German election results as of midnight CET. The difference between East and West Germany is striking. - ThreadSky

markhertling.bsky.social • 57 days ago

German election results as of midnight CET. The difference between East and West Germany is striking.

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Comments

eartheart1.bsky.social•57 days ago

I guess the East are Stalinist authoritarians who will scapegoat immigrants

hhammaly.bsky.social•57 days ago

Who would have thunk.

berndschmid.bsky.social•56 days ago

Let us build the wall again.😄

syga-oru.bsky.social•56 days ago

To be fair, East Germany had probably the harshest Soviet regime during the 1970s-80s. Brainwashing has long lasting effects.

And I'm thinking this having lived in the USSR at the time....

berndschmid.bsky.social•56 days ago

But especially young people between 25 and 45 voted for AFD, both in the West and East. I don't think they are brainwashed, more ignorant of the past and with lower education level. Without the elder people AFD would have the most votes.

tjfinan.org•56 days ago

Breakdown of religious belief East and West is startling as well. would need more data to figure what it means....

mflower.bsky.social•57 days ago

Huh. East Germany goes for the nzis more? After experiencing the soviet police state first hand? East Germany people must have PTSD delusion. Or maybe these IfD votes are coming from german soviet collaborator types who did well under oppression. just spitballing here

usrusr.bsky.social•57 days ago

This is not representative of people who lived under Soviet rule - it's representative of people who lived under Soviet rule *and did not leave when it became possible*. A vote of all east Germans including former ones who are in the West (and their descendants) would be quite different.

hausome.bsky.social•57 days ago

Having a German spouse who lived through it all it's actually not hard to understand. The west (mainly the US) consumed the east's factories and housing, leaving all of the former citizens of the GDR broke, homeless and hopeless. They still resent it.

qlm326.bsky.social•57 days ago

What’s the education level difference between east and west?

huckyfinn.bsky.social•57 days ago

How the hell did Germany fail to integrate the east after unification??

miskaknapek.bsky.social•57 days ago

Structural differences - the two Germanys were never properly integrated
https://www.statista.com/chart/19903/economic-differences-between-eastern-and-western-germany/

syga-oru.bsky.social•56 days ago

Are you kidding?
Look at the development. The conversion has been excellent. It just takes more time as the starting points were so different.
This graph tells a success story.

catenwolde.bsky.social•56 days ago

This is exactly why my Finnish family says they will never want to re-incorporate Karelia - too long under the boot, and you get to like the taste of shoe leather.

handleseverywhere.bsky.social•57 days ago

A 14 point difference. But it’s only 34%. That is a far cry from a majority. I think US voters with 2 parties miss some important things by only focusing on the largest vote. The large number of parties show a lot about the spectrum of ideas

fanofwalt.bsky.social•57 days ago

Geez. I’d have expected exact opposite results, given the oppression East Germany endured for so long.

wmsandwms2022.bsky.social•57 days ago

It’s a mindset, no different than being raised in an evangelical church, an abusive home, a catholic school. You learn to be ruled.

siobhanbethowan.bsky.social•57 days ago

Heard you parted ways with CNN. Miss your commentary. Glad to see you here.

sherbeard.bsky.social•57 days ago

Start using #dirtywhiteboy when referring to Dump

jayrife.bsky.social•56 days ago

Lack of Soviet denazification post war , 1990s economic collapse and depopulation…leads to population vilnerable to ultranationalist populism .

Democracies MUST learn that if a major population segment experiences economic collapse that segment must be supported and invested in at all costs.

jayrife.bsky.social•56 days ago

Arguably the demise of the blue collar comfortable middle class life in much of America from the 1980s - 2000s left many - inevitably white - people in decades of poorer opportunity. This very much has contributed to current situation

jayrife.bsky.social•56 days ago

We must somehow get through this and realize that E PLURIBUS UNUM isn’t for the battlefield primarily - it’s for everyday life. And if we can’t stand in unity to make sure ALL Americans get access to opportunity , then we will fall divided. So:

jayrife.bsky.social•56 days ago

In truth - the shipping of manufacturing jobs overseas - inflicted on blue collar by white collar - the decimation of cities like Detroit , the under investment in communications tech and education in rural America … is as much a scourge as

jayrife.bsky.social•56 days ago

Racism, misogyny etc - it’s not as evil - neglect is not the same sin as hate - but the result is the same - whole segments being denied reasonable collective and individual opportunity compared to other Americans. Unfortunately :

jayrife.bsky.social•56 days ago

This sort of unity and mutual support comes from mechanisms that conservatives are anachronistically allergic to. Small government is best? Wut. Biggest economic and military super power ever ain’t gonna have a small govt. also :

axmxz.bsky.social•57 days ago

Authoritarian rule deforms the brains of its subject for life.

mkiefer.bsky.social•57 days ago

I haven't watched much CNN lately, but the other day I was watching and it occurred to me there was a big empty hole where some good analysis & explanation from GEN Hertling should have been. Have followed you for a while, and glad to follow you here. A solid rock in shifting sands.

markhertling.bsky.social•57 days ago

Thanks Michelle. I decided not to renew my contract with CNN and my last day was 31 Dec. I’ve been asked to do a few things with others, so I may be popping up soon.

