|
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
| Home About Contact | ||
|
Democracy Was Shown the Door – Experience Report on the 10th Democracy Conference in Burgenlandkreis on April 25, 2024A critical review from a participant of the 10th Democracy Conference was submitted to buergerstimme.net and is published here.
So, I also attended this event called "Democracy Conference"... expectations were high, as I assumed that in direct personal conversation someone might actually be willing to explain their convictions with concrete and well-founded arguments, or at least convey them to their counterpart. The rooms were filled with invited guests such as speakers, local politicians, and some interested people of all ages. Already during the first speech on the topic "Hate and agitation on the internet," it became clear to me that the main actor of this event — democracy itself — was simply forgotten to be invited or was shown the door right at the entrance! Instead, we were informed that hate and agitation online mostly come from the far-right extremist corner, and only occasionally from insignificant fringe groups, which was supposedly proven by a clumsily designed bar chart (elementary school level) with an illegible source. But maybe the slide simply didn’t have space to highlight all the others who also insult their fellow human beings online unpleasantly. The democratically elected opposition party AfD, of course, was placed front and center. This was backed up in the usual (corrective) manner. A Facebook page screenshot was projected showing former Chancellor Merkel in a pink bunny costume, along with hateful comments. Attempts to find this Facebook page or group failed... probably because it was completely made up and created by the two clowns themselves — naturally as an example. When I commented that hate and agitation shouldn’t be expected only from the right-wing side but from all extreme camps, the presentation quickly scrolled back to the above-mentioned bar chart and, with wide eyes and a serious look, pointed out: "...yes, it’s right here!" — the only argument offered. Furthermore, the AfD was demonized because it uses new media like TikTok and thus achieves much greater reach. Maybe it’s just because they don’t shut themselves off from these new media and have the skills to convey their message clearly and concisely. That brings me to the next question, surprisingly posed by the mumbling speaker. Why do our youth feel increasingly addressed by this far-right AfD? Simply put: fear of the future, lack of perspective, overwhelmed by daily life (his argument) — that’s when the bad new right-wingers have an easy game. Then we got a brief introduction to the anatomy of a young and an old human brain. Believe it or not, old people (like me) have a fixed brain where not much changes in opinion formation anymore. And a young brain is still very soft and empty, taking in information faster and questioning much more. Really? And what is the artist trying to tell us here? That our youth can still form their own thoughts about what they hear and see and then decide for something. And now the study shows that youth increasingly identify with and vote for the AfD... because of their soft brain capable of independent thinking. I think my old hard brain can endure this soft, rambling nonsense and file it away under “round file.” But imagining that this lecture is also held in schools makes me worry whether objective political education is actually being provided. After this presentation, participants were granted a three-minute break. The lady responsible for this schedule is surely a non-smoker and wears diapers all day, or wanted to avoid constructive conversations among participants without supervision. Next up was a discussion round with representatives of local politics. The volunteer mayor (CDU) stated she is not able to carry her voters’ concerns up to federal politics, saying she didn’t enter local politics to do that and it wouldn’t really make a difference anyway. She just wants to be there for the citizens. So why then with a party in the background she herself doesn’t feel supported or heard by? The Green party representative complained, when asked what she would criticize about her party leadership, that they have no real degree, that Mr. Habeck wears mismatched socks, and that Ms. Baerbock strolls around war zones in a pantsuit. These are the issues that move the people, the words that will convert skeptics in Burgenlandkreis to the green ideological way of thinking. The Left party representative lamented the good old days when there were decent speeches and no political self-promotion... He’s right, at least on that point. Well, it’s lunchtime now. 12:00 in Burgenlandkreis. The busy organizer points to the tight schedule and wildly gestures the way to the dining hall and, for those who don’t find a seat there, another alternative on the right and then right again was created. A rogue who thinks badly will suspect something. Now we come to the workshop I attended, "How does politics and civil society stay in dialogue." Sounds interesting at first. However, this topic was quickly replaced and the two AfD-haters got another stage to prove that hate and agitation online are not the only things happening. It started with an unintelligible quiz. Here I learned that Kermit the Frog is right-wing radical and that extremists use codes to communicate. One participant, let’s call him Karl-Heinz, proudly found all the codes in the mutilated baking recipe of Kermit the Frog and could even translate each one. So much for dialogue in politics, where emojis and no longer the usual sentence structure of the German language are supposed to convey messages and knowledge. I don’t know these codes and that proves to me I have no extremist tendencies. But with Karl-Heinz I’m not so sure — he knew them all. Also, I will refrain from using any fruit and vegetable emojis in my future grocery lists... sexist and highly scandalous. Another lesson learned. My expectations for this event, which was supposed to be about democracy and dialogue, were certainly not very high. But when you are taken back to the days of civics class and everything is desired except dialogue, exchange among politically interested people, acceptance and perhaps even understanding of opinions and arguments, then that is propaganda and exclusion of dissenters. We’ve had that before! Are these the people who want to promote and strengthen democracy and diversity? They can’t handle the diversity within their own country, so how do they want to manage the diversity of cultures from countries that, according to our feminist *foreign politicians*, are hundreds of thousands of kilometers away from us? Author: AI-Translation - möchte ungenannt bleiben | vor dem 01.07.2024 |
|
| Other articles: |
 | Naumburg Children Week(s) from May 30 to June 13, 2025Fun, games, and excitement for little explorers: From May 30 to June 13, 2025, the Naumburg Children’s Week invites kids to a wide range of events — from cathedral adventures a... zum Artikel |
 | Leaked: Speech by Robert Habeck Reflecting on the Achievements of the GDR, October 7, 2024On Monday, the anniversary of the founding of the GDR will be commemorated. For many people, this day is still firmly etched in memory. It was planned that Minister of Economics Ro... zum Artikel |
 | CANCELLATION – Events in the Cathedral Garden for the First June Weekend Cancelled – What Will Still Take PlaceDue to the weather forecast predicting persistent heavy rain and thunderstorms, the organizers of the Naumburg Master Market, together with the United Cathedral Foundation, have mu... zum Artikel |
|
Support the operation of this website with voluntary contributions: via PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/evovi/12 or via bank transfer IBAN: IE55SUMU99036510275719 BIC: SUMUIE22XXX Account holder: Michael Thurm Shorts / Reels / Kurz-Clips Imprint / Disclaimer |
