German Politics (was Germany: Elections 2017)

[The39thStep]

Worth emphasising that a) The central German farmers’ association has repeatedly tried to distance itself from far-right parties who have cheered on its call for protests. and b) this is the state of the economy that workers are trying to fight back against

 

[ska invita]

There does seem to be some evidence of the AFD and also another right wing group getting involved however I'm not sure that that delegitimises the issue around the fuel subsidies being cut due to last year's ruling by the court about the budget not being constitutional. The main rail union are on strike next week however they don't seem to have been tainted with the right wing.

My impression was there is an absolutely legitimate strike wave happening and the AFD are trying to put themselves at the heart of it....I thought it very interesting that you've got a far right party (doing amazingly well in the polls, second place 23pc approx.) effectively calling for a general strike, a strong red-brown play.. it would be interesting to know when the last time any political party of significance in Europe supported a general strike, I can't imagine it happens very often

 

[Dogsauce]

Like the protests on the Polish border, which were based around legitimate grievances, the far right is involved likely to do their patron Putin’s bidding and fuck shit up a bit.

 

[PTK]

My impression was there is an absolutely legitimate strike wave happening and the AFD are trying to put themselves at the heart of it....I thought it very interesting that you've got a far right party (doing amazingly well in the polls, second place 23pc approx.) effectively calling for a general strike, a strong red-brown play.. it would be interesting to know when the last time any political party of significance in Europe supported a general strike, I can't imagine it happens very often

The farmers are not farm workers, they are farm owners, and the lorry drivers are apparently self-employed, so the actions of these two groups are not actually strikes. The AfD would be supporting actions by groups who are neither part of the working class, nor of the class of large capitalists. This social layer has historically been the base of fascism

 

[redsquirrel]

Like the protests on the Polish border, which were based around legitimate grievances, the far right is involved likely to do their patron Putin’s bidding and fuck shit up a bit.

Putin is not some puppet master pulling strings.
The growth of the hard right in Germany (like elsewhere) is because of the attacks on workers that 30-40 years of liberalism have caused. The AfD are involved with this because it aligns with their political interests and ideology. Or was the BNPs support for nationalisation also Putin's doing?

 

[tim]

The farmers are not farm workers, they are farm owners, and the lorry drivers are apparently self-employed, so the actions of these two groups are not actually strikes. The AfD would be supporting actions by groups who are neither part of the working class, nor of the class of large capitalists. This social layer has historically been the base of fascism

Ah, Poujadism

Obituary: Pierre Poujade

Shooting star of a 1950s small traders' revolt.

www.google.com

 

[ska invita]

The farmers are not farm workers, they are farm owners, and the lorry drivers are apparently self-employed, so the actions of these two groups are not actually strikes. The AfD would be supporting actions by groups who are neither part of the working class, nor of the class of large capitalists. This social layer has historically been the base of fascism

I hear what you are saying and no doubt there is a petit booj element here, but the current wave includes farmers, truck drivers, train drivers and also doctors.
The economic reporting I've read suggests the problem is the German government are applying their "debt brake", effectively the autoausterity act, leading to a "a huge black hole in the public finances, which the SPD-led government has ill-advisedly attempted to fill through cuts and raising taxes."

I agree with the Dan Evans line on this, don't write off the petit booj as a lost naturally-fascist cause, better engage with them as the union movement has done in France with the yellow vests, and dont leave that space for the right and far right ... which seems to be exactly what is happening with the AfD backing them here and effectively calling for a wider general strike.

