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| Europe |
| Germany's new Green divide - Has the German left found its answer to right-wing nationalism? |
| 2018-11-26 |
| [Politico] Historians trying to trace the collapse of Germany’s Social Democrats would do well to look at the neighborhood of Haidhausen in central Munich. For centuries, the area was known as the "poorhouse" of the Bavarian capital; after post-war reconstruction, it became a dilapidated workers’ quarter, described as a "district of broken glass" for its rundown condition. "About half of all apartments had no bathroom and no hot water," the magazine Der Spiegel wrote in 1980. Even fewer had access to central heating. Over the past few decades, however, the neighborhood has flourished ‐ thanks in no small part to a large-scale redevelopment plan initiated by the SPD-led city government in the early 1970s. Gentrification has taken hold. Residents are younger and rents are higher than the Munich average. Trendy cafes, expensive bicycles and organic shops cluster around the district’s picturesque squares. Given Haidhausen’s history, it’s no surprise that the Social Democrats were the dominant party in this area for decades ‐ at least until recently. In Bavaria’s state election in October, the SPD suffered a colossal defeat in the Munich-Mitte constituency to which Haidhausen belongs, its vote share shrinking by two-thirds. Instead, the constituency’s residents flocked to the Greens, handing the former protest party a near-majority with 42.5 percent of the votes. In an election that saw the SPD fall below 10 percent in Bavaria for the first time since 1893, Haidhausen’s shift of allegiance is the latest example of what analysts say is a broad realignment of the political landscape in Germany and in Europe. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #3 Far left melons (green veneer on red) AKA Oikohphobic socialists are the natural evolution of the national socialists and will probably get even more people killed. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2018-11-26 08:00 |
| #2 Why? It'll just be a lecture to us ignorant Americans. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2018-11-26 07:30 |
| #1 Anxiously awaiting EC's comments. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2018-11-26 06:23 |