Realm: Politics Subrealm: (German)
Sep. 19th, 2005 08:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
choco_froshI'm postponing my Vienna post to talk about German politics while my opinions are still current. So first off:
The election
For those of you who haven't been following it as closely as all of our German teachers: The Social Democrats lost a bunch of seats, their partners the Greens lost four, the FDP (Liberalen) gained a whole bunch. No big surprises. More startlingly: the New Left went from two seats in the Bundestag to 50, (they're an alliance of former communists and disaffected Soc. Dems., and got lots of votes, esp. in the east, through a combination of nostalgia for the old regime and frustration at the unemployment rates combined with dissatisfaction with all the parties) and while the CSU (Christian Democrats) are now the largest party in the government, they got scarcely more votes than the SPD and lost 25 seats. So NOBODY has a majority now, Merkel may be ejected as party chief by the CSU, and the apparent loser, current chancellor Schröder is proposing a "große Koalition" between the parties (which nobody wants, since the last one--in the 60s--was so disfunctional)...with him as Bundeskanzler. And while the CDU is reputedly considering a "Schwartz-Gelb-Grün" coalition, which would make TC happy, the odds of the Greens getting in bed with the Conservatives, let alone the Liberals, aren't good. Personally, I think the most likely scenario is that suggested by James, with a Große Koalition with Merkel as Chancellor, S. as foreign minister, and Joschka Fischer of the Greens as Labor minister or something. But frankly ANYTHING could happen.
The left
It's not QUITE true in Germany (as Margaret said) that it's no longer about ideas and inspiring people with them. Despite the incredible Americanization of German politics--Schröder posters with "Kraftig. Mutig. Menschlich" (Strong, Courageous, Humane"--not manly, although that's clearly the subtext of his craggy profile)--the SPD at least has ideas. Trouble is, with unemployment as high as 20% in some areas, people are PO'd and ready to follow anybody who offers a solution, even (or especially) Neoliberals who worship the Market. sigh. Shouldn't be surprised...
Hours today spent waiting for lunch to be cooked by fellow student: 1.5
Status of lunch when it finally appeared: very tasty and fun.
Remaining classes: 1 (v. good)
" Exams: 4 (not good)
Parmesan purchased: 240 g.
Remaining hard cash: E.9.
Health status: kinda crappy
Possible reasons for this: OD'ing on Ritter Sport with hazelnuts; insufficient calories and sleep whilst in Vienna; change in weather; curse on Fulbrighters; randomness.
Happy things: Fall has begun! The weather is gorgeous! Only four days til I see Grace again!
Also...
Expectations of night before: Reminiscent of fond memories of Oxford, only with Coloradans getting naked. ;-)
The election
For those of you who haven't been following it as closely as all of our German teachers: The Social Democrats lost a bunch of seats, their partners the Greens lost four, the FDP (Liberalen) gained a whole bunch. No big surprises. More startlingly: the New Left went from two seats in the Bundestag to 50, (they're an alliance of former communists and disaffected Soc. Dems., and got lots of votes, esp. in the east, through a combination of nostalgia for the old regime and frustration at the unemployment rates combined with dissatisfaction with all the parties) and while the CSU (Christian Democrats) are now the largest party in the government, they got scarcely more votes than the SPD and lost 25 seats. So NOBODY has a majority now, Merkel may be ejected as party chief by the CSU, and the apparent loser, current chancellor Schröder is proposing a "große Koalition" between the parties (which nobody wants, since the last one--in the 60s--was so disfunctional)...with him as Bundeskanzler. And while the CDU is reputedly considering a "Schwartz-Gelb-Grün" coalition, which would make TC happy, the odds of the Greens getting in bed with the Conservatives, let alone the Liberals, aren't good. Personally, I think the most likely scenario is that suggested by James, with a Große Koalition with Merkel as Chancellor, S. as foreign minister, and Joschka Fischer of the Greens as Labor minister or something. But frankly ANYTHING could happen.
The left
It's not QUITE true in Germany (as Margaret said) that it's no longer about ideas and inspiring people with them. Despite the incredible Americanization of German politics--Schröder posters with "Kraftig. Mutig. Menschlich" (Strong, Courageous, Humane"--not manly, although that's clearly the subtext of his craggy profile)--the SPD at least has ideas. Trouble is, with unemployment as high as 20% in some areas, people are PO'd and ready to follow anybody who offers a solution, even (or especially) Neoliberals who worship the Market. sigh. Shouldn't be surprised...
Hours today spent waiting for lunch to be cooked by fellow student: 1.5
Status of lunch when it finally appeared: very tasty and fun.
Remaining classes: 1 (v. good)
" Exams: 4 (not good)
Parmesan purchased: 240 g.
Remaining hard cash: E.9.
Health status: kinda crappy
Possible reasons for this: OD'ing on Ritter Sport with hazelnuts; insufficient calories and sleep whilst in Vienna; change in weather; curse on Fulbrighters; randomness.
Happy things: Fall has begun! The weather is gorgeous! Only four days til I see Grace again!
Also...
Expectations of night before: Reminiscent of fond memories of Oxford, only with Coloradans getting naked. ;-)
