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And the problems you listed aren’t the things they’re addressing.

They claim to (read their party program), and they’ve convinced millions to agree regardless of how we feel about that.

There is no reasoning.

This is the easy way out, dismissing them outright, simply retreating. Without understanding and addressing their claims, however false they may be, you are fundamentally handicapped in challenging them - it is one of the key reasons that the AFD have managed to become so large in the first place.

Such rhetoric might get clamor and agreement from those who already reject their ideas, but is unlikely to convince many, if anybody in the other camp.

How so?

How is this so difficult to understand?

Did you even read my comment?

Let me repeat the most important part for you:

every citizen should have a right to equal representation, a right to be heard. No ifs’ and buts’ and no “but not like that” if I find their opinions unpalatable.

That is my conviction, regardless of ideology. It doesn’t matter how much you highlight what the AFD stand for, because it is fundamentally irrelevant to my opinion on the subject.

Those aren’t real problems.

Which problems?

Decreasing standard of living? Rising energy prices? High home prices? A stagnating economy?

You don’t convince someone to change ideology by saying “your problems aren’t real”. You do it by identifying the real problems, because I promise you that they exist. Then, convince them that a better solution exists than what their current ideology proposes.

No, it’s like saying the police shouldn’t fight crime by breaking the law, because it undermines trust in the legal system.

For a prime example of that in action, see the US.

Well, this is democracy undermining itself. Parties with millions of supporters don’t just randomly pop up for no reason. They come about due to real people having real problems.

Banning parties is a good way to become blind to that.

That is just a pragmatic argument, independent of my conviction that every citizen should have a right to equal representation, a right to be heard. No ifs’ and buts’ and no “but not like that” if I find their opinions unpalatable.

It is the same foundation I stand on to assert my own right. I will have my say. If that were taken away, I’d be inclined to tear it all down.

One very angry person can do a lot of damage today. How about the ten million who voted for AFD in the most recent German election? Or maybe just the seventy thousand who are active members? They are surely more extreme than you or I. That’s more people than there are jail cells in Germany right now.

I’m familiar with both, and the nazi bar equivalency is a false parallell.

The antidote to anti-establishment movements in democracies (which AFD & their related parties across Europe are at this point) is strengthening public trust and legitimacy, not creating the tools to dismantle it.

Not a fan. This is inherently anti-democratic, regardless of the views that the efn espouses.

Supplemental Question: This is my first post on Lemmy, and the responses have me wanting to clarify something- Is everyone on this platform fucking mental?

No, but the fediverse has a good portion of the crazier parts of the left wing (and they are very vocal). If it bothers you, go heavy on blocking the worst offenders and you’ll find that most lemmings are pretty chill. We’re “just” nuts enough stray from the mainstream platforms where most normies hang out.

I for one look forward to the day when I can recommend the fediverse to at least my left-wing friends w/o them questioning my sanity.