Once the US was a model to the world of how democracies should work;. No more.

Something popped up today on a publication I follow to get a sense of how others see us, and it was jaw-dropping. I follow Germany very closely because I see it as key in upholding democracy and stability in Europe, where much of my family lives. Der Spiegel is a centrist news magazine in the tradition of Time or Newsweek, and it posts selected articles and opinions on an English-language Substack.  The Germans have just had a shock with a far right political party, AfD, winning elections in the state of Saxony. Does that mean in Germany the far-right is rising? What to do, what to do? The US was once the model of how democracies should work, but now it is the resistance to Trump that should be the model for Germany of how to preserve democracy. 

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Until recently, and since my junior year abroad in Berlin in the late 1950's, a unified Germany had sought to construct a liberal democracy using the US as a model (though the parliamentary system differs).  Der Spiegel's editorial today was expressing fear that the rest of Germany was just hand-wringing, with no idea what to do.   The new model of how to stop this AfD march to more power was, brace yourself- the resistance to Trump in the USA, and in particular, the immediate reaction of his banning reporters from CNN, MSNBC, and Politico, followed by the boycott of other media in solidarity to even cover the White House.   (Update: last night the judge reviewing the suit filed against Trump by the banned networks temporarily restored their press passes.)

 The  Der Spiegel opinion piece was a shocker to me, too, that  Trump was even viewed in the same category as the AfD, and that instead of the government of the US being the role model for how democracy should be run and act, it was the USA's local grassroots resistance movement to Trump and his policies that was now a model. If anyone understands "far right" and/or fascism, it is Germany.  There is a great fear among many there of its resurgence..

How does Derr Spiegel see Trump and his regime in the US?  "Compared to the situation in the United States, the far right has not made significant inroads in Germany. .... In the US, by contrast, Trump holds the most powerful office in the world – for a second time. He is surrounded by a nationalist circle of advisers, backed by majorities in both chambers of Congress, supported by paramilitary police units, and secure in the knowledge that three of the nine justices on the Supreme Court were chosen by him."  That is a brutal view, but not incorrect.

The  Der Spiegel opinion piece was inspired by examples of US resistance, such as the immediate boycott by unbanned White House reporters also refusing to cover the White House media pool when Trump attempted to ban CNN, MSNow, and Politico, because he did not like how they reported his news.  Also cited as examples of resistance in the US were the local nature of the anti-AI data centers, the Minneapolis grassroots action against ICE, and more.  Der Spiegel urged those in Germany who feared the AfD to go and do likewise. 

I might add that NO Kings Day on Oct. 17 is an opportunity for those in Germany to see how peaceful resistance is done, and to add their moral support to the "resistance' in the US

.https://derspiegel.substack.com/

https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounder/alternative-germany-afd-party-what-you-need-know

https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2026/10/how-no-kings-affordability-anger.html

Simplistic thinking, fear mongering, of libs being communists answered in simple English: It's Democracy vs Fascism

 I suppose the inference that libs are to be feared because they are communists. The gist of my response is that our family has a personal history of experiencing hands-on, so that they did not grow up to be communists or fascists, but were dedicated to democracy. My response to the meme."Members of our family ...I noticed a new meme with a hammer and sickle raised as a fear symptom with the caption of "Don't let your children grow up to be communists". I suppose the inference that libs are to be feared because they are communists. The gist of my response is that our family has a personal history of experiencing hands-on, so that they did not grow up to be communists or fascists, but were dedicated to democracy. where citizens determine the present and future of their country.

My response to the meme.

"Members of our family ...

Dr. Mike fled communist Yugoslavia...knows the difference firsthand.

I had witnessed firsthand how communists consolidated power in East Berlin, there as an exchange student in 1957. What I learned..fascists and communists used the same techniques to control their subjects...destruction of democracy. The communist model failed as an economic system and died with the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Western Europe, however, kept some social programs like healthcare and free college tuition, and social security, along with capitalism. I have grandchildren who live in Austria and in the US. What they fear most is the fascism, like Putin's, that controls Russia and Russian aggression in Ukraine. What the no kings movement shows many fear Trump ..whose unitary govt.no checks and balances,

anti-civil rights ...who thinks his executive orders are the law to be followed. If not, he will use his power to punish those who do not follow. He is being supported by powerful economic captains of tech.. This is the classic definition of fascism. Rich capitalistists and rule by a person and not by laws. Our children and grandchildren are smart enough to know and are smart enough with firsthand experience not to grow up as either communists or fascists. They support democracy as practiced in both Europe and the first 250 years in America, where citizens have the power to determine the present and future of their country.