mkiefer.bsky.social•57 days ago

I'll keep my eyes & ears open for any pop ups. And, as always, anytime you're in B'town, I'll buy you a beer Nick's and we can debate Cards vs Twins 🙂

ninedragons.bsky.social•57 days ago

Let's rename East Germany as German Transnistria, and set it off on its independent pro-Russian way outside of the EU.

malt-dismay.bsky.social•57 days ago

So how are we going to save our republic?

epluribus.bsky.social•57 days ago

Jesus that difference is terrifying

polishwxguy.bsky.social•56 days ago

Eastern Germany's technology and infrastructure in 1991 looked like the 1950s. That part of the country is still behind despite the huge investment of funds. Discontent leads to susceptibility to leaders who offer simple and unrealistic solutions to complex challenges.

project899.bsky.social•55 days ago

The old East Germany was almost all AFD. It shows the old wounds have not healed and more needs to be done by West Germany to bring them into the fold. I don't know what actual actions needs to be done. But festering needs to be addressed.

elirabett.bsky.social•57 days ago

AfD won the East. (AfD is light blue, CDU/CSU by black, SPD red). Map on left is direct votes for candidates standing in a district (Erststimmen), on the right is for votes for a party in a state (Zweitstimmen)

elirabett.bsky.social•57 days ago

Maps from Sueddeutche Zeitung

https://www.sueddeutsche.de/

lillysrouter.bsky.social•57 days ago

East Germany votes and acts like the states of our old Confederacy and it's been 160 years and counting for us. Germany has a long way to go based on our experience.

notidefix.bsky.social•57 days ago

amazing that people who suffered the most under an oppressive, totalitarian regime (in East Germany)......want to return to an oppressive, totalitarian regime

WTF is wrong with people.....?

limiturtimeonline.bsky.social•57 days ago

This. I literally don't understand!

milkweed.bsky.social•56 days ago

If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you.

Lyndon B. Johnson

watchingtheworld.bsky.social•57 days ago

I actually had to look at that twice too - can’t believe that they would want to return to being in a communist state

ncsteve.bsky.social•57 days ago

The oppressive to totalitarian state before the communists, actually.

slowzhu.bsky.social•56 days ago

I speculate China would be the same, people in authoritarian regimes have limited exposure of democracy and the imperfection of democracy, therefore voting for what they can understand, or close to what they are familiar with.

anorakffm.bsky.social•57 days ago

The pic on the Left, „Prognose“, is the 6 PM CET opinion poll data…

luigivercotti.bsky.social•57 days ago

Sad that the East is still struggling to throw off the years of USSR rule.

huckyfinn.bsky.social•57 days ago

Probably a combination of economic problems, the feeling they do not get to experience all the things the west has. Big failure of the German government in general, to integrate the east into the west.

What an embarrassment for Germany!!

pnwlark.bsky.social•57 days ago

It’s been 35 yrs . The Us hasn’t managed to fix its two worlds Union vs South. Our politics prove that .

huckyfinn.bsky.social•57 days ago

One would think Germany would be better at integrating other Germans than the US is at overcoming centuries of racism.

pnwlark.bsky.social•57 days ago

But they weren’t culturally similar by that point . Decades under Soviet Bloc iron fist rule vs the freedoms on the west. When you taught to view the other side as enemy 35 yrs isn’t enough to change that . Taking down the wall and freedom isn’t enough . It’s still about “others” /immigrants

pnwlark.bsky.social•57 days ago

Xenophobia was a huge part of Soviet Bloc life.

pnwlark.bsky.social•57 days ago

Eh - but also racism - the East didn’t spend $ on de nazification like the West- they just absorbed the Nazis and made them the secret police. A lot of this is about immigration

leetaylorbythesea.bsky.social•57 days ago

I don't think it is that simple. They spent around £1 trillion on reunification. I have worked with a lot of people from eastern Europe. Some, especially from rural areas are very socially conservative. West Germany would have had far more immigration, and generations would have grown used to
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huckyfinn.bsky.social•57 days ago

Probably true as well, but looks like the trillion didn't help the east much. Do you know if the conservative mindset is just among the older people or is it the young was well. How's the education system in the east?

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/11/06/east-germany-has-narrowed-economic-gap-with-west-germany-since-fall-of-communism-but-still-lags/

leetaylorbythesea.bsky.social•57 days ago

Mixed picture on the youth vote:
Linke is a left wing party

huckyfinn.bsky.social•57 days ago

Isn't the Linke Russia friendly as well?

leetaylorbythesea.bsky.social•57 days ago

Yes, it is not great, but the difference in the industrial base alone was massive. Until 1989, the east Germans were driving Trabants

leetaylorbythesea.bsky.social•57 days ago

Initial reports suggest the AFD did not do well with the youth vote. Also, initial reports suggest they were most popular with the middle aged' (a difference from Brexit in the UK)

leetaylorbythesea.bsky.social•57 days ago

Having different cultures/ethnicities in their communities and culture. For eastern Europeans, they have missed those 40 years of gradual assimilation. The Brexit vote in the UK can be described as similar - basically older people. Young people grew up with lots of non native English speakers
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leetaylorbythesea.bsky.social•57 days ago

and would have formed lifetime connections with migrant kids.
The German economy has been suffering, but the energy factor is one significant part of that, and possibly their budget/debt rules

horaciotraveler.bsky.social•57 days ago

It has been like that since “the reunification”. Nazism, Stalinism and Putinism destroyed their brains. Weird, violent people.

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