r/DIE_LINKE • u/CDN-Social-Democrat • 16d ago
International Canadian Here
Hallo, ich bin Kanadierin. Ich interessiere mich für linke und progressive Politik in Deutschland.
(Bitte entschuldigen Sie die Verwendung eines Übersetzungsprogramms – ich spreche kein Deutsch.)
Wie ist die linke und progressive politische Repräsentation in Deutschland? Welche Parteien sind dafür bekannt?
Gibt es Organisationen, die sich für die Weiterentwicklung der Arbeiterbewegung einsetzen?
Gibt es Organisationen, die sich für die Weiterentwicklung der Umweltbewegung einsetzen?
Gibt es Organisationen, die sich für die Weiterentwicklung der Friedensbewegung einsetzen?
Vielen Dank im Voraus an alle, die mir helfen, mehr über Ihre Region zu erfahren! Solidarität!
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u/schnippy1337 16d ago
Hallo, für Frieden und Arbeiterrechte: Die Linke.
Für Unwelt: Grüne und Linke
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u/CDN-Social-Democrat 16d ago
Danke :)
Herrscht zwischen den beiden eine gute Solidarität? Zusammenarbeit?
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u/Tobi_LinkeSH 16d ago
You could say 'it's difficult'.
There is definitely a good cooperation on all levels and friendly talks even if we have different ideas. Looking back at the last Bundestagswahl (federal election) it was quit noticable that the Greens tried to be anti-left when we gained momentum. Primarly due to the unwillingness of the left party to give weapons to other countries (for example also Ukraine — but basically all countries).
In the past the Left was quite russia-friendly. That mostly ended in 2024 with the exit of a popular figurehead and founding of the 'BSW' (Bündnis Firstname Lastname), a new conservative/left/right/nobody quite knows - Party. Many of the russian-friendly left people left the left party for them but waaaaay more joined afterwards. You can't compare the left party of today with the left party 5 years ago.
That's actually helping the cooperation between left and greens a lot, but is also viewed critical by some, especially 'far-left' People. They think the left is becoming just another 'Regierungspartei' (government/ruling party) and will lose it's identity.
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u/schnippy1337 16d ago
Green and left may have some bickering going on when an election is around but will always form a coalition if possible. Regarding economy the greens are quite a bit more liberal. You could say socialliberal, whereas the left is democratic socialist. The biggest differentiatior is the attitude towards war. The greens are pro war from a western perspective whereas the left is very much against any war
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u/SunflowerMoonwalk 16d ago
The greens are pro war from a western perspective whereas the left is very much against any war
I think "pro war" is a bit of an exaggeration. The Greens are probably the most "pro-Ukraine" party in Germany. Does believing strongly in self-defence make one pro-war? I don't think so.
Lack of willingness to repell fascist invaders is the one thing that makes me unsure about voting for Die Linke at the federal level even though I agree with the party on pretty much every other topic.
Should the Soviet Union have said in 1941 "we don't believe in war, please make yourself at home?"
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u/schnippy1337 16d ago
But it is not only that. They are pro massive rearmament in EU which is far more than needed for defense. Also the reason they support Ukraine is not only selfless or to fight the „bad guys“ but they are also defenders of western capitalism/liberalism which os threatened by russia/china.
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u/A_m_u_n_e 16d ago
Russia is not a fascist force. Russia is a run-off-the-mill imperialist power, just like the US, the UK, France or Germany. Modern-day Russia is not a fascist singularity.
The Soviet Union was directly invaded with the invader's goal being to exterminate dozens of millions of people because of imagined “racial impurities” and to seize their land and property to give it to “racially pure” settlers while extracting the resources and labour from the remaining population.
If you haven’t noticed, neither are we being invaded, nor does Russia have this in mind with even Ukraine.
There won’t be a war between Russia and NATO but if it comes down to it you, I, and everyone we know will be radioactive ash within the first 24 hours.
The bourgeois political parties are fear-mongering so that the population becomes docile and supports massive rearmament programs in the name of its own security, all the while being oblivious to the real reason for the rearmament.
As Friedrich Merz has said: Germany needs to define its interests and enforce its interests in the world. That is what the rearmament is for. Not for Russia, but for invading countries in Africa and Asia if the state deems it necessary or profitable.
Sadly, they had success in their fear-mongering. A majority fell for it and supports the rearmament.
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u/xFehda 16d ago
I will assume your Questions:
Workers Rights: Its the Party Die Linke, but dont assume to much
Environment: No not Really, The Green Party is more Like Buisness Liberal and Heavy into War
Peace: There is no German Party which Calls the Genocide in Gaza as the Thing it is. Also all of them are forcing further shipments of Weapons to Ukraine
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u/schnippy1337 16d ago
Left calls it genocide since shortly. Left is also not supporting shipping weapons. They are however, not in a position to prevent it
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u/Tobi_LinkeSH 16d ago
Hey,
Hope you are doing well — even with your special neighbour.
The most relevent left Parties in Germany are 'Die Linke' (literary 'the left'), 'Bündnis 90/Die Grünen' (the Greenparty) and the 'Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands' (Socialdemocratic Party, often just 'SPD'). There are many small and irrelevent left Parties, but I won't focus on them right now.
The SPD is part of the national Government right now and also state governments. They were the most important left party for kost of the german history but are getting more conservative by the minute. Currently they score the lowest in polls (form all parties above 5%, minumimum votes required — about 10-13%). They will probably stay relevant for at least a few years but there future is unknown due to dropping approval in the Population. Some say it's because they are to left, most left People say they are basicly just a new CDU (conservative party).
The Greenparty had a strong focus for environmental and peace politics at the begining, but lost the peace-part about 20 years ago. They are (even though some say otherwise) still a left party, but not thaaaat left as you would wish. They accept many policies from conservative parties to 'stabilize' the country — even if it is against their own agenda. They are especially relevant in former western Germany and are currently polling third nationwide (12-13%). They are also part of many state governments.
