German Politics Thread

He already declared that he would stop his private buisness if he were to become party leader. The fact that he also has a lot of knowledge about the private sector also might speak in his favour. Something I appreciate about him is that he seems to know how important Digitalization will be for the German economy.

He also endorsed migration as a way to mitigiate the demographic decline, defended the right for political asylum and refused to associate with far-right politicians. For someone who supposedly embody the conservative part of the CSU, that seems alright.

Doesn't change the fact that he is way too connected to the businesses. There is a huge danger that he will do politics for his cronies and not for the general population. His stance on foreigners is reflecting this, too. If you read between the lines, what he is actually talking about when he is speaks about immigration as a way to correct the demographic shift, what he is actually talking about is to lift restrictions for businesses so that they can get people from elsewhere whenever they want and need without ANY pressure put on them to also school their own personell.

You mean the Job, which according to Spiegel, had no clue he would candidate and which company then said they'd not take him back if he lost?

I mean, any Politician who takes a job specifically to smooth talk other Politicians for their new Company is one I consider suspect, and exactly that was his job until recently.

And honestly, the last thing we need in charge is a 'Friend' of the Big Companies, given some of the shit they've been up to these past years *stares especially at the Car makers*

Edited by 3of4 on Nov 1st 2018 at 8:00:10 PM

Agreement. Btw, regarding digital infrastructure...what we need is digital infrastructure for the whole of Germany, but what the businesses want (and therefor Merz is fighting for) is to do digital infrastructure wherever companies need it. That won't help our smaller cities and villages, some of which still don't even have a proper internet connection.

You're kidding right? I thought Germany was pretty wired up. This is news to me that they don't have internet in some of the rural areas.

My father lives in a village and has ~750kb/s. On good days.

Well, with "Rural areas" I mean really small villages. The cities naturally all have internet. But even there we are behind. The Net really, really needs to get updated. That is the one area the FDP is completely right, we are behind all the other countries in this regard.

So, no, I am not kidding. A tourist would most likely not notice, because there is no reason to travel to those areas, but they exist.

Edited by Swanpride on Nov 3rd 2018 at 1:59:38 AM

Yep we are really struggling when it comes to FTTH, have a statistic, start from the bottom if you want to see where Germany is.It is really absurd that we as Europe's biggest economy have a fraction of the digital infrastructure of some developing countries.

Apparently our favorite Public Servant, Hans-Georg Maaßen, is about to get fired.

As in, not transferred, fired. Because he insulted the Governing Coalition in his Farewell speech to his European Colleagues, reports say.

...*deep sigh*

Huh. And I thought it was the Bundesnachrichtendienst that has all the dodgy Nazi connections.

Nope, the Verfassungsschutz is currently the bigger problem. In: It hasn't done its damned job for the last 20 years at the very least.

There is hope in that at least the local members seemed to have tried to do their job, but Maaßen basically hindered them to do more.

That he now has to go...too late, that should have happened earlier, the only good thing about it is that he will most likely take Seehofer down with him. Seehofer has wasted a lot of political capital to protect him, and that has now backfired spectacularly.

Sadly "fired" will mean a cushy pension and I wouldn't be surprised to see him delving deep in Af D politic soon. But frankly, I am more concerned about the Verfassungsschutz. I hope whoever gets the job now will be aware that the biggest threat to Germany are right wing terror cells.

Edited by Swanpride on Nov 4th 2018 at 1:07:22 AM

I'm more convinced that it's an Institutional Thing over here. There is a reason 'blind on the right eye' is a saying about our state's organs <.<

Too much backpatting, 'we've moved on from the Nazis', 'It'll never happen again' and 'Oh there's still some but we don't have to take them seriously' as well as honest-to-god willing to ignore them because they happen to vote Union rather than anything more to the left of it.

Edited by 3of4 on Nov 4th 2018 at 11:12:11 AM

Maybe, but there is a difference between being a little bit too conservative (to put it lightly), and to deny people their rights, giving information freely to the NSA and actively undermining the state by giving information to the Af D. I don't expect a lot of the Verfassungsschutz, but I expect it to follow the constitution above anything else and to respect our government.

There is a difference between turning a blind eye in the wrong moment and actively interfering in politics to undermine our democracy.

The Nazis undermine democracy. Always. It's what they do.

Even repackaged Nazis.

Turning a blind eye to the subversion of democracy is not in any way better than participating in it. Given our history, Germany should really know better.

@Swanpride: It's Germany. You all have pensioned off worse people.

True. I am still kind of shocked that he was so blatant about it and then got protected over it.

Ostensibly good people doing nothing in the face of evil has been considered evil in and of itself for ages. Heck, The Divine Comedy had the Uncommitted — those who took no sides in life — treated them as not even being worthy of Hell. They are instead condemned to wander forever near the gates. While chasing after a banner and being chased by angry wasps.

Edited by M84 on Nov 5th 2018 at 6:01:22 PM

So it looks like over 60% of CDU supporters approve of continuing Merkel's policy rather than following a more conservative course.

Someone at the Welt must have really hated to write this article. They have a axe to grind with Merkel, but thankfully they are still reporting the facts truthfully when push comes to shove.

Sadly though, we won't decide which direction the CDU will take. The CDU members will. I just hope a lot of them read the study and reconsider. They have loved to blame Merkel for the current situation, but in reality, Merkel picked in a difficult situation the direction which had the most support in the population. Because that's what she has done the best.

I am wondering though…I wouldn't be surprised if in three weeks none of the names which are currently talked about make it to the top. Merkel might have someone else in mind, and she might have still the political capital to secure the job for whoever it is.

I'll not hold my breath on the party leadership following that desire. Schäuble seems to push Merz.

Naturally he does, they are old allies who used to fight against Merkel. Merkel pushed Merz out and then tamed Schäuble.

My hope is that considering how terrified the CDU members are to lose more voters, they WILL pay attention to those polls.

Again, not holding my breath. I feel, especially the Saxonian CDU might see this as an opportunity to cater to it's worse impulses.

Me neither...but I am still hoping that there are enough of strategic minds in the party that they understand that going too far to the right poses a risk. Merz seems to think so, otherwise he wouldn't try to sell himself as the reasonable option. Problem is, that the voters don't buy it. And they are absolutely right not to.

But then, there is Merkel herself. There has to be a reason why she made her announcement that early. Remember the scene from "Devil wears Prade", the one with the list? Somehow I see Merkel currently showing lists to a lot of people in Bonn/Berlin.

So here's another question - how come it's the Lands that were formerly part of the so-called DDR that voted for the AfD? I was looking at the recent election results and the AfD got most of it's votes from the regions that were formerly East Germany.

It's bizarre - from hardline Communists to hardline Reactionary politicians? That's one hell of a leap.

Anyone here can give me a rundown of why this happened?

Edited by TechPriest90 on Nov 11th 2018 at 7:35:13 AM