Post photo: Faust | © Pete Linforth from Pixabay
The article also appeared on his own weblog.
At the turn of the year 2022-23, there were riots in various major German cities. Violence, illegal fireworks, attacks on firefighters who wanted to limit the damage, etc. It is no secret that the perpetrators were largely young men who live in deprived areas and very often have a migration background. Certain catchwords such as “cultural infiltration” and other terms immediately came up in the discussions that followed. It is remarkable that such slogans were used not only by the usual right-wing extremists, but also by politicians who like to place themselves in the centre.
The problems behind the New Year's Eve riots are certainly complex. Of course, we also have an integration problem, concerning certain young people with a migration background, who cannot see any economic and social perspectives for themselves in our society. But it is dangerous nonsense to suggest that the problem is that different cultures meet here. There is no culture that is characterized by violently attacking firefighters on duty.
Toxic masculinity, which includes being quick to use violence when conflict arises, is unfortunately a phenomenon found in many cultures. It may be that this form of masculinity is even more widespread in the cultures from which some of the perpetrators come than in our country. On the other hand, alcohol enjoyment and, unfortunately, the relatively frequent alcohol abuse associated with it, is not a characteristic of the culture of origin of these people, it is something that is more common in our country. So we find social frustration and the mixing of different phenomena that can be attributed to different cultures among the causes.
And how to react to such riots? Only consistent police work, which can definitely be characterized by toughness, helps in the short term and on the spot. Too restrained police action would be interpreted by such people as a sign of weakness. In my opinion, the legal requirements for such police operations are in place. In the long term, of course, good social work and integration are required. Here one should take advantage of the positive sides of all cultures.
I allow myself this contribution from Lothar Birkner with reference to a contribution by Timo Frasch from the FAZ (07.01.2023) with the title "Now something has happened again" to complete.
