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Bag-Max Has Come a Long Way – Left-Wing Political Shooting Star from Bad Dürrenberg Owes His Career to the “Conspiracy Nuts” and “Querdenker”A light-colored tote bag, an extended secondary school certificate, a dropped-out commercial apprenticeship, a federal voluntary service stint, and absolutely no idea what you want to become – and suddenly you’re democracy’s new savior. Welcome to the wonderful world of Max Schneller, the 17-year-old shooting star from Bad Dürrenberg whom the left-wing bubble and the public-service cultural establishment are currently carrying on their shoulders. Arte lovingly portrays him as a fighter for an “open society.” Reality looks rather less flattering: Without the hated Monday demonstrators, whom he dismisses as a Telegram-addled minority with too little understanding of history, the boy would probably never have gotten anywhere. More than a year ago, the then-16-year-old dared to take the open microphone at one of the weekly Monday demonstrations in his hometown. What follows is not a brilliant contribution to the debate, but a stream of trite, well-rehearsed phrases: You are not the people, you are a loud minority, too much Telegram, too little understanding of what real oppression is. The video ends up with a right-wing blogger, goes viral – and bam: the unknown teenager becomes “maximal.demokratisch,” with tens of thousands of followers. The “conspiracy nuts” and “Querdenker” he so despises gave him his fame. Since then, he has been courted, speaking at schools and conferences across Germany and receiving praise for his “commitment to democracy.” The demonstrators, who among other things campaign for peace (including peace with Russia), freedom, democracy, and justice, and who simply regard the policies of the ruling government as an ongoing catastrophe, remain the enemy. Max sees things differently – maximally democratic, of course. The young man allegedly knows what poverty is. He grew up without his Iraqi father, with his working mother and, above all, his grandmother, living at the subsistence level. “I know where I come from,” he proudly emphasizes. The problem is that instead of attacking the structural causes of the misery in eastern Germany – emigration, demographic decline, the failed energy, migration, and economic policies of recent decades, and the growing alienation of many citizens from the established parties – he prefers to go after the people who stand in Bad Dürrenberg on Mondays and ask precisely these questions. It is certainly more convenient. The government and the system that produces biographies like these remain largely untouched. Criticizing the “right-wingers” and “conspiracy theorists” is good for one’s career. Criticizing the actual power structures? Risky. Needless to say, the Monday demonstrators are not given a voice in the ARTE documentary. Max’s former teacher thinks he is brilliant. No surprise – he has confidence, and he bravely puts himself out there. The fact that he has an extended secondary school certificate, dropped out of his apprenticeship, and is currently doing federal voluntary service while still having no idea where his path will lead does not bother anyone. Quite the opposite: For years, such biographies have been an entry ticket into the worlds of politics and activism. You don’t need hard professional qualifications; you need the right attitude and a willingness to keep pointing the finger at the “other side.” The Monday demonstrators provided him with his launching pad. Now he can be paraded around as living proof that eastern Germany can still be saved – as long as you shout loudly enough at the “wrong people.” A similar story can be told about Hannes Kreschel, the law student and roving reporter who would rather storm AfD family festivals and document the political shift to the right than genuinely question the causes of the anger in the country. In his case, too, there is “something rotten in the family”: a falling-out with his AfD-leaning father, and a difficult reckoning with his own family history. Instead of taking on the government, which many citizens now perceive as aloof and detached from reality, the focus remains on the demonstrators and the “right-wingers.” An adrenaline rush from verbal combat against the bad guys, security escorts, social-media reach – it feels like an action movie. The actual structural problems? An afterthought. The ARTE feature celebrates these two young men as beacons of hope in a divided federal state where the AfD is polling strongly. What gets lost in the process is this: The people who take to the streets on Mondays are by no means automatically calling for Holocaust denial or “Germany for the Germans.” Many of them have had enough of the excesses of the former COVID measures, of a foreign policy that risks peace, of a democracy that dismisses criticism wholesale as “far-right” or “conspiracy-driven,” and of policies that have systematically bled eastern Germany dry since reunification. Max and Hannes, by contrast, have learned where it is best to position themselves. Attack the “conspiracy nuts,” get applause from the right people, win awards, receive invitations, and get a platform. The government, whose policies drove many of these people onto the streets in the first place, remains the blind spot. “Bag-Max” has come a long way. Thanks to the very people he despises so much. In a functioning democracy, that would be a bitter irony. In present-day Germany, it is a career program. The government-critical demonstrators remain the villains. The people actually responsible for the division, poverty, and lack of prospects in eastern Germany? They get to keep governing – and enjoy young activists who dutifully shoot in the right direction. Maximally democratic, of course. Author: AI-Translation - АИИ | |
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