Scholz, the last hope
Let me put it bluntly. If Olaf Scholz resigns, World War III will start. That may seem exaggerated to some, but given the current situation and the disjointed positions, I dread new elections. Because what would come next would not be any better. Although what we currently have is bad enough.
The results of the European elections have shown quite clearly where things are headed. New elections would further strengthen the so-called fringes, although BSW and AfD should be weakened despite massive campaigns.
By Serdar Somuncu
The results of the European elections have shown quite clearly where things are headed. New elections would further strengthen the so-called fringes, although BSW and AfD should be weakened despite massive campaigns.
By Serdar Somuncu
In plain language, this means that soon it will no longer be possible to form a government without the AfD, and since Friedrich Merz has also ruled out cooperation with the BSW, he will then only be able to rely on the absolute majority of the CDU, which is utopian in view of the latest figures, or to form a coalition of the CDU, SPD (if it gets over 10%) and the GREENS (ditto), perhaps even with the FDP (if it clears the 5%).
This so-called popular front to prevent the will of the voters would have the sole purpose of nihilizing the successes of the AfD and the BSW and using them to construct a government mandate that is just as fragile as what we are currently experiencing. The mainstream parties are finished.
But I am even more worried than that about how a new federal government would position itself on the issue of arms deliveries to Ukraine. It is known that Friedrich Merz is in favor of deliveries of the Taurus but does not rule out the use of further weapons on Russian territory. Coupled with the Greens' and FDP's lust for war, this would mean that in the third year of the war we are heading for further escalation, which could even end with the use of nuclear weapons.
The Greens' self-invocation, from Hofreiter to the FDP's weapons fetishist Strack Zimmermann, that Putin is only bluffing and that he only needs to be sufficiently intimidated, is a tricky gamble at the end of which no one knows how far Putin would really go. Apart from the fact that it is inconceivable that Putin would be seriously impressed by the choleric, childish attitude of a Hofreiter or a Strack Zimmermann.
One thing is certain, however. The laboriously constructed causal chains of "If we don't hold out now, Putin will take over half of Europe" are absurd. From a military tactical point of view alone, it would be more than a suicide mission if Putin were to attack a NATO country because, firstly, he has no reason to do so and, secondly, he would have done so long ago if he were concerned about territorial aspects.
Rather, it is an attempt by the war-drunk faction of the later generations and the stubborn to suggest to the people of Germany that this is about defending our so-called liberal western democracy. A mixture of delusion and glorification of the Ukrainian resistance that is pouring more and more German tax money into the war chest of the delegitimized Ukrainian President Selensky and at the same time causing growing discontent among the German population. Nobody except the few brainwashed people who stylize their pop-cultural adoration of Ukraine as a heroic fight against the evil Russians understands what prompts German intellectuals to almost willingly offer the Ukrainian President a platform, even though he is the one who has been categorically ruling out negotiations with Russia for some time.
Apart from that, we should first defend our democracy in our own country.
Because denigrating the second strongest party as a group of Nazis, as SPD chairman Lars Klingbeil did in the NTV election round, is not only a sign of one's own helplessness in dealing with political opponents, but it is also a betrayal of the concept of a functioning debate about right and wrong. It only strengthens the AfD's outsider role and brings it even more votes. In the long run, the AfD will no longer be able to be categorically excluded from all parliamentary and social debates under the guise of anti-fascism, just as a ban on the party would achieve the exact opposite.
In the end, it will be like in France or the Netherlands, where it is already no longer possible to form a government without the consent of the right-wing nationalists.
For the sensible parts of society, this dilemma means either keeping quiet and hoping that the lesser evil will protect us from the worst, or rebelling and perhaps unwittingly taking sides with the political opponent, because no one with any sense seriously wants the AfD to come to power. Unless they believe what the populists promise them.
A Germany as the AfD imagines it will no longer exist. We can no longer turn back time. Immigration, diversity and variety are part of our new reality and if we only assume that simple solutions are possible to deal with serious social conflicts, we are abandoning ourselves to the strategy of simplicity and neglecting the guidelines of reason.
06/13/24
©Serdar Somuncu
Current program "Seelenheil" now downloadable in Shop
*Serdar Somuncu is an actor and director
This so-called popular front to prevent the will of the voters would have the sole purpose of nihilizing the successes of the AfD and the BSW and using them to construct a government mandate that is just as fragile as what we are currently experiencing. The mainstream parties are finished.
But I am even more worried than that about how a new federal government would position itself on the issue of arms deliveries to Ukraine. It is known that Friedrich Merz is in favor of deliveries of the Taurus but does not rule out the use of further weapons on Russian territory. Coupled with the Greens' and FDP's lust for war, this would mean that in the third year of the war we are heading for further escalation, which could even end with the use of nuclear weapons.
The Greens' self-invocation, from Hofreiter to the FDP's weapons fetishist Strack Zimmermann, that Putin is only bluffing and that he only needs to be sufficiently intimidated, is a tricky gamble at the end of which no one knows how far Putin would really go. Apart from the fact that it is inconceivable that Putin would be seriously impressed by the choleric, childish attitude of a Hofreiter or a Strack Zimmermann.
One thing is certain, however. The laboriously constructed causal chains of "If we don't hold out now, Putin will take over half of Europe" are absurd. From a military tactical point of view alone, it would be more than a suicide mission if Putin were to attack a NATO country because, firstly, he has no reason to do so and, secondly, he would have done so long ago if he were concerned about territorial aspects.
Rather, it is an attempt by the war-drunk faction of the later generations and the stubborn to suggest to the people of Germany that this is about defending our so-called liberal western democracy. A mixture of delusion and glorification of the Ukrainian resistance that is pouring more and more German tax money into the war chest of the delegitimized Ukrainian President Selensky and at the same time causing growing discontent among the German population. Nobody except the few brainwashed people who stylize their pop-cultural adoration of Ukraine as a heroic fight against the evil Russians understands what prompts German intellectuals to almost willingly offer the Ukrainian President a platform, even though he is the one who has been categorically ruling out negotiations with Russia for some time.
Apart from that, we should first defend our democracy in our own country.
Because denigrating the second strongest party as a group of Nazis, as SPD chairman Lars Klingbeil did in the NTV election round, is not only a sign of one's own helplessness in dealing with political opponents, but it is also a betrayal of the concept of a functioning debate about right and wrong. It only strengthens the AfD's outsider role and brings it even more votes. In the long run, the AfD will no longer be able to be categorically excluded from all parliamentary and social debates under the guise of anti-fascism, just as a ban on the party would achieve the exact opposite.
In the end, it will be like in France or the Netherlands, where it is already no longer possible to form a government without the consent of the right-wing nationalists.
For the sensible parts of society, this dilemma means either keeping quiet and hoping that the lesser evil will protect us from the worst, or rebelling and perhaps unwittingly taking sides with the political opponent, because no one with any sense seriously wants the AfD to come to power. Unless they believe what the populists promise them.
A Germany as the AfD imagines it will no longer exist. We can no longer turn back time. Immigration, diversity and variety are part of our new reality and if we only assume that simple solutions are possible to deal with serious social conflicts, we are abandoning ourselves to the strategy of simplicity and neglecting the guidelines of reason.
06/13/24
©Serdar Somuncu
Current program "Seelenheil" now downloadable in Shop
*Serdar Somuncu is an actor and director
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