There used to be more tinsel and more Christmas tree topper. At least in Berlin. There the doomsday evokers of the “last generation” decapitated the fir tree at the Brandenburg Gate. Now there is the tree that was once 15 meters high and has no top.
An image that is symbolic of the state of Germany: Not much is great here anymore, “Made in Germany” has become “Late in Germany”. Not only is the train too late, Germany is also late when it comes to digitizing administration, expanding local and long-distance public transport, providing schools with sufficient teaching staff, and setting up a demographically resistant pension system.
Life punishes those who are late. And those who can no longer keep up have been governed for 16 years by a chancellor who, in her politics, opted for sight rather than foresight. Angela Merkel hit the nerve of a society spoiled by prosperity and affinity with the status quo. After all, Merkel’s political style was repeatedly confirmed in the federal elections.
It is ironic of world events that it swept over Germany in the first year without a mark and brutally revealed that the social imperative that had existed since the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany has lost its validity: our children should be better off than us one day.
Nevertheless, the traffic light government continues in Merkel mode, its crisis policy is aimed entirely at cushioning as much financial hardship as possible in the here and now. Future generations will have to bear the costs. The following applies to them: Your little children pay, oh everyone pays.
