With the AfD surging, it could soon be the largest party here. But, if he acts now, that dark scenario need not come to pass, says author John Kampfner
Our conservatives, with the help of our so called social democrats, stopped almost all investments into infrastructure, housing, education, defense… basically everything, over the last 20 years. So now we have unaffordable housing, crumbling infrastructure, bad and expensive public transport and telecommunication, paired with sky high taxes and an overburdened and under-financed healthcare and retirement system. Income is taxed, wealth isn’t. And because of demographics the only thing parties care about is raising retirement payments - adding fuel to the doomed system. The economy is slowing down, and nothing is done against it (tax cuts of course, and watering down the laws against tax evasion). The working class is disappearing because the only thing they ever can imagine is to raise taxes to finance these increasingly inefficient and unfair systems.
While some of their party members wasted literally billions of taxpayer money, they are now blaming some absolute minorities (unwilling unemployed, and foreigners of course), and try to squeeze money out of them.
They (Merz especially) have no plan for the country. . Like, at all. The only plan was to get into power.
Oh, and the Nazis are back, and our conservatives play “wait and see”. Fucking happy times, everyone.
This same thing verbatim is exactly what conservatism and neoliberalism have achieved in almost every developed economy over the last 2-5 decades. The media act like some left of center party getting elected is some sort of reversal, when the trend remains undeniable, Overton window has shifted far right, and nothing changes, always reverting to the mean within a few years.
It’s not a coincidence. Capitalism is “starving the beast” in a hundred different ways so it can relegate democracy and governments to absolute subservience. The concept of democracy, and especially socialist democracy, is the only true threat the oligarchy have ever faced. Fascist corporatocracy is the goal. There is no war but class war.
Our conservatives, with the help of our so called social democrats, stopped almost all investments into infrastructure, housing, education, defense… basically everything, over the last 20 years. So now we have unaffordable housing, crumbling infrastructure, bad and expensive public transport and telecommunication, paired with sky high taxes and an overburdened and under-financed healthcare and retirement system. Income is taxed, wealth isn’t. And because of demographics the only thing parties care about is raising retirement payments - adding fuel to the doomed system. The economy is slowing down, and nothing is done against it (tax cuts of course, and watering down the laws against tax evasion). The working class is disappearing because the only thing they ever can imagine is to raise taxes to finance these increasingly inefficient and unfair systems.
While some of their party members wasted literally billions of taxpayer money, they are now blaming some absolute minorities (unwilling unemployed, and foreigners of course), and try to squeeze money out of them.
They (Merz especially) have no plan for the country. . Like, at all. The only plan was to get into power.
Oh, and the Nazis are back, and our conservatives play “wait and see”. Fucking happy times, everyone.
This same thing verbatim is exactly what conservatism and neoliberalism have achieved in almost every developed economy over the last 2-5 decades. The media act like some left of center party getting elected is some sort of reversal, when the trend remains undeniable, Overton window has shifted far right, and nothing changes, always reverting to the mean within a few years.
It’s not a coincidence. Capitalism is “starving the beast” in a hundred different ways so it can relegate democracy and governments to absolute subservience. The concept of democracy, and especially socialist democracy, is the only true threat the oligarchy have ever faced. Fascist corporatocracy is the goal. There is no war but class war.