Olaf Scholz: Offering young voters hope is the best way to win them back from the far right
The best way to win young voters back from the far right is to offer them hope, security and respect so that everyone can live without fear for the future, said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
His statements come after young people voted in large numbers for the far right in recent European parliamentary elections.
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"We need to work very hard to provide people with security regarding the future, and we need to address all the relevant questions that are important to them", the German leader said, according to News.ro.
These include workers' rights, global security, climate protection, a world shaped by artificial intelligence and an "international order... that you can rely on".
Scholz spoke on a panel with Lea Ypi, professor of political theory and political science at the London School of Economics, chaired by The Guardian's editor-in-chief, at a summit of progressive politicians and think tanks in Berlin on June 28.
Scholz said that with the right to vote being granted for the first time to people up to 16 years old in some countries, including Germany, it was "wrong" to assume "they are completely different from their parents and grandparents" and would reject the far right.
Scholz said that "in a time where there is much uncertainty and where we see a lot of skepticism about the future", reducing uncertainties and developing something to hope for was essential for progressive politics.
After overwhelmingly supporting the Greens five years ago, Germans under 25 gave the far-right Alternative für Deutschland 16% of the vote – an 11-point increase – helping it to place second behind the opposition conservatives CDU-CSU and far ahead of Scholz's Social Democrats.
But the German leader said it was misleading to suggest that young people in general are flocking to the far right.
"Young people do not support the far right – some of them did", he emphasized.
"So I would say we need to discuss these topics and develop a perspective where things go in the right direction... I am working for that", the German leader assured.
He and Ypi debated issues such as the extent to which globalization has contributed to precariousness, as well as definitions of freedom and security.
Ypi said that "security" means different things to different people, for example, "Elon Musk's son" versus "someone who is vulnerable in a precarious job, challenged by technological development".
Scholz said that societies with fewer economic disparities are better for everyone – even for the descendants of billionaires.
"You could tell Elon Musk's son that he might have a better life in Germany... because he doesn't need to live in a gated community", Scholz said.
He attributed the rise of far-right and right-wing populist parties and movements to uncertainty about the future, which he said has many fundamental causes.
"We need to offer a vision that works for everyone. So it is a vision... for an unskilled worker at an Amazon site... women working in workshops, and also for managers and engineers and skilled people". He said that essential to this is "the issue of respect".
