In America, riots and political backlash are not strangers to us. The “freedom of speech” which we hold so dear to us always, unfailingly, takes a painful twist. Recently, there have been several striking similarities between our political freedoms at home and those abroad. The recent political elections in Germany are breaking records and setting political prejudices ablaze. As the recent Charlottesville riots and the current third most supported party in Germany imply, there may be a neo-Nazi movement sweeping the western hemisphere. The leftist groups in both nations certainly have agreed and made these thoughts public.

To understand the roots of such evil threats we must thus understand the foundations of the parties and the people that make them. The main parties between the two nations draw many similarities, which are crucified by the residents of America and Germany. There are two main parties and one rising as a third. There is the centrist party of which belongs German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, called the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). We can compare this to the Independent Party of America. The Christian Democratic Union forms a coalition with its Bavarian sister party: The Christian Social Union (CSU) and, therefore, dominates German politics. Next, there is what we compare to Clinton’s Democrats: the Social Democrats (SPD), which is the second largest political party in Germany. There is, then, the record-breaking-rightist, conservative party. In America, this is referred to as Trump’s Republicans while in Germany this is the AfD (Alternative for Germany or, in German, Alternative für Deutschland). After this election, this smaller rightist group is now considered the third largest political party in Germany. Prior to the AfD, rightist parties have been majorly dormant since its unreformed World War II counterpart (the Nazi Party).

As in America, a silent majority has been forming in Germany. This is the rightist group that is dividing the world, slowly but surely. An anti-leftist sentiment has been populating politics for a hefty period of time, but Germans have suffered an even harsher backlash that can be precedented from these political views because of their history regarding Nazism. Like with Trump, one of this party’s major platforms is immigration. In 2015, Chancellor Merkel welcomed over one million migrants and refugees into the German borders and the AfD capitalized on this national backlash. Among this, the party’s platform stands for eradicating “fake news,” reintroducing a more permanent means of border control, and solidifying the instillation of German culture and values in Germans for generations to come. However, the supporters of this party often face a harsh turnout, as many of these ideals, while reasonable, contain major similarities to the principles of the Nazi party. The nationalism of some have sparked a nationwide Nazi frenzy resulting in riots quite similar to the Trump protests that took place just a short time ago. Residents of German cities and towns rallied in protests shouting “Nazi Schweine!” (or, in English: “Nazi pigs!”) at anyone associated with the Alternative for Germany party.

The unification of the AfD has resulted in record-breakingly low turnouts for the CDU-CSU as well as the SPD. As the two major political parties lose votes, the other parties gained them, primarily the AfD. By means of this immense right-wing voter turnout, the AfD has gained the right to a seat in the German form of Parliament, the Bundestag. Only parties that have gained 5% or more of the overall votes are granted a position. There were previously 598 seats in the Bundestag, but now there are 708 due to the surplus of AfD representation brought about by this year’s election. These seats are distributed to the parties in proportion to the number of votes they have received. While this third party is rising, it is plain to see it is not going to gather an overwhelmingly influential number of seats. However, representation makes a difference always. Representation is the difference between being the silent majority and having a voice. Following suit with the conservative Republican party of America, a voice is being heard in the parliamentary seats of Germany and the silent majority will be silent no longer.

As the Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, began to shift her party to a more extremist center position, the AfD was born. It aimed to pick up the rightist slack that Chancellor Merkel had left behind on her way to an extremist independent view. The party was officially recognized in 2013, very shortly after Chancellor Merkel announced she would say “Willkommen!” (“Welcome!”) to over one million migrants and refugees. This gave way to a toxic fear among the Germans and led them directly into the embrace of the right wing, conservative Alternative for Germany party. The AfD title became a household name during the Euro crisis, but, now, their population has swelled again with the Islamic scare. Subsequently, the promise to create a committee to closely examine Merkel’s records on immigration is the founding promise of the Alternative for Germany Party. Patriotic Germans are bound and determined to not be forced into silence by their open door policies. They refuse to allow Germany to become the melting pot of cultures it has the potential to be.

Through this breakthrough in German (and American) politics, radicalism is a new norm. As each party grows closer to an extremist left, right, or center, voices are being heard (but not always kind ones). From the radicalism, a chaotic terror is sweeping the globe in unforeseeable ways. People are reactions irresponsibly and condemning a people’s voice to the gutters. Innocent souls that have just found their right to speak their mind or gain parliamentary representation are shut down by hypocritical animals whose purpose is to incite fear in the silent majorities of the world. A balance has been lost in the elections that have taken place in the 2016 and 2017 elections of America and Germany, respectively. Stable minds can and will prevail. However, despite a spreading conservative stability, a leftist retaliation is crushing. This term will be beyond controversial. These next four years will be influential in the preservation of the Western Hemisphere.