- cross-posted to:
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- [email protected]
- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
When Friedrich Merz became Germany’s chancellor this year, he promised to revive a moribund economy, rebuild the nation’s neglected infrastructure and making the country relevant on the global stage again. His failure to deliver on many of these core issues has not only helped energize far-right parties like the Alternative for Germany
Merz also caused confusion at an October meeting of European Union leaders, when he incorrectly reported a trade agreement with the Mercosur bloc had been concluded. He later brushed off the mistake as a minor issue.
The SPD is not perfect but based on my short time in Germany they seemed decent. Would I prefer someone more progressive and more capable? Yes. But if you’re talking about the stop light coalition, I don’t see the SPD’s actions as blatant betrayal. It read to me, admittedly not a native German speaker/reader and who came in a year or so into their coalition, like all lost progress was entirely the fault of the FDP. They conspired against their own coalition and I personally believe they should never be elected to another public office again. They were traitors to the German public and did so with intention, disgusting behavior I hope the German public never forgets or forgives.
The SPD usually makes progressive promises but when in government (which they were 23 of the last 27 years) they rarely act on those promises and rather do the exact opposite. Right now, they are doing their very best (together with CDU/CSU) to dismantle social security. Bärbel Bas, minister of labour and social affairs from SPD, literally said they were to tighten penalties (for jobless people who don’t do what the Jobcenter tells them to do) to the limits of constitutional allowance. She denies a raise for social security the second year in a row despite the support rates still lagging behind inflation. High ranking SPD politicians engage in populist rhetoric against jobless people and refugees. Stuff like that.
The brief two-year period during the traffic light coalition were the exceptiom, not the rule.
Idk if I would give blame to the SPD for the actions of a joint coalition when they’re in the minority. Maybe I should? But if the will of Germans has been to shoot themselves in the foot with the CSU for the overwhelming majority of the past - what - 40 years I struggle to blame the SPD even if they were a part of the government when those actions took place.
That being said, as I asked, maybe I should. I see them as equivalent to US centrist Democrats. They won’t make much of anything better but they won’t make many things that much worse. They’re the slow collapse of the empire party, vs the aggressive collapse of the Republicans (in Germany the CSU/CDU) or the speed run of the AfD (post-Trump Republicans.
While they were leaders of their party, even despite the backstabbing FDP they passed several things that seemed good. For a moment it felt like Germany was moving in the right direction. Maybe you’re correct that it’s an outlier, I don’t claim to be an expert although I’m trying to learn as much as I can.
All of that being said, my advice remains vote for Die Linke and Grüne first and foremost, and then if you have to the SPD. But never the CSU and the FDP and AfD should be ridiculed and shamed out of ever admitting they have political inklings let alone that they’re running for office (and arguably the AfD should be outright banned for preaching evil policies). Which I think is a reasonable position to have given how popular the SPD and CSU still are among the majority of Germans.
Edit: I should have also said, if the SPD did say those things and are actively engaging in anti-humanist actions like id expect from the CSU or the AfD then fuck them too. Get politicians out of government that don’t serve the people.
I mean, at the very least they were enablers. The SPD at the very least voted for the bad ideas of the Union in parliament. But two things stick out: the SPD-Greens coalition 2002-2005 introduced Arbeitslosengeld II (commonly known as Hartz IV), a law that amplified impoverishment and precariousness of the lower classes, and the decision of the SPD after the 2013 election to enter a coalition with the Union instead of Greens and Left.
Yes, two of the three Traffic Light years were very hopeful. But the SPD also is not innocent of this coalition’s downfall. The FDP started that backstabbing and sabotage very early on and instead of showing them their place during a time the FDP would not risk losing their position of power, Chancellor Scholz faltered and caved in to tgeir demands, paving the way for FDP and Lindner’s later actions.
The SPD is spineless and rarely actually makes politics for worker’s benefits. Instead, the claw to power as much as they can.
You don’t have to. Germany employs proportional representation for parties, meaning the parties get seats in relation to how many votes they get. The only exception might be the election of direct candidates, but that is a whole other discussion and not as attached to party elections as it might seem to superficially.
Thank you for this write up, I really do appreciate it. I will move forward liking the SPD even less than I already did.