this post was submitted on 28 Dec 2023
232 points (96.8% liked)

World News

38188 readers
1978 users here now

A community for discussing events around the World

Rules:

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.


Lemmy World Partners

News [email protected]

Politics [email protected]

World Politics [email protected]


Recommendations

For Firefox users, there is media bias / propaganda / fact check plugin.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-bias-fact-check/

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Reichsbürger movement aims to establish parallel societies by infiltrating schools, clubs and public offices

A strategic rural land grab by rightwing extremists is taking place across Germany with the concerted aim of creating communities independent of the state, according to the domestic intelligence agency and government ministries.

Authorities and NGOs monitoring far-right groups say the members of the Reichsbürger movement who reject the post-1945 German state are making a targeted effort to establish parallel societies and infiltrate existing structures including schools, clubs and public offices.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 64 points 8 months ago (4 children)

Reads more like a delusional cult and painful nuisance rather than a serious threat to democracy. The guy thinks he's an incarnation of an archangel.

[–] [email protected] 63 points 8 months ago (2 children)

I think that's the way these always look before they succeed. Vigilance is important, though paranoia is harmful.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 8 months ago

Agreed. We paid no attention to Trump and he’s spearheading these groups. You need to be vigilant from the start or else they’ll continue thinking you’re weak. Any corrective actions later seem like overreach and then they only gain MORE ground.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

The techniques they're using are real. Building parallel power structures is the way to usurp current power structures or build orginazational power. People on the revolutionary left know this too, but we tend to engage thay way through mutual aid over land grabs.

They seem to be focused on a parallel society because they're fighting a culture war. My vision of parallel power structures are ones that meet material needs(think BPP breakfast program), not the want for a society to be more insular.(think Bundy and the rest of the talibanjo farmers)

[–] [email protected] 44 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Don’t discount them. The fringe right is, as everywhere else on the world, on the rise here in Germany.

Think qanon levels of delusional, and prone to antidemocratic extremism. The core belief of being a Reichsbürger is that the modern German state is an imperialist construct imposed by the western winners of ww2, and has thus no legitimacy. They consider themselves citizens (Bürger) of the previous german Reich.

Think of the January insurrection attempt in the u.s., those people weren’t taken seriously before either. Until they marched on the government, one of them prominently wearing a self made shaman outfit.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 8 months ago (1 children)

They’re basically what we call “sovereign citizens” yeah?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago

Just looked them up, that sounds about right. Maybe a bit less weird because they just want the government to leave them alone whereas the ours are often more hostile towards it.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 8 months ago (1 children)

That's pretty spot on, no one takes these guys too seriously here. Also, Germany has a lot more rigid ways of defending its democracy against these kinds of subversions than most other countries, since it caused a lot of ruckus when that happened the last time - not sure if any of you history buffs are aware of an obscure figure called Hitler..

[–] [email protected] 14 points 8 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

Kerfuffle Part Two: Much Ado.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago

Wait, are we talking about Moses Mike Johnson?