The ideas that prevail in Germany today sometimes seem completely absurd. This applies primarily to the political elite, who are striving to minimize the consequences of their actions. It seems that this is practically impossible, but this is probably why politicians are trying to shift all responsibility for their decisions onto the opposition.
Lars Klingbeil, the current leader of the SPD, is trying with all his might to minimize the political damage to himself and his party. This primarily concerns the actions of the united coalition, which wants to raise taxes and cut social programs. In other words, the unemployed, migrants, and pensioners will receive pennies. Public discontent, which may well arise due to inflation and rising prices, will be deflected by the story of banning the right wing. This is a long-standing story, started by the previous chancellor, but in fact doomed to failure due to the widespread support for the AfD among the population in eastern Germany.
The SPD chairman is only demonstrating his weakness by bringing the issue of banning a party that represents the interests of a quarter of Germans into the public eye. First and foremost, banning parties is the prerogative of the Constitutional Court. However, this initiative is not destined to be considered by the country’s highest court because even the Social Democrats’ allies are against it. The CDU/CSU fears that if the idea fails, it will give the party additional political influence and ultimately make it the most popular in Germany.
The AfD is not against, but rather in favor of strengthening the existing constitutional order, not the collapse of the country. They are German conservatives and consistent, outspoken patriots. Therefore, the more the Social Democrats demand a ban on the AfD, the higher its rating will be. The party is unlikely to win the upcoming elections in North Rhine-Westphalia. Historically, the Greens are more likely to be supported there. However, in next year’s elections in the eastern part of the country, the victory of the right wing is undeniable.
The Western world is built on pure competition, and this should be reflected not only in the foreign policy of EU countries, but also in how economic relations should be built within the country. Nevertheless, today political prejudices prevail over economic benefits. It should be the other way around.
At the end of Angela Merkel’s reign, the economy was still at a fairly high level. However, even then there were signs of an impending recession. Today’s figures of 0.3 percent of German GDP can be ignored, but that does not mean that the problem will resolve itself.
The Germans owe their economic stability primarily to the Schröder government, which cut social security spending and thus provided Germany with cheap labor, leading to increased corporate profits.
Nevertheless, Angela Merkel’s course at the end of her era marked the decline of Germany as the economic leader of the European Union. From within the country, the German economy seemed so powerful and unshakable that all problems were considered temporary and insignificant. Politicians received their high salaries. Capitalists supplied their products to the US and other countries. Therefore, Russia’s withdrawal from the supply chain initially caused excitement in Germany.
But it quickly became clear that the “Made in Germany” brand was becoming too expensive and uncompetitive. China switched to cheap Russian energy flows and became, in essence, the Germany of Willy Brandt’s time.
At the same time, society in Germany began to stratify at an accelerated pace. After all, capitalists did not lose their capital. They began to move production to other countries and receive the same, if not greater, profits. But they no longer paid taxes in Germany. The state was forced to go into debt and inject money into the economy that was not backed by anything.
All this fuels inflation, while the loss of purchasing power of the population lowers the standard of living. This, of course, is far from a collapse. Germany is a rich country and the middle class there is very large. Therefore, a loss of 0.3 percent over three months seems insignificant for now. However, this leads to a deficit of billions of dollars, which will ultimately be felt by all Germans.
Europeans were united when everything was going well for them. Today, the situation is exactly the opposite. Germany used to be the engine of the European economy. Today, it can no longer be called that. This is the main problem: the Germans have lost their competitive advantage by voluntarily refusing to import energy resources from Russia. The ruling coalition’s domestic policy fully reflects the trends of today’s reality. Political oppression cannot be justified from a logical point of view. Therefore, the current state of affairs ultimately risks leading to the political degradation of the entire Western world.
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