The Death of German Conservatism

DER SPIEGEL ^ | September 22, 2005 | Charles Hawley

[Atlantic Bridge]

Amid the post-election noise in Germany, one salient fact has been getting little play. German voters don't trust political parties to the right of the center. It's been a long time coming, but its time to write the obituary of German conservatism.

[Atlantic Bridge]

The problem with my country is the German obsession with the so called "round" tables. Instead of sitting on a angular table with hard, but honest decisions, my compatriots seem to prefer passing gas into an armchair. I am afraid that all Germans have to face some inconvenient facts:

1. The reunification was a fault. East and west Germans do not like each other, since the eastern part is scrounging on the west. 45% of very euro spent in east Germany was earned by west Germans. Furthermore the values between the socialist east and the more free-minded west Germans are completely different. This will tear the country into parts, if no economic recovery will take place.

2. The German industy is doing well, because the high employment costs lead to a extremely high efficiency during the 80ties and 90ties. We export more goods than any other country in this world.

Proof?

http://www.independent-media.tv/item.cfm?fmedia_id=11842&fcategory_desc=Economy

But there is a problem:

All those jobless people are simply not needed anymore in the machine-oriented German industry. Since working in consumer services has a bad reputation among job-seeking Germans (i.e. they think they are underprivileged if they do something for somebody...and other BS) we do not have this kind of jobs, that absorbe uneducated people elsewhere. America is a good example for a broader working base. It is still not possible to find anybody in Germany to bring your shopping bags to your car for example, although we have an unemployment rate of 10.6%.

3. Germany is agglutinated with red tape. If you want to fart, you need a permit. I own a construction company in southern Germany and besides of that I am working as an architect and engineer in designing big industrial buildings. Believe me, I know what I am talking about.

There will be only one solutuion: To kick the ass of all those parasites that sit around those "round" tables. Although sometimes it seems to be hopeless, we will continue to work on that. There are still conservative people in my country who have the will to make it better.

Besides - the situation could get dangerous if there is no U-turn in the near future. I do not believe in new nazis anymore (my compatriots learned this lesson), but it is possible that large parts of Europe get instable. It is a bitter truth that not only Germany has those problems. I hope that Merkel is able to form a gouvernment - but not with the SPD. "Grand coalitions" are the entrance of a deep, dangerous abyss.

The probably best way to get out of this uncomfortable situations would be new elections. There is only one chance for Germany: We need a chancellor who will do all nessecary cruelties at once.

[Atlantic Bridge]

PING!

[lowbuck]

Thanks for the post. I agree on many of your points.

Looking at a red/blue map of Germany the day after the election it looked a lot like America after the last two Presidential elections.

It is said that people vote their pocketbooks and as in the US the hardworking and conservative South and West voted Conservative while the hardworking (some of them), unemployed and liberals of the North and East went for the liberal line.

I personally think there will have to be another election. Maybe soon, maybe in the not to distant future. I hope the candidates for economic reform can do a better job of explaining their program so people will not believe the lies that they will be left starving in the street (The Dem's use this in the states also!).

Best Wishes

[M.K. Borders]

This was sent to me by a 17 year old German living in the Black Forrest region of Germany;

"it´s not sure who´s going to be the going to be government: obviously (they´re not finished yet with the projection) the strongest party will be CDU /CSU (with Angela Merkel) with about 37 %, then SPD (Schröder) with 33 %, then FDP with 12 %, Grüne (green party) and the left party (don´t know if the parties are called different in the USA) with both about 10 %. But to be the government a party has to have the absolute majority (over about 50 %), so there will be coalitions: normally CDU would be together with FPD and SPD with the green party, but so nobody would get the absolute majority. so we´ll see! Maybe there will be a grand coalition (CDU and SPD), but both parties said before the election this would be impossible. What is a fact, is, that the smaller parties have got a lot more votes compared to the last election, especially the left party!"...

... "But i like to learn because we´ve got really good teachers, especially in social studies (like government) were we played an election in the last lesson. In our election the SPD and the green party would be the strongest party and the CDU would have nearly no vote (!)..."

[.cnI redruM]

>>>> It is still not possible to find anybody in Germany to bring your shopping bags to your car for example, although we have an unemployment rate

Just bump that minimum wage a couple of bucks higher in the US, and we'll be right there with the Germans.

[FreedomPoster]

Government schools teach that more government is a good thing? Imagine that!

[Colosis]

If you want to fart, you need a permit.

Ha. I know that feeling living in europe. I bought an electronic device from LIDL (German store) for 5 euros. At the till, I was charged 7 euros. EU recycling tax. I'm so angry, I can't take it anymore!

[fireballxl5]

Germany will come around. I fear it will need to get a little worse before those in the center-left move right.
The economic numbers should speak for themselves they will need to feel the sting of reality.

[ukman]

What guarantee is there that a new election wouldn't produce the same or even a less favourable situation?

For example, eastern German Left party voters might conclude that they're onto a winner and could force other parties into a coalition with them if they only give the Left a larger share of the vote. FDP voters might decide to vote CDU after all. Or eastern Germans may vote for the SPD instead to stop the CDU. Maybe the Green voters would go over to the SPD or Left now that Fischer has announced he is standing down? It's all impossible to predict.

