I moved here from America last year because they have tuition free college, and I'm honestly impressed with how stupid and evil this country is. Like I truly believe there is less revolutionary potential here than in America. Say what you will about America, but there is a general social attitude that does not put up with these bullshit opinions being publicly voiced.

Overall, Germany has some cool stuff going on, but they're also quite stupid and clueless.

    • RealAssHistoryHours [he/him,they/them]
      hexagon
      ·
      edit-2
      4 years ago

      I'm certainly not suggesting that sentiment doesn't exist in America. It's far too common. But you would never ever see "anti-white racism" trend on American twitter. I'm not even sure if American conservatives genuinely believe in anti-white racism or just use it as a counter talking point to de-legitimize problems of poc.

      EDIT: in light if a tweet by Tulsi Gabbard, I am rescinding this argument. America is still the absolute king of all shit stupid and evil.

      • AcidSmiley [she/her]
        ·
        4 years ago

        I’m not even sure if American conservatives genuinely believe in anti-white racism or just use it as a counter talking point to de-legitimize problems of poc.

        I could say the same about German conservatives, and i think in both cases, that's because they're in some weird superpositional state where they are deliberately deceptive, but also make themselves believe the bs they're spouting. They are liars, but they lie to themselves most of all.

        BTW, there actually are forms of racism in Germany that are directed against whites, but none of these chuds who think being called a Kartoffel is equivalent to the N-word ever bring these up - go and talk to a German boomer about Poles and Russians and you'll quickly find out what i mean. It's fucking vile how deep hatred of Eastern Europeans goes with many people here, and it's not just nazi or chud types. It's common among Polish people here to have extensive childhood memories of being taught by their parents not to speak Polish in public and to be downright ashamed of mentioning their ancestry to Germans.

        Obviously racism against POC is much more virulent, dangerous and has more political traction, and most people with Turkish or Arabian ancestry will not be able to pass in the same way as Slavic people, not to mention how completely alienated and constantly gawked at many black people here feel, but that even white people from European countries have to make a conscious effort to pass as "native" in the first place says a lot about this country.

        • Tankiedesantski [he/him]
          ·
          4 years ago

          I heard a German girl unironically say in class: "There are so many Polish truck drivers in Germany now, it's like they're invading us."

          Real awkward moment.

          • AcidSmiley [she/her]
            ·
            4 years ago

            Yeah, that shit's completely normal around here. These truck drivers are also supposedly just waiting to load their entire truck full of stolen BMWs.

            • Nama [he/him]
              ·
              4 years ago

              I mean there are a lot of polish vans around, but thats mostly because they collect scrap metal.

              It is a matter of fact that most stolen cars also cross the eastern border, at which point they are practically lost due to corruption and non-cooperation. It is obvious that organized crime would take advantage of that.

              This isn't racist and born purely out of the material conditions, but just like with israel it offers fertile ground for reactionaries.

              I sometimes still find myself chuckle at some of the jokes too. If a German dies in a car accident, I couldn' care less. But if a Polish dies in a car crash, that could have been my car! Am I a bad person for liking that joke?

              • 5bicycles [he/him]
                ·
                4 years ago

                There's also just hardly any cars stolen in germany.

                It's like 0,4 per 1000 registered cars or about 14.000 a year, in a country of about 90 million people and 67 Million cars.

                That's nearing statistic error, it's entirely insignifcant. Plus pretty much the only cars that get stolen are expensive as shit, unless you're rolling around in a G-Wagon this will literally never happen to you here. The same eastern european criminal organisations steal an order of magnitude more bicycles (it's way easier, after all) and nobody ever gives a shit about that one in any capacity.

                The entire thing about the poles stealing your car is just at the peak-german intersection of being racist against the eastern europeans and carbrain.

                I sometimes still find myself chuckle at some of the jokes too. If a German dies in a car accident, I couldn’ care less. But if a Polish dies in a car crash, that could have been my car! Am I a bad person for liking that joke?

                There's a way better one following the same notion by german leftist-lib Marc Uwe Kling (freely translated and shortened from the notably exceptional german humor because brevity is wit):

                "Right- or leftwing extremism, I don't see the difference" "But of course!" says the other man "one of them torches immigrants and the other one torches cars. And it's worse to torch cars, that could've been mine!"

