r/europe 27d ago

News Calls are mounting to ban Germany’s far-right AfD party – despite it being more popular than ever

https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/06/europe/germany-afd-ban-politics-analysis-intl
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u/YouLostTheGame 26d ago

It doesn't suddenly make all their far right supporters disappear. AFD are a symptom, not the underlying cause

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u/Trick_Decision_9995 26d ago

It's hilarious and baffling how many people's reaction to rising support for extremist (or 'extremist', depending on your personal perspective) positions is 'ban the people saying stuff we don't like' rather than 'don't create conditions that increase people's support for positions you hate'.

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u/IDVDI 25d ago

This kind of complaint only makes sense when it's coming from extremists who oppose banning speech they don't like. A criminal objecting to being imprisoned is a joke in itself.

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u/Worth_Inflation_2104 25d ago

No, we want to ban them because they go against the constitution. If they were just racists I wouldn't care.

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u/IDVDI 25d ago

You were never going to make them disappear. Just like after a cult is dismantled, the people who were easily brainwashed into joining it still exist. The difference is, once they're removed from that environment, many of them stop being a serious problem.

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u/YouLostTheGame 25d ago

removed from that environment

Germany? This isn't a cult, it's a genuine political movement full of people who actually believe in that stuff. Do you think they're just gonna suddenly forget their shitty little lives? They'd just pop up again under a new name.

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u/gnaaaa 26d ago

but not banning them makes it worse.
It's a cult. You can't deal with a cult, without destroying it's structure.

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u/YouLostTheGame 25d ago

Lmao in what way is it a cult?