Pre-Election Apathy In Germany

[Ursus Minor]

Hello there, :)

If you've ever asked yourselves (I'm sure you never have) why the German elections (held tomorrow, Sunday 24 Sept) will never get more than a fleeting mention on SOTT and this forum, it is because they are boring and uneventful, a recurring political ritual with no consequences for the country's political course.

Comparing the election campaign in Germany with that in France earlier this year, you might be forgiven for thinking that the great majority of people are sleepwalking through the whole process, including the politicians Germans tolerate to be ruled over by.

Controversial subjects like terrorism, immigrants, military engagement or sanctions crippling the economy were painstakingly avoided during the lackluster debate.

“Angela Merkel and Martin Schulz barely showed any differences in their only direct face-off (on TV). Why don’t we just set the grand coalition up again now?” DER SPIEGEL wrote on its website.
Indeed, for some decades the major political players in the Bundestag, the Christian conservative bloc (CDU/CSU) and the Social Democrats, seem to have merged politically from two outfits into one corporation.

Try to separate them. It's an illusion, try and you will only come to this conclusion:
(Like marriage) They go together like a horse and carriage.

Proportional representation produces coalition governments (only seldomly any party wins more than 50% of the votes), though with varying coalition partners.

German chancellors may hold office for a very long time: Adenauer, 14 years (1949-1963, resigned at age 87), Kohl (16 years) and Merkel (12 years and counting). So with Merkel only 61 years old it seems that nothing short of a cataclysm or the grace of God will be able to end her term.
(As an aside, former East German communist leader Erich Honecker made it up to 18 years in office).

Will the German federal elections be rigged - as they most probably were in other countries ?

Or even worse: Will it even be necessary to rig these elections in a country where people are so heavily mind-controlled that they are voting for the establishment's parliamentary puppet show, anyway?

Out of the eight political parties that are supposed to make it to the Bundestag (Federal parliament) next Sunday, at least five are tools of the Establishment (The Christian Conservative bloc, Social Democrats, Free Democrats (economic libertarians) and the Greens.

Not part of the above mentioned cartel of parties are:

"The LEFT" (reformed East-German socialists, accommodated to parliament to placate East Germans) which, by the way, is still observed by German intelligence - and the probable newcomers of the much loathed (by the media) "Alternative for Democracy" who consist mainly of former Christian democrats and might have been installed by the system as a "security valve" to give disgruntled voters the illusion of a possible "change".

Finally...

Are non-voters (normally around 30%) just too lazy to show up at the voting booths or are they conscientious objectors?
Well, probably both...

Do I object to voting for the establishment's puppet show, or do I vote for one the parties the system doesn't fancy?

 

[luc]

Thanks Ursus Minor for sharing your observations.

Do I object to voting for the establishment's puppet show, or do I vote for one the parties the system doesn't fancy?

Personally, I answered this question with "no, I don't vote" - while I'm sympathetic about some of the left party's policies (against war, against bank bailouts etc.), I'm really afraid of those forces in the left that are driven by a socialist/communist idelogy, which can do a lot of harm. Some of them are also heavily into "progressive" thinking with all the Orwellian nightmare embedded into it (political correctness, postmodern ideology etc.). As for the AfD, I can understand that there is no place for real conservative values in the current mainstream political system, which is why the AfD is so popular. Yet there are also many dangerous people in there IMO and the party seems to be ponerized already before it even got started. And the mainstream parties with their transatlanticist, political correct agendas don't cut it either obviously. So I said "no" by not voting. I'm still not entirely sure though about all that though.

I watched the discussion on TV yesterday where all the head honchos were present. To my surprise, the only two people who made some sense to me were Angela Merkel and Christian Lindner (the FDP guy). For example, while the others indulged in their "moral rightousness" regarding the AfD and/or got triggered whenever the AfD guy made some comments, Merkel said we have to address the pressing problems of Germany - and she gave the following examples: our relations with Russia and China, international conflicts, economic questions such as how Germany's industry will deal with the enormous technological developments (digitalization), and security. That's exactly right IMO, these are indeed the pressing political questions of our time. Patronizing about the AfD or pretending that man-made climate change is the only problem we have (like the Greens) is ridiculous given what's going on. Oh yes, and Martin Schulz from the social democrats was just plain awful and illogical, and he was called out by Christian Lindner for it.

What a strange show the political theater is... On the bright side, many of those politicians present critizised the media and the stupid, narcissistic moderators, which is something - maybe the media critique by Trump and the other so-called "right-wing populists" has had some effect in that media critique is now a bit more acceptable.

Just some thoughts.

 

[Cosmos]

Same here, I didn't vote. Where I work I asked a bit around before the election for what people will vote and surprisingly many said that they will vote for AfD (the new "alternative for germany"). Most of them also said that quite a number of their family members will vote for the AfD. As the results are out now, the AfD is now the third strongest party in the german bundestag. Apparently that comes as a bit of a "surprise" for the established parties like CDU (Merkel) and SPD (second strongest party).

Unfortunately the only thing I can see at the moment, is further divisions being created, aka. divide and conquer the population even further. Seems that the old game is playing out just fine, as usual.

 

[maiko]

Another pariah here. Sitting at my desk the morning after the election and guess what – the sun is still shining. I did not vote. I used to dutifully vote every time since I was at an age to do so. Four years ago I decided not to vote for the first time. This year’s election put me under a lot of inner pressure as it is deeply instilled in me that I have to make use of my democratic privileges (as the good guys put it) and defend the democracy and free society with a cross on a slip of paper. And maybe a hashtag and a fancy feminist facebook update for my profile-pic.

While watching all this happening around me (a study in peer pressure) I suddenly didn’t feel so free anymore and thinking about the self-righteousness of so many people who vote every four years feeling today like the stronghold agauinst fascism but giving a f…. about other people the rest of the time – I felt once more convinced that it is about how we act towards others when no ones watching rather than voting and therewith approving a system that I see very critical. I had a long talk with my father, four years ago he was outraged, when I told him I did not vote. He always used to be a very loyal social democrat. This year he got very upset when talking about the election and confessed that he is tired of the media that is his window into politics and that he is only going to vote to weaken the votes for the right wing. That makes me sad to see, the resignation of someone after a life long of political consciousness. He is just one example: so much energy of people who feel something is amiss is channeled into empty rituals and a political discourse that no longer seeks solutions but rather divides and establishes a feeling of “we (the good guys) against them (the bad guys)”.

Nevertheless I will definitely keep a closer eye on domestic politics for the months to come as this is at the very least good entertainment.