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Notes -
I don't remember where I read it — if it was Unherd or Compact or elsewhere — but I recall about half a year ago or so reading an essay by a German about German politics, and specifically why the AfD should be banned. The author argued that the West German constitution — and thus modern Germany — was basically set up to be a system with three major parties that would pretty much set the limits of political options, and thus the space on which the electorate may vote. That where those parties are in agreement on an issue — such as immigration — then the voters simply don't have a say. And especially that trying to form a party around such a forbidden view, particularly those beyond the rightward edge of elite-acceptable views, must be shut down.
That modern "democracy" is when elites decide most issues, then let the electorate vote from a carefully curated and limited menu of options for the remaining issues (because anything less restrictive risks another Austrian Painter Party).
Except I tried to make sure those comments were all from different comment chains / discussions (though I may have gotten one or two from the same). They should be spaced out across various discussions over the past several months or more. Thus, that would still be about the same number of links.
When I said I've written a lot about this, I meant it.
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