The main reason that it can't take off in Germany is that there already is a powerful and well-organized far-left populist party.

But they are not "collective"! Do you personally really want to be lumped in with refugees in any discussions or decisions?

Good point

If you read the article you linked to then you will see they are also mixing refugees and migrants together.
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You can also see the unemployment rates of Germans, but also those of foreigners in Germany have fallen sharply since 2005.

Also note from the article one in every nine people in Germany is a foreigner so saying 1 in 4 unemployed in Germany is a migrant is not really as dramatic as it sounds

Yep. Merkel's CDU.

That and AfD is the reason the former communist party a.k.a. "Die Linke" is slowly failing, too.

good one

A note on terminology: The BBC uses the term migrant to refer to all people on the move who have yet to complete the legal process of claiming asylum. This group includes people fleeing war-torn countries such as Syria, who are likely to be granted refugee status, as well as people who are seeking jobs and better lives, who governments are likely to rule are economic migrants.

From the UNHCR (UN Refugee Agency)
‘Refugee’ or ‘Migrant’ – Which is right?
The two terms have distinct and different meanings, and confusing them leads to problems for both populations.

Refugees are persons fleeing armed conflict or persecution.
Migrants choose to move not because of a direct threat of persecution or death, but mainly to improve their lives by finding work, or in some cases for education, family reunion, or other reasons.

Conflating refugees and migrants can have serious consequences for the lives and safety of refugees. Blurring the two terms takes attention away from the specific legal protections refugees require.

Choices about words do matter.

Source

But do continue to use the BBC as a source for definitions

BTW, do provide a link to your BBC source

Many economic migrants are claiming to flee perspecution as they think this increases their chances of being allowed to stay. Many left-wing pro-refugee organisations have trouble admitting this or even try to legitimize it becaise they think everybody who wants to come should be allowed to stay. They often fail to understand that this intentional conflation of situations could just as well backfire and hurt those in genuine need of protection.

So if there is any conflation of the terms going on. it's not primarily a linguistic one but it's real and ongoing.

No reasons to make the situation and comprehension worse by posting about migrants when you really mean to post about refugees?

Apart from the people seeking protection from persecution in countries like Luxembourg, Denmark and Austria, all refugees in Germany who came on the land route must have crossed at least one safe country and are thus strictly speaking no longer refugees but migrants.

If they refer to themselves as refugees nevertheless, they are the ones muddying the distinction,

https://www.aspirations.org/blog/inn...r-rebecca-kahn


He considers Angela Merkel a “phenomenal leader not only for Germany but the world.”

I think Merkel never counted on folks crossing more than one safe border, people being disinterested in safety in fact. Or, she took it for granted that the entire world wants to reside in generous Germany. This centristic pov is troubling Germany now, since the EU can hardly justify this push for redistribution. One can't just use the racist card either since the safe countries that migrants aren't interested in, at first offered and sheltered, before they saw that their services are not noble enough. Maybe she thought that everybody has the same WWII complex or inequality complex (east/west German parts never being on the same level).

__________________
"L'homme ne peut pas remplacer son coeur avec sa tete, ni sa tete avec ses mains." J.H. Pestalozzi

“The only difference between a rut and a grave is a matter of depth.” S.P. Cadman

"Imagination is more important than knowledge." A. Einstein

I do not like to say "I told you so" but ....

With the SPD knowing the CDU is weakened, and that the CDU is desperate to get a government together, no matter the cost, I certainly do think the SPD is driving for the hardest deal they can get.

Family reunification for refugees. That'll win them loads of votes

I sometimes get the impression that the CDU has given up on having a long-term strategy but has gone into survival mode.

The SPD did the same years ago.

It's only because the average voter in Germany distrusts political change and doesn't like to switch parties that the old dinosaurs are still breathing. But for how much longer?

#nogroko
Looks like they're trying to copy the strategy that made Corbyn leader of Labour in the UK with a massive new members registration.
Best of luck to them.

With the AfD being the largest 3rd party, they will be pretty difficult to keep quiet, and are only likely to get stronger, no?

Thais not going to stop them trying. The media only report on the afd in the most negative possible light and are much tougher on them in interviews than they are with other parties.

But I expect this will only be a passing phase. Afd supporters are consumers too, and if the mainstream media don't want to give something to those consumers, they will lose them and down goes the advertising revenue that is so important to them.

Some time ago there was an orchestrated campaign by the left to put advertisers under pressure not to advertise on right wing news sits. There was a time that advertising was massively down which actually was good as it made them less annoying to read. But the trend appears to be reversed.