                • Nama [he/him]
                  ·
                  4 years ago

                  Oh, definitely carbrain. My friends suddenly turn super reactionary when it comes to their car with speed limits/gas prices. Its fucking weird how much that part plays a role in this.

                  • 5bicycles [he/him]
                    ·
                    4 years ago

                    The whole thing is just even more woven into the cultural DNA because not only is it a symbol of freedom and independence like in America or something, the car in cultural memory has basically rebuilt the country itself after for some unknown reason everything got destroyed. It was shit, but then everyone got a VW Bug and then it was pretty good so obviously that was due to the car and not say, the giant-ass marshall plan or widespread exploitation of guest workers.

                    This befalls even a large part of leftists and doubly so when it comes to cycling activism vs car centric development. Instead of calling them no good rule breakers who don't pay taxes you just generalize them of all being dentists on 10.000 € roadbikes who want to take the parking away from the poor and disenfranchised.

                    • Nama [he/him]
                      ·
                      4 years ago

                      I got to disagree there. We are all very much aware of what fucked the country and almost everyone sees it as an absolutely good thing that happened.

                      It is really more the freedom angle of things. The car culture is in essence a weaker version of the bike culture. It combines being able to go everywhere with the absolutely accurate stereotype of germans travelling.

                      In America you can go from one shitty state to the next after hours of driving, here you can visit a new country every day if you decide to just travel. That is also very much part of every side of german politics. "Mit dem Moped nach Madrid" is a punk song for example, sharing exactly that sentiment.

                      • 5bicycles [he/him]
                        ·
                        4 years ago

                        I got to disagree there. We are all very much aware of what fucked the country and almost everyone sees it as an absolutely good thing that happened.

                        I mean, 9,8/10 germans would tell you that the defeat of the nazis was a good thing, sure. In the general, countrywide sense.

                        But then ask a those 9,8/10 germans what their (great-)grandparents did in the war and you'd find a Nazi germany that's nearly completely made up of radio operators, nurses and farmers. The latter part is the one that doesn't get talked about and that is a problem. I'm not going to claim the rise of fascism would've been fought with thousands of individual, unorganized actors, but it does remove the part where this wasn't some problem of the external nazis coming in to force Grandpa Johann to be in the Wehrmacht and much more a lot of people being fully on board with it. It converts this from an interal problem to an external threat and you can still see the debate happening along these lines.

                        And this is after the 68-Movement where younger people started questioning things a bit more. This was pretty much after the Wirtschaftswunder, where the Schlusstrichdebatte still was a massive movement. The part where there were still Nazis everywhere doesn't get talked about, it's germanys rebound from the war and then everything was happily ever after.

                        It is really more the freedom angle of things. The car culture is in essence a weaker version of the bike culture. It combines being able to go everywhere with the absolutely accurate stereotype of germans travelling.

                        I don't think so, at least not in any actual sense of the word. Germany is way too dense for this type of freedom to be applicable other than a distant dream, ask anybody who drives a lot whether they like it and they'll tell you it sucks ass except for those few parts on a country road when there's not many people around and doubly so everywhere out of germany (barring Switzerland). And that just doesn't happen often. I mean, the american drive of freedom thing is a myth, but at least it's theoretically possible.

                        That is also very much part of every side of german politics. “Mit dem Moped nach Madrid” is a punk song for example, sharing exactly that sentiment.

                        Man I like Madsen, I'd really struggle to describe them as Punk.

                        • Nama [he/him]
                          ·
                          4 years ago

                          It was a punk cover of Madsens song I was thinking off. Madsen itself is not punk, you are right there.

                          And yes, it is of course more a dream than reality. Driving is shit imo and I was more generally talking about traveling outside of germany.

                          In my friend group we had the plan of making a roadtrip to Croatia for example, which got scrapped thanks to covid.

                          And its definitely a trend that otherwise poorer people spend much of their money on cars to sometimes just drive around aimlessly. I'd say that is more sad than anything.

                          Oh, and my Grandparents were rather young during the Nazi era. One of them helped to operate trains, the other learned to become a pilot apparently. He was 15 at the time though and died when I was 6. Both had undoubtedly been Nazis.

                          • 5bicycles [he/him]
                            ·
                            4 years ago

                            In my friend group we had the plan of making a roadtrip to Croatia for example, which got scrapped thanks to covid.

