The World As It Needs To Be Known

I didn’t think one of the best parts about living in Germany would be trolling Nazis.

Because it’s not 1942.

With the rise of protests regarding the COVID vaccination and these particular protestors’ aversion to it, they have found common ground with Nazis. And let me tell you, if you find any common ground with Nazis, you need to have a wee think about what you got going on.
This particular picture above shows an image of the protesters marching through the centre of Neuruppin, a Brandenburg city just North of Berlin five days before Christmas 2021.
Some of their signs read (translated) ‘don’t get our children involved’ while they paraded those children maskless through a sea of folk doing the same, ‘this isn’t a dictatorship’, and perhaps most ominously — ‘now things are getting scary.’ Making it three for three on arguments they were making that could be levied right back at them.

So these shared views are where Nazis got involved. But it wasn’t as if the anti-vax protestors were far away from them already. These protests were aflood with references to World War II, most notably how they claimed that the pressure upon them to be vaccinated was akin to The actual fuckin’ Holocaust.
I shit you not, these dingbats went as far as to wear knock-off Holocaust armbands, only instead of a note regarding faith, it read ‘ungeimpft’ (unvaccinated).

Obviously, this kinda stuff is going to appeal to a certain kind of person. And like leaving porridge to cool down on your kitchen table while a curious Aryan is knocking about, the far-right wing swooped in and globbed on.

These guys are the AfD (Alternativ fur Deutschland) and The III. Path, also known as The Third Way, a name that contains a fun reference to the Nazi Party, see if you can find it! The Third Way (obviously) don’t try to hide their leaning, and were even founded by former members of the NPD (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands) — a party formed by Neo-Nazis, for Neo-Nazis.
The AfD is a bit craftier in their support and spreading of hate-speech — they never say outright who they hate, just activities and practices they hate… As well as those who do them. They constantly refer to a time when Germany was financially prosperous, but never specify, only ever saying it was quite a few decades ago… Hmm…

Yeah, they tread a bit lighter than their intolerant buddies, and like with any crafty right-wing set of expelled excrement, they hide harshness and intolerance amongst digestible basics; buzzwordy titles like ‘prosecute the bad guy!’ but then you read on and they want to prosecute that bad guy at any costs, stripping away the rights of the bad guy until they have an answer, if they even find one.

Here’s a quick run-down of some of the things they attempt to hide (and some they absolutely do not) within their manifesto:

• They want guns.
  Having no guns doesn’t stop people committing crimes, it just makes people scared to defend themselves.
• Compulsory military service.
  Lads between 18–25 will have to sign up. Conscientious objectors will also be given civilian jobs, while women can sign up if they want to.
• Get the birth-rate up.
  The title of one of their points is verbatim ‘Larger families instead of mass immigration’.
• Don’t get ’em started on abortion.
  They will encourage clinics to sway those seeking advice into keeping the child.
• German culture first.
  No teaching or appreciation of outside cultures as it might be at odds with theirs.
• They try to beat around the bush on Islam…
  Stating that they respect whatever faith you wanna practice before the very next point states that Islam has no place in Germany. They don’t view criticism of Islam as Islamophobia and while they’re happy for Muslims to come in, they have to be the right Muslims. In other words, be a good Muslim, and you can live here. Also, no burqas.
• No gender studies.
  No ‘new-age’ language, back to biological genders with no exploration. Also, no gender quotas in the work place, and no sex education.
• Scrap renewable energy.
  Look into that fracking business, though…
• And of course…
  They want to build a border wall. Well, a fence.

Far from this being an advert for these kegs of pus squeezed into formal wear so bland you’ll believe they’re the personification of the colour ‘Outdated Grey’ — I’m putting this out there because it’s out there. This is happening right now. This is their manifesto. It’s all here. The year is 2022, and this is the world as it needs to be known. Unacceptable, reprehensible, vile. And it’s being fed to those who open their mouths in digestible, palatable chunks.

Evil isn’t always a man with a shite trim and a Chaplin-moustache — it can be far more banal, and far more present than we can ever realise.
‘You don’t like the vaccine? Neither do we, let’s talk.’

It didn’t need to be said in the thirties and it shouldn’t need to be said nearly a century later, but if you walk shoulder-to-shoulder with Nazis, you’re no better than them. Nazism isn’t something we can just tolerate, letting them do their thing, with them it’s black and white, you are either against them, or you are with them.

At their best, they’re mean-spirited — and that’s a compliment, comparatively.

Everyone’s moral compass has taken a bit of a knock recently, I get that. But even when you’re at your foggiest, you don’t sail straight into the storm.

That initial photo is actually taken from a video that shows the protests going on while the song ‘Alle hassen Nazis’ by KAFVKA drowns them out. The name of the song translates to ‘Everyone Hates Nazis’ — and is apparently a song those people marching shoulder-to-shoulder with them, needed reminding of.

Don’t be like these people. Don’t be one of these people. We’ve all had a history class and we should all know Alle hassen Nazis.

Keep it streets ahead,

C.L.R.