German welfare state 'can no longer be financed' — Merz
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The German chancellor has called for a welfare reform, putting him on course for a possible clash with the SPD.
Sure it can.
Just raise taxes on the wealthy.
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How’s your Spanish? I hear good things about Chile.
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My partner and I almost moved to Germany last year and I am so glad we didn't. If we're going to be in a fascist country, I'd prefer to be a citizen since white fascists tend to frown extra hard on us brown immigrants.
While the current government in Germany is certainly not the best, it is very far away from a fascist country.
Most likely the right wing CDU talks big now to wiggle out some small concessions against their socialist coalition partner and againt the green/left opposition.
They can not change anything big because otherwise the current coalition would fold.
The CDU can not form a coalition or cooperate with the ultra right AFD because that would cost them a big chunk of their current voters.
They currently have nothing going for them that would win them voters on their own.
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They will just move to the next country.
Let them. If they don't pay their share, they are not worth keeping.
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It’s short sighted though.
if you assume that they want what they say
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It’s not short sighted for the wealthy. Over the last 40 years, the wealthy have amassed massive amounts of income and wealth. It worked out great for them and the politicians that they purchase.
My view is that it will ultimately ruin the country. Has in the U.K.
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My view is that it will ultimately ruin the country. Has in the U.K.
I agree.
The wealthy do not care about countries or borders. Once a land is pilfered, their wealth makes it relatively easy to find another place to live.
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I agree.
The wealthy do not care about countries or borders. Once a land is pilfered, their wealth makes it relatively easy to find another place to live.
Oh, we’re on the same page then. It’s terrifying.
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The German chancellor has called for a welfare reform, putting him on course for a possible clash with the SPD.
The passive voice in that statement is doing a LOT of heavy lifting there, Friedrich.
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Merz is a conservative. They're all like that.
Its crazy to me that the only left leaning party in Germany was split by internal divisions between neoliberalism and progressive politics. How was that even possible when more than half of Germany's voters are left leaning?
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Its crazy to me that the only left leaning party in Germany was split by internal divisions between neoliberalism and progressive politics. How was that even possible when more than half of Germany's voters are left leaning?
Are you referring to SPD? They haven't bothered with actual left-leaning politics for a while. Die Linke is our party on the left, and they are experiencing a renaissance right, but unfortunately not nearly as much as the far right.
To answer your question: Most German voters are centrists with a mix of vaguely conservative and social democratic views. And they've been exposed to economic anxiety narratives and xenophobic fear-mongering for the past two decades, while lacking the political education to smell the populist bullshit for what it is in a social media environment defined by anti-intellectualism and fake news.
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The German chancellor has called for a welfare reform, putting him on course for a possible clash with the SPD.
Merz can no longer be financed
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The German chancellor has called for a welfare reform, putting him on course for a possible clash with the SPD.
I typically abhor violence but i understand if somebody would kill Merz due to him being a danger to the general population. A politician has to help the people, not hurt them. If he doesn't fulfill this one basic task, he's unfit to be a politician. He has to understand that or step back immediately. If he doesn't, he's unreasonable and cannot be talked to logically.
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Merz is a conservative. They're all like that.
He's not "conservative", he isn't conserving anything. He isn't conserving the living standard of the people. He's just a dumbass posing as a conservative, while actually wreaking havoc on our collective future.
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"Why isn't anyone having kids? I specifically requested it."
If they want us to have kids, they have to pay for them, of course.
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Merz is predictable and a traitor to the German people. He will usher in the fascist power grab through conservative policies - the AFD will grow in popularity as conservatives protect the 1%.
Die Linke's tax plan would have paid for the yearly debt of the government and then some; their secret - tax the wealthy.
We can afford all of our costs, we can improve society, we can provide a thriving economy for all Germans if we simply tax the ultra wealthy out of existence. No one should have a billion euro net worth, nor 100 million nor 50 million. No one need own 3 houses while others go without even a flat.
We have enough wealth in this country, it's just in the hands of the hoarders. Don't look towards conservatives or the right for change, look towards those that address the root problem!
IMO the borders need to be closed first before taxing the rich works well enough. Allow me to explain:
If you tax the rich today, they drop the german citizenship and become carribean citizens tomorrow, and then you can't tax them anymore. All the while they hold on to their companies in germany.
Instead, it has to be illegal to invest inside germany (above a certain threshold amount) if you don't have german citizenship. This way, the rich can't flee. They have to keep german citizenship to hold on to their companies, and then they can be taxed.
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surprisingly good video.
yeah, exactly what i'm saying, real assets (houses, agricultural areas, factories) are local and cannot be moved to other places easily, so they can be taxed. tax the rich.
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Sure it can.
Just raise taxes on the wealthy.
It's like telling people that jump from diet fad to diet fad all they need to do is count calories.
We all know the solution, none of these countries are doing it
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- Print 1bn in welfare
- Welfare ultimately gets spent into rich folks’ coffers
- Tax that 1bn back out of the rich
- Net cost: zero
What’s “unaffordable” here?
The worry is:
- the german government prints 1bn euros and hands it out to the people
- the people will spend 300m of it to buy furniture, cars, smartphones
- that money goes to companies abroad, to billionaires abroad, and can't be "taxed back"
The solution is:
- literally create import tariffs that make importing goods from other countries more expensive, so people are incentivized to spend money on domestically produced goods
- now the money flows back to domestic billionaires,
- where it can be "taxed back"
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Fully agree. The big problem is Germany industry is in the shits and can't afford to finance the welfare state anymore. Military spending is all debt.
the german industry produces more goods than it ever has in its entire history. that growth has slowed down to close to zero simply means that it's literally at its peak.
explain to me why there aren't enough resources to go around for everyone?