                            I don't mean to be an asshole, hell I hope it comes to be once Covid is "over", but that just doesn't seem indicative of a wider trend. Yeah sure, many people dream about that one roadtrip. Most of them don't do it because they realize driving sucks ass.

                            And its definitely a trend that otherwise poorer people spend much of their money on cars to sometimes just drive around aimlessly. I’d say that is more sad than anything.

                            I'm gonna hard disagree on that one. I don't mean to accuse of anything, but that's a fairly racially charged, if common, myth here. Again, this is at the intersection of german racism and carbrain. Most of the source of this one seems to me seeing young non-PoC in fancy cars and instead of realizing any of them could actually be succesfull enough to have (not own) a nice car, the assumption is they're poor people with shit priorities.

                            This isn't to say there isn't a lot of people spending money they don't exactly have on fancy cars, but that's something that befalls pretty much every group in germany.

                            Oh, and my Grandparents were rather young during the Nazi era. One of them helped to operate trains, the other learned to become a pilot apparently. He was 15 at the time though and died when I was 6. Both had undoubtedly been Nazis.

                            Just to be clear, I wasn't accusing you or your family of being ignorant of this past, just that it's a very widespread phenomenon.

                            • Nama [he/him]
                              ·
                              4 years ago

                              I’m gonna hard disagree on that one. I don’t mean to accuse of anything, but that’s a fairly racially charged, if common, myth here. Again, this is at the intersection of german racism and carbrain. Most of the source of this one seems to me seeing young non-PoC in fancy cars and instead of realizing any of them could actually be succesfull enough to have (not own) a nice car, the assumption is they’re poor people with shit priorities.

                              Poc are not generally seen as poor in germany. That is more an american stereotype than anything. I was more talking about my co-workers and relatives putting a lot of value in their cars. There was one I carpooled with, that drove a really new and expensive Mercedes to his low paying job every day, or the one that just wanted to drive around for an hour after our shift was over. Other people I know got old Mercedes models for the same reasons.

                              This is all of course only my personal experience, but judging by how common it seems to be around me, I can assume these stereotypes are more or less accurate.

                              Race discussions are much less ofva thing here than in america, and the very real discrimination against refugees is not intersecting with the carbrain.

                              • 5bicycles [he/him]
                                ·
                                4 years ago

                                Poc are not generally seen as poor in germany.

                                Sorry, what?

                                I was more talking about my co-workers and relatives putting a lot of value in their cars. There was one I carpooled with, that drove a really new and expensive Mercedes to his low paying job every day, or the one that just wanted to drive around for an hour after our shift was over. Other people I know got old Mercedes models for the same reasons.

                                But this is what I was talking about. I know a lot of people who spend money they don't have on their car for prestige reasons instead of using a more sensible car (nevermind even other options) but that's something that's not limited to any specific group of people. Maybe except those who have fuck-you money.

                                • Nama [he/him]
                                  ·
                                  4 years ago

                                  Sorry, what? That might just be my bias from living in a university city.

          • Pezevenk [he/him]
            ·
            4 years ago

            There was a suburban kid here who said he went to downtown Athens and there were like 30 black people hiding behind a corner and when he passed in front of them they started chasing him, and the teacher actually believed him lmao

        • 5bicycles [he/him]
          ·
          4 years ago

          I could say the same about German conservatives, and i think in both cases, that’s because they’re in some weird superpositional state where they are deliberately deceptive, but also make themselves believe the bs they’re spouting. They are liars, but they lie to themselves most of all.

          The Problem with Germany at large is that nobody in germany except the actual nazis considers themselves to be right wing due to cultural memory. That isn't to say they aren't right wing, it's just that nobody actually considers themselves as such. It's still generally seen as some sort of offence to even call someone as belonging to the political right, as you might imply someone is nazis at which point you enter the discussion of "Oh so everyone is a Nazi now", no matter if the word was even uttered or implied.

          The general political spectrum in germany goes leftist extremism, left, center, nazis. Anything that doesn't either slot into left or left extremism is regared as centrism, because there isn't a right wing (except the nazis) because obviously we got rid of those in 1945.

          Which leaves you at the superstitution you talk about. It all begins at nobody considering themself right wing. Imagine literally every right winger in the US doing the whole "Oh we're actually in the center"-shtick instead of having a sizeable population who are proud right wingers, it just obfuscates any political discussion about the topic to the point where any change to the eternally conservative government of germany that isn't straight up nazi shit is either more centrism (and therefore acceptable, no matter how right-wing) or left extremism, which is cleary unacceptable because do you want the DDR back?

