Brief Update on German Politics
Hello, all.
I’ve got lots of thoughts on current German politics that are burning a
hole in my brain, (wait, what?), and thought I could make a shorter post
summarizing what I’ve been following from my distant seat back here in
Missouri. Some of it is actually quite
encouraging, while some is disheartening or even sickening.
State elections- the federal elections for the
Bundestag are approaching, set for September 2013, but many state legislatures
held their elections last winter, offering some idications of the national
mood. The news was very mixed- my
favorite party, die Linke/the Left lost some overall representation, but so did
the Frei Demokratische Partei/liberals, the reprehensible and unprincipled
business party who make it a priority to cut social services at every
opportunity and to try to use Germany’s economic power to coerce privatizations
in other countries. The change was
mostly in favor of the Greens, my second favorite party, and Neues Deutschland
speculates that Merkel will probably have to change coalition partners- perhaps
working either with the Greens or a sold-out SPD, as it seems unlikely that the
liberals will have the numbers to give her Christian party a majority. Two other footnotes in the returns- the
Piraten Partei won their first state legislature seats in Berlin, while the
neo-nazi National Democrats picked up a lot of strength, especially in the
south. the Social Dems are talking about
banning the National Democrats, and I think they ought to: insofar as Germany
constitutionally commits to banning fascist organizations from political power,
the NPD certainly qualifies, and it ought to give the Verfassungschutzamt
something to do other than harass union leaders, although they have been
working to observe and infiltrate the Nazi Underground movement, an
investigation lauded by the ND.
Energy- Berlin citizens have apparently
succeeded in petitioning for an initiative (Volksbegehr) to establish a
collective green power company for the city and surrounding regions of
Brandenburg. the only question remaining
(as of my last reading of the ND) is when the election will be held, with the
measure’s backers trying to get it on the September ballot. (Initiatives are always handicapped by low
turnout, so when possible they should be scheduled to coincide with bigger,
sexier elections to take advantage of their higher turnout.). Sadly, Merkel seems to be reconsidering her
newfound opposition to nuclear power, and the ND ran a rather amusing editorial
comparing her to the Simpsons‘ Mr. Burns.
Regulatory power is also under threat as Merkel, apparently as a favor
to her weakening coalition partners, is allowing great numbers of Free
Democrats to be installed in appointive office.
That can’t end well.
Sparpolitik und Privatisierung- the government
is still pushing for mass privatizations and abolition of social services in
countries with struggling economies- the most egregious ones look to be Spain’s
airports and water systems. The ND
points out correctly that the status of East German Volkseigenerbetrieb after
reunification offers a pretty strong case against wanton privatization- the
record time and again is of increased price to pad some investor’s wallet while
lowering the availability of vital service for citizens, but after all, if a
government cares about its people, it’s promptly called Socialist. (I happen to be a Socialist, but that’s beside
the pointJ)
It’s still my firmly held belief that the
vital sectors of the economy- food production and distribution, energy,
education, media, healthcare and transportation cannot be trusted to
exclusively private hands. Most of the
western world (and nearly all the developing world) has operated with this
viewpoint to one extent or another since the end of the Second World War, with
generally positive results. Now, insofar
as Austerity „Sparpolitik“ seeks to revert Social Contracts to their pre-war,
laissez faire state of indifference to human suffering and the evils of
capital, the fruits of collective responsibility are threatened.
Wenn ich ein Bürger Deutschlands war, wählt
ich Links- were I a German citizen, I’d vote Left
Just a brief update, Danke sehr, mein Genossen und Genossinnen
Genosse Graham
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