[mikkupikku]

Tomato, potato. If you refuse to address the issues people have, or even just wrongly feel they have, and the only party that even pretends to care is your spooky boogieman right wing party, and you're so sincerely worried about the implications of that, then pull your head out of your ass and meet people where they are.

[em-bee]

well then, what are the problems you are facing? and also tell me how reducing immigration will solve those problems.

[mikkupikku]

Me personally? Right now I'm most bothered by a large splinter in my finger. I'm pretty comfortable and my grander concerns relate not to immigration but rather how America will handle the demise of their global hegemony, if America will go to war with China over Taiwan.. That's what worries me the most.

But concerning immigration, you seem to think that people have other (perhaps even real) problems which they are falsely attributing to immigration. Like "Oh I can't afford a big house because of those damn immigrants" when really the problem is a lack of affordable housing, or some other real issue which you happen to agree is a problem. And to be sure, there is some of that kind of thinking going on. But for the most part, I think people who are upset about immigration really are upset about the immigration itself, particularly from substantially different cultures. There is a prominent belief among anti-immigration people that their governments are trying to ethnically replace them. They want to continue living in the society they grew up in, not in New New Dehli. I suppose you might think they're wrong to want this, we're all one race, the human race, etc. Whatever, all that ideological rhetoric doesn't change the way people vote when they begin to feel like foreigners in their own country.

[em-bee]

you seem to think that people have other (perhaps even real) problems which they are falsely attributing to immigration

the only problem that can be directly attributed to immigrants is xenophobia. the solution to xenophobia is education.

really the problem is a lack of affordable housing

and that has to do what with immigrants? no, immigrants are not taking away affordable housing. whatever housing policy is responsible for the lack of affordable housing needs to be changed and can be changed in such a way that there would be enough housing for everyone, including immigrants.

I think people who are upset about immigration really are upset about the immigration itself, particularly from substantially different cultures.

as i said. xenophopia. excuse me if i don't take pity with that. the solution is education, to learn about compassion, care, tolerance, build communities, loving your neighbor, which btw, is a deeply christian value, so before people complain about different cultures how about they actually honor their own culture.

There is a prominent belief among anti-immigration people that their governments are trying to ethnically replace them

and you take this seriously? do you really think people are that dumb, to believe such nonsense?

I suppose you might think they're wrong to want this, we're all one race, the human race, etc. Whatever, all that ideological rhetoric doesn't change the way people vote when they begin to feel like foreigners in their own country.

what then is your proposal to address those issues?

i already shared mine: education, build communities, and fix whatever other real problems people have (housing, jobs, etc)

[mikkupikku]

Most of this is just name calling now, blah blah xenophobia, who cares. I'm talking about the way people feel and you're talking about whether or not they're in the moral right to feel that way. It doesn't matter, people do feel this way and if you refuse to address their concerns then they'll fall in behind others who do.

Remember, the context of this conversation is "Here in Germany I fear the AfD too may get into power, ..."

> muh education though

Do you really believe tha Germans of all people haven't had enough Holocaust Class in school? Get real. You either have to meet people where they are, or accept that they're going to be voting for people that you aren't comfortable with.

[em-bee]

what exactly does "meeting people where they are" mean?

if people fear foreign cultures, then the only way to deal with that is to get them in contact with these cultures and learn that these are nice people too. like therapy. that is what i mean by education. not learning about the holocaust, but learning to get along. there is no other way to address this.

you keep telling me that my approach does not work, but i am still waiting for your proposal how to address the issue.