      • Windows97 [any, any]
        ·
        4 years ago

        I'm pretty sure it did yesterday, after tulsi gabbard spoke out against "anti white racism"

        • RealAssHistoryHours [he/him,they/them]
          hexagon
          ·
          4 years ago

          WHAT IN THE FUCK IS THIS CURSED SHIT THE WHITE DEVILS MOST BE DESTROYED. WE DON'T HAVE RACISM AGAINST WHITE PEOPLE BUT WE SHOULD. FUCKING IDIOTS

          • ThomasMuentzner [he/him, comrade/them]
            ·
            edit-2
            4 years ago

            I am going on a little "Racist" rant against you now, Bases on your cultural Backround :

            It is Not against you , but you are the Object of Demonstration : But I do hope you get the point : Continue at your Own Risk : (it is to give a little counter perspective,...)

            .........You ANGLOS can not fucking get it in your "uninsured" smooth Brain that YOUR HISTORY is that of a Colonial empire and a Slave trading Nation. This Is ANGLO HISTORY , Not Fucking "White" History ... I know you ANGLOS are so fuckings -Stupid -Moral -cowards to that you can not even deal with or aknowleding your guilt without trying to spread it instincltly around like the FUCKING RACIST YOU ARE ! to the Fucking entire WHITE RACE , but thats just how FUCKING Rascist you are.

            You are so Fucking Racist that once you are confronted with your fucking Racism you go ." I know how to fix that ! I am going to be Racist against THE HOLE WHITE RACE from now on ! Genius move ..."

            your "White" versus "Black" frame is the most insane Panopticum to view Rascim in. Like you Anglo Fucker really think that racism gets solved once Plastic surgery could just forcfully paint us all the same brown beige Colour or something ? ? ?

            Your fucking lowborn ANGLO are NOT ALLOWED ! , to Put Me in the Same Fucking Bucket with yourself ,Okay ? Especially if you had to fucking come over to get a Fucking Education , because apperantly all the hundrets of years of white supremacy could not even secure A SINGLE FUCKING RIGHT for the white Man , not even to have a fucking education. You know what currently pays your fuckin Education ? GERMAN NON - RACISM , why else would we let you study . Great deal you did there btw , build a great Colonial Empire and then not get a single fucking thing out of it , except the guilt !

            Pretty fucking bad deal ANGLO looser .....

            this is so fucking Shallow , like is RACE really the thing that defines a Human or a group of Humans for you ? And then afterward you think you ? THE FUCKING ANGLO: YOU are the one qualified to judge ? And of all the People you feel mandated to judge on you Judge "all whites" instead of fucking ANGLOS , you nowthe one group you actually know ?

            No friend ! you are "white and Anglo" so heed your own advise and shut up about "Whites" ..

            Do can you not even acknowledge me currently insulting you beautiful and highly racist on ---- Drumrolls ---> ! Cultural Denominators ! ,<----

            How fucking hard is that... you Fucking Anglo twat ?

            YOU FUCKING ANGLOS YOU ARE SO RACIST YOU CAN NOT EVEN FORMULATE RACISM WITHOUT BEEING INSANLY RACIST ! JUST FUCKING STOP IT..........

            Edit: This https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJMG27YYAWU

            • RealAssHistoryHours [he/him,they/them]
              hexagon
              ·
              edit-2
              4 years ago

              Man, the German left is in really bad fucking shape. I can't imagine writing this copy pasta shit in defense of Germany of all places.

              But also the free college here is not a result of "German anti-racism" that's an absolutely unhinged and honestly embarrassingly liberal take. The free education for foreigners is because Germany is one of the most demographically ageing countries on Earth and they need to attract intellectual labor as well as menial labor to stay afloat.

              But what I do agree with you is that Anglos are also bad. Worse than Germans (probably. If you ignore that whole world war shit.)

              But also, you need to understand race better. It's not surprising coming from a country that has never critically dealt with race or racism in it's history, but you sound like Jean-Paul Sartre right before Frantz Fanon dunked on his stupid ass. Read Black Skin, White Masks, dude.

