A resurgent right (Germany's Extreme Right Gathers Strength)

expatica ^ | 10 Feb 2005 | expatica

[dog breath]

It is important to realize that such extremists are Nationalist Socialists and not conservatives. The failure of German governments to address the economic problems created by their liberal policies fuels such movements. The need to enforce stronger immigration laws and preserve their culture also creates this problem. The German people have to find a way of taking pride in their nation, strengthen their military and give the economy back to the business community to run. There are many things that a conservative government could do to restore pride in Germany and take the any fuel away from the extremists.

[Rembrandt_fan]

Thanks for the link, but I'm pretty sure I know where I'm at politically: somewhere to the left of Ann Coulter and to the right of Colin Powell.

According to John Toland, writer of "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich", the truly strange thing about Hitler and the Nazis was their utter lack of a coherent economic agenda, among other things. Stalin drew upon an established idealogy, claiming 'higher sources' like Lenin and Marx, whereas Hitler more or less cobbled together national socialism from, well, his own twisted worldview and grasp of history. In both cases, I guess one could translate both Stalin and Hitler as 'Thugs With Power', and dispense entirely with the whole right, left thing.

[Mrs.Nooseman]

I can agree that the German gov needs to do something about the Muslim immigration,but what frightens me is,how the NPD will achieve this.They live by the doctrine of A.H.,and that scares me, for the sake of my family left behind in Germany.

[katana]

seeks to be both a nationalist and a socialist party

How quaintly reminiscent.

[Mrs.Nooseman]

I took the test as well and was told that I am a Libertarian.I don't know whether this is a bad thing or not.LOL

[monday]

"Thanks for the link, but I'm pretty sure I know where I'm at politically: somewhere to the left of Ann Coulter and to the right of Colin Powell."

That was the point of the link. If you only know your position on the left-right axis then you DON'T know your true political position.

[TheForceOfOne]

"tolerate diverse lifestyles" left me wanting clarification because it is a very broad statement.

[americanbychoice2]

The NPD has recovered their "Master Race" gene.
They are against all foreigners. Germany for Germans, etc.
There are so many problems with the German economy that the Government will always try to overregulate business and raise taxes to cover the shortfalls. That's the way their system works.
As for the military, Germany has just closed 129 of their bases. They want to sit on the sidelines and have someone else to protect them. You will not see a Germany with a strong military.
I do agree with Stoiber when he says that the miserable economy has given rise to this extremist group.
Desperate people do desperate things.
It may be called the browning of Germany?

[Rembrandt_fan]

The test says I'm a centrist. It lumps me in with John McCain. This can't be right.

[Mrs.Nooseman]

Yes,I know what you mean.I would like to have clarification on that as well.

[monday]

"Stalin drew upon an established idealogy, claiming 'higher sources' like Lenin and Marx, whereas Hitler more or less cobbled together national socialism from, well, his own twisted worldview and grasp of history."

Both Stalin and Hitler twisted their respective ideologies to suit their own purposes. In the end it doesn't really make any difference because even if they had remained true to them, the basis for the original ideologies was just as flawed as their versions.

Neither Fascism or Socialism will work as a viable political competitor against Liberal Democracies, even if those liberal Democracies are infected with a mild form of Socialism as western countries are infected today.

It is ironic that so many socialists still think that socialism will work if only leaders would remain true to Marx's and Lenin's original philosophy. They think that it was only Stalins, or Mao's, or Pol Pot's version of socialism that didn't work. In other words, they blame the leaders of socialism for its failures not the ideology it's self. This is why Socialism is still such a danger in the Western world today, while Fascism is not.

[kjvail]

I've seen that quiz, it's terrible.

[kjvail]

Left, Right, these are just different paths to the same end.. Extremism on either side will usually end up in tyranny and Despotism..

That's nonsense too, the political spectrum is not a circle. Read Erik Von Kuehnelt-Leddihin's Leftism Revisited for some clarity.

[Rembrandt_fan]

Socialism is flawed, I think, because it refuses to recognize the true nature of humanity. I'm with Hobbes and Locke on this one. The beauty of liberal democracy (combined with a free market economy) is that it allows people to pursue their own interests AND contribute to the polity.

[monday]

""tolerate diverse lifestyles" left me wanting clarification because it is a very broad statement."

Tolerate, means you don't want to use the power of government to outlaw lifestyles different from your own. It doesn't mean you have to approve of them, or allow your children to be around them.

Understand also, it doesn't mean you must tolerate criminals. Law breaking is not a valid "lifestyle".

Hope this helps.

[kjvail]

Liberal democracy always leads to socialism.

[dog breath]

Thanks for the quiz, it was fun, I should of guessed that I would score as a libertarian. I really don't like libertarian political candidates though, since I find them unrealistic. Like everybody else, people when left to their own thoughts seldom line up neatly in any category. That was a fun side diversion from the grim discussion of Neo Nazis.

[Mrs.Nooseman]

Thanks,but I still don't know if Libertarian is the right label for me.

[Wallace T.]

Conservatism in the American sense is far different from its Continental European counterpart. Continental European conservatism sees as its ideal pre-industrial Europe and a stratified society with the hereditary nobility and clergy being the dominant influence in society, as opposed to the business community and the masses of workers and peasants. American conservatism is respectful of tradition, but the American tradition is one of pioneers, immigrants, and entrepreneurs achieving success in new lands, not that of preserving the stratified Old Order. Americans are descended from people who thought a new start was better than "knowing one's place" in Yorkshire, Calabria, Hesse, Limerick, Stavanger, Galicia, and a hundred other such places. The "throne and altar" of American conservatism are the principles of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, including the Bill ot Rights.

American conservatism is, because of the character and history of this nation, individualist and anti-statist. There have been communitarians and authoritarians who have posed as conservatives and considered to be rightist, such as the Ku Klux Klan and the Prohibitionists in the early 1900s, many "law 'n' order" advocates and conspiracy theorists of the 1960s and 1970s, and many neo-conservatives and some Christian rightists in the present day. They come closer to the European Right than does truly American conservatism. However, the limited government tradition, whether that of Jefferson, Jackson, and Cleveland in the Democratic Party or that of Coolidge, Robert Taft, Sr., and Goldwater in the GOP, most accurately reflects the foundational principles of this republic.

[TheForceOfOne]

When the courts are use as a way to circumvent the will of the people for a small minority it stands as an obstruction to democracy and the government making an amendment to ban gay marriage as not excepted by the overwhelming majority is an alternative I follow in step with the president. When others do not play by the rules you can either fight back or take in on the chin, I choose to fight.