I would like to discuss my concerns that escalating military conflicts, coupled with rising nationalism and a growing number of public figures with autocratic tendencies, are jeopardizing the
#future of
#ourworld, much as the astrophysicist
#StephenHawking predicted. Using
#Germany as an example, I want to discuss these worrying trends. Where does this new
#rightwing #populist ideologies come from? Where is it being fostered? Do non political groups like some
#duelingfraternities or the Reichsbürger movement play a role in this?
The world has changed since I was an ambitious and forward-looking young teenager. Left-leaning, with intellectual and creative artistic aspirations, I was born in the late hippie era and spent my youth in the 1980s. Right-wing was considered bad,
#leftwing was normal in my school environment. I always wanted to be a scientist, and that's what I became.
Education has always been important to me. It
#appalls me how modern right-wing populism in Germany rigorously denies everything complex and nuanced. Human-caused
#climatechange: right-wing populism doesn't recognize such a thing because geological, meteorological, and physical-chemical connections aren't conducive to winning over the masses. This suits them well; the education system is suffering, and German
#pupils perform poorly in
#PISA studies compared to their European neighbors.
#Unemployment is high, and the poorly educated suffer disproportionately. This is how the
#angrycitizen ("
#Wutbürger") has emerged, someone who needs someone to tell them against whom to direct their anger—of course against everything they can't understand. The lower the level of education, the greater the lack of independence and the greater the need for
#leaders.
#Democracy and the rule of law are no longer sacrosanct values.
#People want to tighten
#borders again, prefer to keep to themselves, wave their
#nationalcolors, and chant "Foreigners out!" Often strikingly similar to the enthusiastic masses of National Socialism. Now, the Nazi Party no longer exists. But we instead have the
#AfD, which boasts speakers who, at least for me, are difficult to distinguish from Joseph Goebbels in terms of
#rhetoric and intention. The world is fostering all of this; people in high positions, who should actually be political role models, are now the role models for those who are currently shouting "Foreigners out!" in Germany. The global lust for war increasingly makes every form of
#violence seem like a legitimate means.
But who in our own country are actually shaping the ideology of the modern right? From whom does the AfD learn to be the way it is? I have had insights from my personal environment about dueling student fraternities. This has led me to believe that the
#farright #influence exerted by at least some fraternities is not being addressed seriously enough by the authorities. The public only becomes aware of what goes on behind closed doors when scandals come to light, such as the humiliation of a Jewish guest or an
#antisemitic and
#racist pamphlet that was accidentally leaked to the press (see links below, articles in German).
Then there are the so-called "Reichsbürger" (Citizens of the Reich), who believe they are not subject to the German rule of law. And the powerful influence of
#onlinechannels, which fuel the anger of these disaffected citizens, should not be underestimated.
What the world needs, and what Germany needs, is more education, more instruction in
#ethicalvalues, more role models who stand for
#reason and
#futureoriented action. The increasing man-made climate catastrophe should be a
#globalpriority. We have no time for wars, autocracies, and imperialism!
©
#StefanFWirth Berlin February 2026
Articles about some dueling fraternities
jungewelt.de/artikel/171110.…
zeit.de/gesellschaft/zeitges…
#Pictures
© Stefan F. Wirth, artistic
#AI assisted illustrations
about duelling fraternities, about the important goals of our future, about the danger of autocracies