              • ThomasMuentzner [he/him, comrade/them]
                ·
                edit-2
                4 years ago

                It’s not surprising coming from a country that has never critically dealt with race or racism in it’s history .....(woah)

                Like dude , ....you obviously did not read Fanon , if you would have known bettwen British Aparthheit and vs French approach of "First Culture" (How do you Think he got his Degree....? ) The really sad thing about you is that I tried to widen your concept of "Racism" away from race towards cultural Denominators (This Black on White Shit is Pure Anglo Brainworms) and instead of even a hint of an aknowledgement , You went Anglo Racist on me, even through the hole point was : "ANGLOS ARE SO FUCKING RACIST ; THEY CAN NOT EVEN CONCEPTULIZE RACISM WITHOUT BEING INSANELY RACIST"

                Quote : --> It’s not surprising coming from a country that has never critically dealt with race or racism in it’s history --> From the ANGLO to the GERMAN... lol

                And then afterwards of all the Literature you could choose you arrogantly pick Franz Fanon ? Like did you actually read Fanon ? Fanon is About Liberation through Culture and Violence , He is like me , allways talking about cultural Denominators , not Whites versus Blacks , but about hirachy of culture NEGRITUDE and all that jazz ... https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%A9gritude ....

                So You in Conclusion: The Anglo (You) after he was confronted on his Racism . Firstly dismissed the critic because what could a German know ( Racism Counter #1 ) , then he tries to invoce the fact that he is "obviously" more qualified , beeing Anglo and all (Racism Counter #2 ) , and then he tries to proof his point , by pointing out an Black Author that he thinks the German does not know (Racism Counter #3 ) who ironicly is all about "Culture Denominators" , which the ANGLO of course does not even know ....

                So yeah you did very well proof my Point , You anglos are so sooo Fucking racist that you can not even talk about your Racism , without you instantly Dismissing the other .. And How do you dissmiss the other , by beeing Racist of course ...

                ... a real Catch 22 Defense ...

                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6B224XDJw6g

                • RealAssHistoryHours [he/him,they/them]
                  hexagon
                  ·
                  4 years ago

                  You don't even know what racism is apparently. There is no racism against Germans. Germans are part of the world order that imposes racism on the colonized. If you want to say I'm prejudiced against Germans, very well. I accept the charge, because you only validate my prejudice with your attempts to "demystify race" through this attempt at color blind cultural analysis.

                  Fanon writes about the "FACT OF BLACKNESS."

                  "I had rationalized the world and the world had rejected me on the basis of color prejudice. Since no agreement was possible on the level of reason, I threw myself back toward unreason. It was up to the white man to be more irrational than I. Out of the necessities of my struggle I had chosen the method of regression, but the fact re-mained that it was an unfamiliar weapon; here I am at home; I am made of the irrational; I wade in the irrational Up to the neck in the irrational. And now how my voice vibrates!"

                  What brain worms that Fanon internalizes in asserting himself as a BLACK MAN.

                  Read chapter 5 of Black Skin, White Masks. But then again I bet you will see yourself as the German in place of the Black Man and the Anglo in place of the white. The victim of the irrationality of racism.

                  • ThomasMuentzner [he/him, comrade/them]
                    ·
                    4 years ago

                    And again the same old dissmissivness , the same Arrogance

                    Again you dissmiss my Critic of the Anglo Sphere by Method of beeing insanly sheltered in the Anglo Sphere

                    "You dont know what Racism is / and there is no Racism against Germans" ... you start the conversation with a bunch of Arrogant dissmissals based on your and Mine assumed offspring .

                    Your Instinct is Not to actually go into a single argument , But to establish some form of Hirachy above me that is Based on the place of Origin , because of which you then dont even have to go into an Argument

                    So I get it .... , you dont actually can or want to defend your hole the "white race " Anglo reflex. Which was my main sour Point and hopefully you will be a little bit more carefull in the Future about for whom exactly you can claim to be an spokesperson..

                    So have fun with your studies , ... they are your living proof that you dont actually know it all right now ...

                    https://kalliope.org/da/text/goethe2000010808

                    • RealAssHistoryHours [he/him,they/them]
                      hexagon
                      ·
                      4 years ago

                      Are Germans white? Yes or no. I guarantee you 99 percent of black and indigenous people would say Germans are white. Do they have the "anglo brain worms" as well?

