Afghan's Rampage in Germany Signals the End of the Value-Liberal Era in the EU

A 24-year-old Afghan living in Germany decided to boost AfD’s support in becoming elections. As my esteemed reader already knows, he did so by driving a car in an inappropriate manner toward protesting members of trade unions.

It remains to be seen what will come of this—aside from an increase in AfD’s support. However, what we do know about the driver at this stage is that he has previously behaved badly, committing thefts and drug-related crimes. It is likely that his crime spree will now come to an end, at least for a while.

It is also clear that this case will further increase the number of Germans who take a critical stance on immigration. And this will be reflected in the program of the country’s next government.

The incident will undoubtedly have consequences for immigration policy in other European countries as well. And in this way, it reinforces the idea that, as a result of all this, the era of value-liberal politics is coming to an end—not just in Trump’s USA, but also in Germany and other EU countries.

What is less clear, however, is what kind of political climate the EU will shift into in the coming years. And what will become of the international Geneva Conventions, which were originally established in the aftermath of the Holocaust to ensure that people could escape the clutches of bloodthirsty dictators? 

In my assessment, the era of strictly adhering to these conventions will also come to an end, and the distribution of humanitarian asylum will become significantly stricter than it is today. At the same time, the residency rights of asylum seekers in EU countries will become temporary—just as is already happening in Finland, which is leading the way in this matter.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Does Germany’s Ban on Arabic-Language Posters Signal a CDU/CSU-AfD Coalition?
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Javier Milei and the Great Western Opportunity

The President of Argentina, Javier Milei, criticized phenomena related to feminism, DEI principles, environmental radicalism, and gender ideology at the World Economic Forum meeting. He described mass immigration and the cultural shame of Western nations as self-destructive and called for a historical shift in the West.

By this, he primarily referred to traditional Western values, such as individual freedom and equality of opportunity. In contrast, he viewed their recent challengers—woke ideology and state interventionism—as questionable and as the root causes of the West’s current problems, arguing that they rely on collectivist ideology and work against individual liberty.

Instead of contemporary value liberalism, Milei identified the pillars of Western civilization as respect for freedom and private property, a free market economy, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion. He stated that these values inherently include personal responsibility for one’s livelihood, equality before the law, and equality of opportunity.

According to the Argentine president, each fundamental pillar of our civilization has been replaced with a distorted version of itself, leading to a situation where luxuries acquired at the expense of others have become human rights, and institutions have taken on the role of punishing dissenting opinions.

Thus, in Milei’s view, the DEI movement, immigration, environmental radicalism, and gender ideology serve only the expansion of the state and distort Western ideals. Feminism and gender ideology, he argued, have become detached from equality and now promote a struggle between the sexes instead of advocating for the equal treatment of men and women.

He also questioned why Westerners today see themselves as responsible for all the world’s evils and believe they must atone by opening their borders to everyone—even if this leads to reverse colonialism and the collective suicide of Western nations.

In the short term, the primary beneficiaries of this development are political movements that push a distorted worldview, but ultimately, they too will collapse as societies crumble.

* * *

According to Milei, we are now at a turning point, where a historic opportunity for great change is emerging. It remains to be seen whether the West will seize this opportunity.

Winds of change have already swept through Milei’s Argentina, my home country of Finland, Italy, and the USA. Next, it will be up to the German people, who will elect a new parliament on February 23.

At the moment, it appears that the election in Germany will be won by AfD and CDU/CSU, with the former in particular aligning closely with Milei’s stance on immigration. Meanwhile, the green-left coalition advocating progressive liberal values seems poised for a crushing defeat.

It remains to be seen whether change will take place in Germany and across the West. And even if it does, will the people push this transformation far into the future, or will the 2020s be remembered as just another fleeting anomaly on the path of Western decline—much like the era of Constantine the Great in Roman history?

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Friedrich Merz Needs the AfD – A Precedent from Finland
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