Why more young men in Germany are turning to the far-right
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I think it’s largely about a lack of opportunity for, especially but not exclusively, blue collar workers^1^ and a perceived loss of status. There seems to be a lot of young men across the West and elsewhere who are struggling to build a career in the modern economy and being rejected by women (in part due to their anger) when, to them, it feels like just a generation or two ago, they would have been handed a middle class life and been the breadwinner for a family already.
Nevermind that a generation or two ago, that status came at the expense of others. To them, it feels like lost status. So, they’re easily manipulated by the far right saying, “It’s not you. It’s [insert scapegoat: women, immigrants, whatever]. We’ll give you a sense of purpose.”
^1^ I only say blue collar because of the shift in rich countries from manufacturing to services, whether high paid or low paid. But whole white collar professions have disappeared just due to computers.
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These challenges were also there before social media, never said Germany is doing great either. Social media definitely played a part in changing consciousness, but in stead of class consciousness, we got right wing grifting, which happens to be the most profitable for social media companies.
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Nazis are back
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That is what I used to think too. Turns out the world loves losers. It was only hitler they didn’t like.
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Well, this being the BBC their take is NEVER (ever, ever) going to be that the empoverishment due to a social, political and economic structure than massively benefits the Owner class whilst empoverishing the rest and uses propaganda to distract the masses and to make sure any redistributive ideologies are un- or at least under-reported, is the one to blame for those most hit amongst the "plebes" are going to rebel and latch one to the only "non"-mainstream ideologies that do get reported about - the Far Right.
This is because in their own country and, to some level internationally, the BBC's function is to be a cog in exactly that propaganda machine.
The last thing you'll ever going to see is the news media who portrays "two sides coverage" (I.e. all subjects getting reduced to a dispute between the two main parties) as "fair" "journalism" covering any subject as a problem of how mainstream politics benefits the well-entrenced Owner class, especially the news media from a country were the Owner class is mainly made up of the same families as a century ago. At best, they'll cover the near-mainstream "blame outsiders" movements (such as the Far Right), never those pointing out how much of the blame rest on well off local elites
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It is a lack of understanding and communication, most certainly. That goes both ways of course.
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they are not born as people who will become more sexist if accused of sexism or shown sexism in broader society, inherently; they are damaged into creatures which react like that.
You conveniently defined away a possibility there, didn't you. There is preciously little understanding in fifth or sixth wave or whatever is it now feminist circles about how their rhetoric affects young guys, that there even needs to be a conversation about "all men" speaks volumes. Paint with a broad brush and you paint yourself as an adversary of people who, at a young age, approach the topic completely neutrally.
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People become Nazis when they feel lost, powerless, and their lives meaningless. They reach for it in a desperate attempt to be part of something important, powerful, and meaningful.
But it’s empty and nihilistic, so it doesn’t work out.
We as a society haven’t figured out how to deal with modernity. All our problems are of our own making. We’ve destroyed religion (the original provider of meaning and belonging) and left a void in its place. That’s all the desire for Nazism is: a desire to fill that void (and a scapegoat for why it exists in the first place).
Of course you and I can see that the scapegoat is wrong and totally absurd. But that’s not important to them. There’s no easier way to feel powerful than to topple a hated enemy.
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I'm not aware of a country that's swinging right where living standards are rising. They're all either stalled out or falling in spite of narrative and expectation. Sure, Germany isn't bad compared to some others, but plenty of Germans recognize that the standard of living they're used to is starting to diminish. Unfortunately, instead of recognizing the real causes here, that angst is being channeled into "yes, but what if we tried out fascism again?"
The thing that's wild to me as a USian is that we've had the fruits of reactionary conservatism (starting on the path with Reaganism) on full display since the oughts, and other countries seem to see our shambling fucking mess and go "well, yes, but the rich people told us it'll be different for us." No, it fucking won't.
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