Well, if you look at the Ampel, the Greens seem to be the only party, that still cares about climate change. "Climate Chancellor" Scholz always supports the FDP when it comes to policies against climate change. Just take a look on the law on heating, how it changed from the original one proposed during the coalition talks. The Greens had to heavily compromise on it several times, because they received no SPD support for their stance. Now the law is a joke compared to the initial one. You can definitely charge them with not standing up for the necessary policies, but not for them not trying.

The scapegoat thing is a big part of it, but the other problem is that there is no credible “working class” left party left in the German political spectrum.

At least in East-Germany people simply may not want a left party. They are voting far-right because they are far-right / neo-Nazi themselves.

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The study also found a high level of approval for right-wing extremist statements in the eastern German states. Chauvinistic and xenophobic statements were rejected by only a minority of respondents, the project leaders emphasized. Elements of neo-NS ideology were not expressed openly to the same extent, but anti-Semitic and Social Darwinist statements also met with approval - a third of the population agreed with them completely or in part. The approval is pronounced in the German states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia, he said. "Here, the potential for extreme right-wing and neo-Nazi parties to find voters is thus particularly high. One in two wants a 'strong party' that embodies the 'Volksgemeinschaft' as a whole. Instead of pluralistic diversity of interests, a völkisch community is desired," Brähler explained. Decker added: "Our study shows that currently many people in the eastern German states do not want more democratic participation and the safeguarding of basic democratic rights, but rather the apparent security of authoritarian statehood."

According to the survey, satisfaction with democracy as it functions in everyday life is weak. Not even half of the population feels that they are part of it. This corresponds with the high level of political deprivation: Two-thirds consider it pointless to be politically active, and hardly anyone believes they have any influence on the government. This is matched by the fact that, next to authoritarian aggression, the conspiracy mentality is the most widespread element of the authoritarian syndrome. "So we observe a pronounced foreignness with democracy, it is not understood by many as something of its own," adds Dr. Johannes Kiess, deputy director of EFBI, who was involved in the study. These values have remained constant for about 20 years.

The longing for the GDR is pronounced, two-thirds share it. Three quarters felt themselves to be East Germans. However, many also felt German and a citizen of the Federal Republic, so several identities can exist in parallel. Only half count themselves among the winners of German unity, while a third count themselves among the losers. This retrospective view of the GDR is related not least to the desire for a one-party dictatorship, as illustrated by the high level of agreement with the demand for "a single strong party that embodies the national community." These results show that extreme right-wing parties with their ideological offerings have numerous points of contact with the breadth of the population. Consequently, most AfD supporters have extreme right-wing attitudes.

Source: EFBI Policy Paper 2023-2: Authoritarian Dynamics and the Dissatisfaction with Democracy | University of Leipzig

The Greens had like something around 10% at that time. I think you highly overestimate the influence they had. They get some brownie points in the coalition papers and then they agree to carry the points of the SPD. That's how coalitions work in Germany.

Yes, the biggest problem is that CSU/CDU and SDP are more or less the same, then you have the greens, far-right parties and the left, so there is not much sensible alternative to the current status quo.

Like the level of digitalization in Germany is pathetic, lack of affordable housing, excessive bureaucracy. I have the feeling Germany is stuck in the past, with no clear vision about the future that would be even more IT and AI centered.

Just look at VW, BMW, Mercedes, how they are scrambling to adapt to the new reality when vehicles would be filled with new tech and how ancient and sluggish and problematic their infotainment systems are with broken or not working OTA updates, etc., and how behind they are behind Tesla and the Chinese companies. Their sales crashed really hard in their most important market, China and their EV propositions are still mediocre and lackluster at best.

The mentality of the companies in Germany is super conservative, there are very few and mostly IT companies that offer hybrid ways of working and adopt English as their official language.

Taxes are crushing the middle class and salaries are not rising with the same pace as the productivity and GDP per capita.

Not to mention that Germany will soon face a demographic crisis which will put additional strain on the pension system.

The Greens [...] also turned big time neoliberal

This is not the first time I hear this claim but so far nobody has made any effort to really support it.
What specifically makes the Greens "neoliberal"?

that hasn’t had a chance to clean up

...might want to add that with the Liberal party being a part of the government, there is no capability to clean up this mess even if the government wanted to, because the liberals will block anything that isn't tax cuts for big business.

The whole situation is also a result of the blatant failure of the entire political system to get anything useful done. It looks increasingly like the final years of the Weimar Republic.

The old tale of Schrödingers Immigrants.

Stealing our jobs while simultaneously living off welfare.

Nobody ever talks about EU-immigrants.

There are at least a couple of cringe share pics going around WhatsApp. AfD is heavily in Putins pocket.

edit: actually meant to quote that part:

Or Ukrainian refugees.

The typical AFD voter doesn't care about such nuances like skin colour. For them it's all foreigners and foreigners bad.