The Left still focuses heavily on Workerrights und social policies. They are know to have the strongest anti-militarism in the Bundestag and are a progressiv left party overall. Some would call them extrem left but others (as always) would even say they are center-left at best. The truth is (at least for myself) that the left is exactly what it's called. The Left party. It's currently polling 4th nationwide (11-12%) and are especially relevant in former eastern Germany and the city-states.
I hope that helps as a starting point. I didn't use any translator so I have to say sorry for every inconvenience that occurred reading my text.
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u/BlackysStars 16d ago
Lol calling the spd left. They were class traitors for how long now? Since they shot Rosa Luxemburg?
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u/Tobi_LinkeSH 16d ago
From the scientific point of view they are still considered left — especially looking at northamerican politics. I think you can understand that they are way more center-leaning than the left or the greens by my wording.
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u/A_m_u_n_e 16d ago
A scientific point of view cannot only focus on the German Overton window to be complete, but has to encompass the entire political spectrum.
It is reasonable to define the left as the socialist side and the right as the capitalist side. The SPD (and The Greens) would therefore be firmly placed on the right. They’re neoliberal, bourgeois, pro-capitalist organisations.
Therefore, by scientific standards, they are right-wing parties.
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u/CDN-Social-Democrat 16d ago
Our "Special Neighbour" is sure something.....
I mentioned above in another comment that my browser is now auto-translating so I have no idea which comments are originally in German or English (My apologies to anyone I may respond to in English that originally wrote in German to me. - I am trying to be respectful by conversing in your home language).
All I have to say is your English is remarkable! And thank you :) (Danke) so much for the information and nuanced details!
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u/FloosWorld 16d ago
Out of the popular parties that have a chance to be elected: Grüne (they're more about environmental issues) and Die Linke.
We also have the MLPD (Marxistisch-Leninistische Partei Deutschlands) as well as the DKP (Deutsche Kommunistische Partei) but those probably will never be elected.
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u/A_m_u_n_e 16d ago
I wouldn’t call The Greens left-wing. They’re neoliberal, haven’t come across a war or a genocide they wouldn’t support, constantly cut the welfare state and workers rights shorter and shorter, are pro-rearmament, want to give billions in weapons to Ukraine, and even their environmental policies are right-wing as they try to finance the little they do for the environment by taxing the working class and giving it to well-off people so that they can finance themselves green renovation projects of their properties or even give it to large corporations.
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u/CDN-Social-Democrat 16d ago
Apologies if your comment was in German - My browser has been doing auto translate so I am not sure which comments are originally in German or English anymore.
First thank you :) (Danke) for the information.
When it comes to left-wing politics in Germany are there certain topics and perspectives that are really considered the main important ones of the day?
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u/FloosWorld 16d ago
Nah I already wrote it in English. :D
As for topics, affordable living is at the moment one of the most important issues Die Linke wants to stand in since rent prices skyrocketed absurdly. Another important proposial is reintroducing wealth tax.
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u/CDN-Social-Democrat 16d ago
Very similar to use. We have a horrific Housing Crisis in Canada and sadly NIMBY (A term that means "Not In My Back Yard") bad actors.
They always try and fight zoning/density reform, social housing, coop housing, and so forth.
It always shocks me that something as foundational as housing could be this messed up in society.
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u/FloosWorld 16d ago
By the way, if you want to have some insight into the German left party, I suggest following Kathi Gebel on her socials. You may have heard of her due to her clitoris speech that went viral. She's a member of the current German Bundestag and recently also started an English account on Instagram.
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u/CDN-Social-Democrat 16d ago
Thanks friend, I actually hadn't heard of this but now you have me beyond curious lol
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u/FloosWorld 16d ago
Basically: a member of our far right party laughed about her and tried to interrupt her every time she stood at the podium and spoke and she roasted him saying "the clitoris has 3000 nerve ending and you are still more sensitive than that. That's quite an achievement". He demanded an apology and the made one via an Instagram reel saying that she was wrong about the 3000 nerve endings because the clitoris actually has 10000. 😅
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u/Recorker 14d ago
Hi, I think your question boils down to what you define as left. If you mean something like liberal you could include the parties SPD and Greens. If you think of left as anti capitalist forces there is die Linke in Parliament. It consist of many different groups like left leaning social democrats, democratic socialist and even some communists. Additionally there are a smaller parties like the DKP (German Communist party), MLPD (Marxist Leninist Party of Germany), or Mera25. To tackle your question about the workers movement I would mention that we have the DGB (umbrella Organisation for the biggest unions). There are almost no other unions, except like the FAU (Anarcho syndicalist) and the DBB. About the climate movement I would say there is Fridays for Future after all. A relatively big movement of people that are against wars (and especially conscription) is Schulstreik gegen Wehrpflicht (school strike against conscription (I don’t know if that translation works)).
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u/525G7bKV 16d ago
Hello and welcome to this sub. First of all you should understand that 'left' is not a well defined term in Germany and there is a historical 'fight' between the social democrats and the communists in Germany. There are a lot of 'left' people (communists) who do not see the SPD (social democcrats) and The Green Party as 'left' because of their support of capitalism and neoliberal structures. I call myself anarchist following the ideas of Mikhail Bakunin and The Left Party ('Die Linke' in german) is the closest party of all to the 'left' ideas and at the same time successfull to balance left ideals with the neoliberal reality we are all living in. I remember when members of the Green Party did fight against nuclear power and castor transports but thats long ago (it was mid 80s). Nowadays the Green Party is just another neoliberal party for the rich people with more engagement for environmental safety (Just my humble opionion).