The crisis of German democracy and calls for a “left” government

[Henk Elegeert]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

2012 (or WSWS / boerswasie crisis) Debunked
http://vimeo.com/13040847

:))

Henk Elegeert


2010/7/16 Antid Oto <aorta at home.nl>

> REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl
>
> The crisis of German democracy and calls for a “left” government
> 16 July 2010
>
> Two issues are currently at the centre of political discussion in Germany.
> First, criticism from the business media of the government of Chancellor
> Angela
> Merkel (Christian Democratic Union—CDU) continues to grow, and is linked to
> expressions of support for so-called “red-green” coalitions, combining the
> Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Green Party.
>
> Second, a debate has begun about the “crisis of democracy” and the “need
> for
> Bonapartist solutions.”
>
> Both issues are directly related. Influential sections of the ruling class
> are
> of the view that the SPD, in alliance with the Greens and if necessary
> supported
> by the Left Party, would be in a better position to implement sweeping
> social
> cuts and suppress anticipated popular resistance than the current Christian
> Democratic Union-Christian Social Union (CSU)-Free Democratic Party (FDP)
> federal government.
>
> They complain that the Merkel government is too preoccupied with itself and
> with
> its internal conflicts; is hesitating to push through deep cuts in the
> social
> safety net, and is not tackling with enough determination the “economic
> reforms
> that are indispensable” for big business.
>
> The election of the SPD regional chair, Hannelore Kraft, as the new state
> premier of North Rhine-Westphalia last Wednesday, consummating the
> formation of
> a “red-green” minority government in Germany’s most populous state, is to
> serve
> as a test of collaboration between the SPD, the Green Party and the Left
> Party,
> with a view toward a possible “red-red-green” option at the federal level.
>
> The ruling class will use the “red-red-green” option in two ways: to exert
> pressure on the CDU-CSU-FPD federal coalition and, if necessary, install
> the
> “left” coalition in place of the existing federal government.
>
> There is a proliferation of media commentaries praising the
> Schröder-Fischer
> government (1998-2005) as “red-green I” and depicting the social cuts
> implemented by means of its Agenda 2010 and Hartz IV welfare and labour
> “reforms” as crucial steps in increasing the competitiveness of German
> industry
> in Europe and worldwide.
>
> But “red-green II” would not be a repeat of the first SPD-Green Party
> federal
> government. Given the global economic crisis, the ruling class is calling
> for
> social attacks that go far beyond Agenda 2010. What remains of the welfare
> state
> is to be slashed even more drastically.
>
> The demands of big business are wide-ranging: removing legal protections
> against
> dismissal, cutting paid sick leave, scrapping the statutory holiday
> minimum,
> slashing state pensions, and much more. Moreover, value added tax is to be
> raised significantly, as are health and pensions contributions.
>
> Such a frontal assault on social conditions will encounter fierce
> resistance
> from the population and ultimately cannot be enforced by democratic means.
> In
> Europe and around the world, preparations are underway to change existing
> governments and establish the necessary authoritarian structures to shift
> the
> burden of the economic crisis onto the working population.
>
> Nowhere can any serious resistance be found in the ruling elite to the
> dismantling of democratic structures and the introduction of police
> state-type
> measures.
>
> The eulogies to “red-red-green” are an expression of the fact that sections
> of
> the ruling class regard such a coalition as an appropriate instrument for
> the
> transition to authoritarian forms of rule.
>
> SPD Chancellor Schröder’s “enough is enough” policy, by which he suppressed
> all
> opposition in his own party and in the population, still garners admiration
> in
> business circles. During the years of the “red-green” government, the SPD
> lost
> 17 state elections, but Schröder was not prepared to give way to pressure
> from
> below. After the party’s substantial loss of votes in the North
> Rhine-Westphalia
> state election in 2005, he presented the population with an ultimatum by
> bringing about early federal elections: either he would obtain a new
> mandate, or
> he would hand over power to the CDU/CSU.
>
> In the event, he did the latter.
>
> To force an early election, Schröder, supported by the Greens, bypassed
> normal
> democratic procedures. Since then, both parties have moved even further to
> the
> right.
>
> In the past decade and a half, the SPD has lost more than a third of its
> members. Anyone who had even the slightest hope that the SPD would pursue
> social
> and humanitarian goals has been disillusioned and turned his back on the
> party.
> Today, the SPD is little more than a state-funded bureaucratic apparatus to
> implement the interests of the ruling elite.
>
> The transformation of the Greens is particularly striking. It has become
> the
> mouthpiece of a privileged layer of the upper-middle class. Its membership
> includes the highest proportion of state employed officials of any party.
>
> During the years of the “red-green” government, these former pacifists
> transformed themselves into supporters of foreign military missions by the
> German army. Now they fervently advocate the transformation of the
> Bundeswehr
> into a professional army, knowing that this goal is being pursued by those
> who
> want to overturn the constitutional ban on the deployment of the Bundeswehr
> inside Germany so that the army can be used in domestic crises and against
> strikes and mass protests.
>
> Recently, historian Herfried Münkler, who describes democracy as a “tyranny
> of
> the majority” and writes about the “need for Bonapartist solutions,”
> pointedly
> directed his arguments toward the Greens. Citing the “impending”
> environmental
> “disaster,” he asked, “What happens when the people do not want to listen?”
>
> “Then the idea of an eco-dictatorship arises,” he replied.
>
> The demand for an authoritarian form of government is combined with a call
> for a
> Council of Experts comprised of educated professionals, which, in addition
> to
> competence, must also have the authority of the state to enforce its
> decisions
> against the will of the majority.
>
> The trade unions form a part of these preparations towards authoritarian
> forms
> of rule. Since the crisis began in the autumn of 2008, they have
> intensified
> their collaboration with the government and act ever more openly as a part
> of
> the state apparatus. Their goal is to suppress the class struggle and to
> ensure
> that peace and order prevails. Their network of works councils and union
> representatives is used primarily to prevent any independent movement on
> the
> part of workers.
>
> The Left Party plays an important role in this “red-green” alliance with
> the
> unions. Because memories of the anti-social policies of the last
> “red-green”
> federal government are still widespread, and the representatives of the
> SPD, the
> Greens and the German Federation of Unions who show up at rallies often
> evoke
> shouts of “You were responsible for Hartz IV!”, the Left Party has taken on
> the
> defence of the “red-green” alliance, a task for which it is well prepared.
>
> In the East of Germany, the Left Party (formerly the Party of Democratic
> Socialism—PDS) has its roots in the repressive Stalinist regime of East
> Germany.
> During the period of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the PDS regarded its main
> task
> as maintaining “law and order on German streets.”
>
> The claim that “red-red-green” is the lesser evil stands things on their
> head.
> What is referred to in the media as a “left-wing” government is, in fact,
> part
> of the preparations by the ruling class for intensified social attacks and
> growing working class resistance.
>
> Under conditions where the class character of bourgeois democracy is
> becoming
> increasingly clear, the working class must make its own preparations to
> establish genuine democracy. This requires an international socialist
> programme
> and the establishment of workers’ governments to expropriate the financial
> aristocracy and the banks and corporations and put them under the
> democratic
> control of working people.
>
> Ulrich Rippert
>
> http://wsws.org/articles/2010/jul2010/pers-j16.shtml
>
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