45 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Aufstand der Anständigen (none / 0)

Well I was complaining about IM's denial, even after his party leadership caught on.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Thu Aug 27th, 2015 at 11:38:09 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Aufstand der Anständigen (none / 0)

Sure, it's an online problem.

by IM on Thu Aug 27th, 2015 at 11:59:24 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Aufstand der Anständigen (4.00 / 3)

Huh...

DoDo:

it is linked with a specific new wave of off-line violent racism

A society committed to the notion that government is always bad will have bad government. And it doesn't have to be that way. — Paul Krugman

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Aug 27th, 2015 at 12:20:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Aufstand der Anständigen (none / 1)

After violent far-right protests against migrants, German leaders visit refugee centers to appeal for tolerance. http://t.co/yqK2LjOFdc
— New York Times World (@nytimesworld) agosto 26, 2015

A society committed to the notion that government is always bad will have bad government. And it doesn't have to be that way. — Paul Krugman

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Wed Aug 26th, 2015 at 10:57:48 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Aufstand der Anständigen (4.00 / 2)

And according to the Postillon, Sachsen-Anhalt will change its name to just Anhalt, to stop people confusing them with the state where such attacks occur.

by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Wed Aug 26th, 2015 at 11:36:06 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Aufstand der Anständigen (none / 1)

There was even a call for "Säxit (Saxony's exit from Germany). But, as argued here, the problem is not limited to Saxony. For example, Erfurt's SPD mayor wants to prevent "another Heidenau" by calling for a string of harsher measures against refugees, including denial of school education for children until their request is processed... As the Süddeutsche op-ed says, he fell on his knees in front of the right-wing mob.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Wed Aug 26th, 2015 at 02:34:17 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Aufstand der Anständigen (none / 0)

The best reaction to the on/off-line anti-refugee hate-mongers I saw so far is the one by comedy duo Joko und Klaas:

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Thu Aug 27th, 2015 at 03:19:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]

1930s in social media | 91 comments (91 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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