A Warning to AfD Voters – Lessons from a Stumbling America, But the Russians Are Still There...

History is a patient teacher, but it demands attention. Those who do not listen will feel. And what is currently happening in the United States should serve as a warning to Germany as well – especially to those who believe the AfD can “clean up the system,” as if democracy were a dusty attic you could simply clear out. Since Donald Trump’s return to office, the U.S. economy has been experiencing severe turbulence: billions in stock value have been wiped out within weeks, the stock index is reeling, investors are pulling out. Prices for basic goods are rising noticeably – not due to crop failures, not due to migrants, but because of political instability.

Energy prices are climbing because support programs for renewable energy have been halted. Businesses are losing trust in the government because new executive orders are issued daily – without debate, without expert review. A decree does not replace the future. And the strongman is often only strong in destruction.

What does this have to do with Germany? A lot.

In many ways, the AfD acts like an echo of Trump. It, too, calls institutions into question, undermines trust in the judiciary, science, and the press. It, too, promotes simple answers to complex problems – often loudly, often without a plan. 551 parliamentary inquiries into civil society organizations – submitted by the CDU/CSU three months ago, driven by the spirit of the AfD – show how efforts are being made to register, monitor, and intimidate critical voices.

Want examples?

n several German states, the AfD is demanding the abolition of compulsory schooling for children of non-German origin. It wants to tie social benefits to “cultural willingness to integrate,” without explaining how that would be measured. In Saxony-Anhalt, one member proposed that child benefits should only be paid for a maximum of three children – with exceptions for “native families.” This logic? Selective. Divisive. And unconstitutional. And always the same pattern: the others are to blame. The “elites,” the “globalists,” the “NGOs,” the “mainstream media.” But where distrust becomes the default, democracy dies. Not all at once. But quietly. In legal clauses. In regulations. In small, cold sentences.

Trump set the example: press conferences are replaced by tweets, programs by executive orders, arguments by threats. In Washington, they now speak of a “state-of-emergency style of governing” – the separation of powers reduced to administrative décor.

The AfD is copying that. It talks about “remigration” but means expulsion. It calls for “freedom of speech” but means the abolition of criticism. And it speaks of “the will of the people” but only knows its own bubble.

In America, it was January 6. In Germany, it may come more quietly. But the moment when history repeats itself is the one in which no one believes it can.

“I am nothing. I will always be nothing. I can’t even want to be something,” someone once wrote long ago. Perhaps it is in this radical humility that the strength lies to oppose the hubris of populists. Because anyone who thinks they can play with fire without getting burned does not understand what fire is.

Democracy is not a piece of furniture. It is a living house. And those who come with a sledgehammer destroy their own roof as well. So – listen to what the world is showing us. And do not believe those who promise everything – but explain nothing.

Because that, too, is the lesson from America: the bill always comes. And it hits hardest those who had hoped they wouldn’t have to pay it. And of course the AfD has character. Should things not work out with Donald Trump in the end – no need to worry: Putin is still there. Or so they hinted, more or less openly, in a post on X on June 14, 2025 – statesmanlike, as always. Well then – doesn’t this party just ooze character? A model of foreign policy consistency: if one autocrat starts to wobble, simply pledge allegiance to the next. Judge for yourself. There is dignity – and there is the AfD on X.