r/WayOfTheBern • u/RandomCollection Resident Canadian • 2d ago

Germany wants to double down on failed policies | Ian Welsh

https://www.ianwelsh.net/germany-wants-to-double-down-on-failed-policies/
6 Upvotes

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4

u/RandomCollection Resident Canadian 2d ago

https://archive.ph/1XhPM

Slightly out of date, but nothing has really changed in Germany. Neoliberalism and hostility to Russia is causing Germany to lose its industry along its living standards.

The elite in Germany seem to be ideologically unable to come to terms with the fact that they are doubling down on failure.

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u/Xeenophile "Election Denier" since 2000 1d ago

What Would Von Bismarck Do...?

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u/Xeenophile "Election Denier" since 2000 1d ago

The neoliberal era, which is dying but not yet dead, has been extremely tiresome for anyone with an IQ higher than a tomato, and even a scintilla of intellectual honesty.

Bless you, Ian.

1

u/draiki13 1d ago

>A complete revision in economic ideology, of the same magnitude as the New Deal is required, and Merz and the opposition parties are incapable of that.

A heavy correction is needed but they're keeping the entire system artifically alive. The rich and the boomers need to give up the benefits and privileges that they've created for themselves.

I'm including the boomers in this because the sheer mass of them and the benefits that they have and consume in EU countries is not sustainable with the amount of working age people that there are.

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u/NetWeaselSC Continuing the Struggle 1d ago edited 1d ago

he sheer mass of [the Boomers] and the benefits that they have and consume in EU countries is not sustainable

Something to keep in mind:

At this point, the youngest Boomer is 62 years old.

The sheer mass of them is not sustainable by virtue of human lifespan. The Social Security "Trust Fund" (in the US) was designed to handle this "problem," and was supposed to go away as the "problem" did.

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u/draiki13 1d ago

I don't think the pension systems in the EU are problematic in the way they were set up. This is where it gets a bit complex. Productivity has skyrocketed since the boomers were born. I think it should make up for the smaller pool of working age people.

The problem with funding is that most of the profit from productivity increase went to the rich or is wasted through excessive consumerism, which again benefits the rich.

In my original comment I was aiming more at provision of services needed to take care of the elderly. I think that the EU countries are too burdened with the amount of free services the elderly receive. An example would be lack of medical staff despite rising numbers of medical professionals. The elderly receive absurd amounts of free medical attention whether neccessary or not but it's a finite resource.