Whatever, in Germany as a whole there is not enough voter support for black/yellow alone. In west Germany it would be a different story!

The people who are really responsible for this mess are, IMHO, Kohl and the CDU. Their foolish patriotism and solidarity with their "poor brothers and sisters" in the east back in 1990 has screwed West Germany politically and economically.

[DB]

I think too many in your country have found living off the government teat as a way of life.

Once there, it is very difficult to persuade them to do otherwise.

Personnally I think anyone living off government assistence should lose their vote until they're off the system. Otherwise the system is eventially doomed. Mind you, it will never happen...

I think things continue downward until there is no were to go but up. There will be much pain and gnashing of teeth before you get there though...

[DB]

Socialism has screwed Germany.

Much of Europe is in the same boat - and they had nothing to do with unification.

[moose2004]

Thank you for the post. Germans need to understand, especially those in the east, that economic reforms must take place before prosperity will occur (higher economic growth, lower unemployment, lower taxes, etc..). The days of the communist/socialist "free lunch" are over, but unfortunately too many of your fellow countrymen and women still fall for Schroeder's/SPD's populist BS rhetoric. I also hope Merkel or someone else in the CDU emerges as Chancellor.

[ukman]

I beg to differ. If you mean by "socialism", old age pensions, social security, unemployment benefits etc. (like you have in the USA too, I gather), there is no problem as long as the economy is humming and unemployment is low and temporary in nature. Then the uneducated can find low-paid jobs and are no burden. But globalization pressures have forced a lot of unskilled people off the payrolls.

I can't think of many Socialist governments in Europe at the moment. The UK? Jobless at all time low. Italy, France have had conservative governments for some time now. Germany's HartzIV reforms are also starting to bite.

Whatever, the welfare state is a cornerstone of most European countries. If people are in need (elderly, ill, unemployed), they get help. Nothing really controversial about that in a nominally Christian society, and as far as I know the USA too helps people like this. Otherwise, what do they do? Beg? Steal? Go to prison? There's a constant fight to get the lazy, the shiftless and the scroungers off the books and back to work, of course, and rightly so.

But I'd still assert that it was reunification Kohl-style that tripped up Germany. I never liked the corrupt old bugger myself.

[ClaireSolt]

I am sure Europeans think that our elections are too long, but theirs are too short to convey a vision. Also, the seniority system works against it. Merkel was the candidate before anyone knew what she would advocate, including her. Our primary system encourages the development of a message by individual leaders and plenty of time to discuss and weigh the ideas.

[Michael81Dus]

That´s why I´m in favor (since Sunday), of the majority election law. Double the districts to 598 and take away all party list seats. Then we´ll have a clear majority, because only 3 Commies and 1 Green won their districts - the others went to the CDU/CSU and to the SPD.

[Einigkeit_Recht_Freiheit]

We need a chancellor who will do all nessecary cruelties at once.

Good post. Perhaps the weed metaphor would be relevant here. If your garden has a weed with horrible nasty thorns, you need to get rid of it. If you only pull part of it, you may not hurt your hands as much, so the pain will be less, but the weed will grow back so you the pain will be repeated. But, if you grab on hard, take the pain and pull the weed out by its routes, you will suffer more, but your recovery will happen over time and then your garden will be beautiful. You wrote the same thing, but even 60 years later we probably still need to avoid talking about German chancellor's and their cruelties.

[moose2004]

Well said.

[Atlantic Bridge]

The people who are really responsible for this mess are, IMHO, Kohl and the CDU. Their foolish patriotism and solidarity with their "poor brothers and sisters" in the east back in 1990 has screwed West Germany politically and economically.

Yep! Not solely, but for the larger part it was Kohl and his CDU who signed all those unsecured cheques. Schroeder just completed the mess.

This deeper insight doesn't help, since someone has to pay the bill or at least - try to earn the money for it. It is extremely disgusting that those deadbeats are rewarded for their failure with high pensions and public acknowledgment.

I do not mind who will ran this country in the future as long as he/she will be open to more freedom and economic justice.

He/She schould know: If someone is hungry, he needs bread, but he doesn't need a haute cuisine menue...

[ukman]

Being British, I was unaffected back then by all the German patriotism washing around and argued a lot in my local Kneipe that reunification could not be paid out of the petty cash. Back then, Lafontaine was right! Even before reunification, but after the wall came down, there was plenty of evidence (i.e. in TV reports) that east Germany's industry was held together with duct tape and that lots of the workforce lounged around doing nothing very much. I remember watching with a sinking feeling.

I don't have the vote, but I'm allowed to participate in the "Aufbau Ost" with my solidarity tax on top of normal taxes. I'm so grateful...

[Atlantic Bridge]

I don't have the vote, but I'm allowed to participate in the "Aufbau Ost" with my solidarity tax on top of normal taxes. I'm so grateful...

Have you ever heard the old DDR-FDJ song:

"Bau auf! Bau auf! Bau auf! Bau auf! Freie deutsche Jugend, bau auf! Für eine bessere Zukunft richten wir die Heimat auf! deutsche Jugend, steh deinen Mann!!" ???!

:-))) BuHuHaHa!

It is funny that the European solidarity is to foliate such strange blossoms. Anyway it is nice that there are some to share my burden and I am really grateful for that!