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"Last Sunday, on the sixth of September, for the first time in more than 80 years, a far-right extremist party won the majority of votes in a German state election, and has a realistic chance at leading the state government of Saxony-Anhalt. (They had previously won the majority in the 2024 Thuringian state election, but had no chance of forming a government because none of the other parties would join them in a coalition.) While narrowly missing the absolute majority, at 43.8% they very nearly equaled the combined result of the CDU, SPD, Grüne, and Linke (of 44% according to the preliminary count). In particular, the conservative CDU, party of Chancellor Friedrich Merz, has lost more than half their share of the vote compared to the last election. These losses are attributed by many to vastly unpopular reform plans and a general perception of failing to meaningfully engage with the needs and concerns of the majority of the electorate (mostly those having to work for money, instead of having money work for them). Merz holds the historically lowest approval rating for any German Chancellor: around 80% of Germans are dissatisfied with his performance."

"There are, as always in such a situation, conciliatory voices: perhaps the work of government might demystify (‘entzaubern’) and expose a party that has little to offer except inflammatory rhetoric and beer hall populism. Perhaps the promises made on the campaign trail will evaporate in the harsh light of political reality. Perhaps disillusioned voters will turn away again from a party that fails to deliver. Perhaps, that is, no Bad Thing will happen. I deeply hope this optimism will prove true. But I do believe it is misguided: in Germany, a democracy explicitly engineered to prevent a repeat of fascist terror, a ‘confirmed right-wing extremist’ (‘gesichert rechtsextrem’) party will most likely lead a state government. That is the Bad Thing, happened."

"Germany, here, is not an isolated case. Democracy has been on retreat in large parts of the world. Autocrats, and particularly right-wing populist movements in Europe and beyond, are on the rise. After the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, narratives of ‘the end of history’ and the victory of liberal democracy seemed to herald an era of global democratization. But history seems to stubbornly continue. So how did we get here from there?"

"Erik Hoel, neuroscientist and occasional cultural commentator at his substack The Intrinsic Perspective, pinpoints the year 2012 as the turning point for many long-running trends, especially in regard to a shocking decline of mental health, particularly pronounced among teenagers and young adults."

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