                      • ThomasMuentzner [he/him, comrade/them]
                        ·
                        4 years ago

                        no they have german brainworm , obviously they are way way more devious . They Dont run simply on Colour as they do in the Anglo world they run way more on a Certain percieved Cultural Historical Hegemony/ Hiarchy and "Leechers " very importantly "Leechers" , with culture playing an importand part in it and also way way more important "Milieu" which is Super Hardwired ..

                        And it is oriented , fixated on a "Materialist" - Baselinie , on the baseline you are currently yourself enjoying. (Article 1 - Basic Law ) ,- i know its wierd to talk from a "materialistic" Baseline and to refere to a Law article - But from this Article 1 Derives a certain logic , certain State guiding prinicples that lead to material outcomes like yours and of course on other end get twisted and corrupted and easly forgotten.

                        So the Anglo Society in particular does not really have this , how shall i call it . "Base Human Value" establisched anywhere the same Way Mainland Europe Has. That it does not is actually one of the most significant cultural dividing linies beetwen Mainland and "Ociania" , The Mainland has Ground and the Islands treats Water so to say Metaphorical . Therefore the Dialog is never about "Access to the Baseline of Human Dignity" (as there is "materialisticly " simply non ). It loses itself in wierd (and without no baseline ) unmessuarable and unsolveable relations beetween percieved Groups of superimposted categories. Divisive and not Helpfull .

                        Lets take education . There instead of granting access based the principle of Human Dignity.
                        In "Oceania" , where offical Documents have Race Categories , Instead of establishing this baseline , the "Privledge" of education simply gets granted (scholarships) based often times on Race Categories , and progress then is when these race categories get weighted differntly ... its so wierd... it does not strive towards anything it has no vision , its fucking insane from the outside .. Metaphorically speaking : , to Messure equality , you need a solid ground to place your scales on.... , Not some wierd Historical Awareness of "white guilt" and white Punishment and all of this stuff. Its a pure Inmaterial and a Ideoligcal Deadend.

                        The Results , you posted it yourself are not desireable at all. Instead of Invocing Human Dignity and Equality by having a this as material guiding principe for society . A fixpoint , it is just trying to turn the scale of Punishment and Privledge in a sea of water with no solid ground..

                        It is super wierd from the outside ... i think this "Controvery" shows the Difference in sentiment very well..

                        https://twitter.com/franceintheus/status/1019691552384352257/photo/1

            • Shitbird [any]
              ·
              4 years ago

              homie there isnt any toast burning you just need to go to a hospital

            • Kaputnik [he/him]
              ·
              4 years ago

              The majority of European states had some role in the colonization of Africa/Americas/Asia. Germany for example had colonies in Namibia and Tanzania where they also committed genocide. Even countries that were not directly colonial powers derived/derive their wealth from continued extraction of resources from the global south

              • ThomasMuentzner [he/him, comrade/them]
                ·
                4 years ago

                7 is the Majority of European States ?

                But the Point is not who is guilty and to what degree ,

                The point is :

                "how the Fuck do you Monolingual Anglos always end up talking for the hole "White Race" , why is that ? "

                Why does your racist Brain need this Race Category to conceptulize the World around you ? is it Hardwired ? And why "white Race" instead of "Anglos" how is that not a ( pathetic) reflex if you are an Anglo , and instead of just fucking saying so you go "the Whites" spreading your fucking shit around .

                And it is also such a Damaging reflex... it forces the Conversation into a Insanity of Bloodlinies and Ancestorial Guilt and on the Other side its spreads around weird Historical "Victim Mandates" ( like Israel posses and we all now what a beautiful thing this Mandate turned out to be ).

                Also it makes the issue simply unsolveable it forces a certain unmessuarble Scores of victimhood versus Guilt on to every member of this Race ...

                So it is very simply , next time you go "white" , you simply go "Anglo" instead and if it hurts you a little bit , then this is part of the fucking healing process...

      • Invidiarum [none/use name]
        ·
        4 years ago

        Tbh, don't overgeneralize german twitter, the userbase is particularly bad, there are almost no "everyday" or "normal" people, only the too-online and those who got something to promote. American twitter has more everyday ppl, posting about movies or hobby stuff, clout seeking journalists or politicians are way overrepresented in german twitter,and a big conservative newspaper (welt) got itself an editor in chief because his racists online trolling always gets attention.