 

[The39thStep]

I must say that the biggest problem I have ever had in years of fighting fascism isn't the petite bourgeoisie its been the fact that our physical opponents have been working class , very often form the same estates and streets as us.
The populists and the far right see the working class as an area to be politically contested and in some places ie in France in the former industrialised areas and in what's left of the industrial areas in the East of Germany , it's had some success. Interestingly enough the AfD had plans at one time to set up an alternative trade union based on cadre it had in the car industry. The call for a 'general strike' isn't what we would know as a general strike it simply means more protests, the AfD has no leverage to call strikes. In any case, the idea that the protests will bring down the traffic light coalition restore the diesel subsidies is the normal simplistic short term sloganeering that the right often display. The real issue is how the large companies that dominate squeeze the farmers and producers, the subsidy as this group below ( who also show that there is space to engage from the 'left') illustrates is only one part of the problem . I've had to put the video through a translation site so hence the link to that page.

Bäuerlicher Protest gegen verfehlte Agrarpolitik

Wir sind sauer wegen 30 Jahren verfehlter Agrarpolitik. Wir wollen faire Erzeugerpreise und verlässliche Rahmenbedingungen. Solidarität mit Bäuerinnen und Bauern gegen rechts.

targum.video

 

[ska invita]

Politicians from Germany’s AfD met extremist group to discuss deportation ‘masterplan’

Martin Sellner, member of the Identitarian Movement, reportedly spoke of ‘re-migration’ ideas

www.theguardian.com

"Politicians from Germany’s far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party, including a personal aide to its leader Alice Weidel, met the head of the rightwing extremist Identitarian Movement and neo-Nazi activists to discuss a “masterplan” for mass deportations in the event of the party coming to power, it has been reported."

AfD are no joke

 

[Idris2002]

Politicians from Germany’s AfD met extremist group to discuss deportation ‘masterplan’

Martin Sellner, member of the Identitarian Movement, reportedly spoke of ‘re-migration’ ideas

www.theguardian.com

"Politicians from Germany’s far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party, including a personal aide to its leader Alice Weidel, met the head of the rightwing extremist Identitarian Movement and neo-Nazi activists to discuss a “masterplan” for mass deportations in the event of the party coming to power, it has been reported."

AfD are no joke

The last German politiker to talk about mass deportations was Scholz, if memory serves.

 

[The39thStep]

The last German politiker to talk about mass deportations was Scholz, if memory serves.

Of those that don't support the Israeli State

 

[ska invita]

The last German politiker to talk about mass deportations was Scholz, if memory serves.

I missed that, in what context?

AfD were talking with Nazis about "the forceful return of migrants, allegedly including those with German citizenship, to their countries of origin through mass deportations"
Another little line I saw today was that AfD is polling in first place in all five of Germany’s eastern states.

 

[DotCommunist]

Get ready for the worst

Germany’s political crisis is a warning for Keir Starmer.

www.newstatesman.com

'Gavin Jacobson: Let’s start with the mood of discontent in Germany, reflected in the various strikes (rail workers), protests (farmers), and demonstrations (Palestine). How ominous is the hard-right Alternative for Germany (AfD)’s call for a general strike?

Wolfgang Streeck: I haven’t even heard of it, clearly because I don’t regularly read British newspapers, with their typically sober, well-informed, level-headed reporting on Germany. '

amusing opener here.

 

[ska invita]

Get ready for the worst

Germany’s political crisis is a warning for Keir Starmer.

www.newstatesman.com

'Gavin Jacobson: Let’s start with the mood of discontent in Germany, reflected in the various strikes (rail workers), protests (farmers), and demonstrations (Palestine). How ominous is the hard-right Alternative for Germany (AfD)’s call for a general strike?

Wolfgang Streeck: I haven’t even heard of it, clearly because I don’t regularly read British newspapers, with their typically sober, well-informed, level-headed reporting on Germany. '

amusing opener here.

This is an interesting couple of lines:

The Americans are envisaging Germany, bringing along the EU, to take over their role in the war in Ukraine while they move on to Palestine, Iran and China. If the Germans cannot deliver, for political or practical reasons, and the war ends in a mess – the fall of the present nationalist-extremist Ukrainian government, the abandonment of the Ukrainian state by the Ukrainian oligarchs and their exodus to London or New York, and generally a politically, economically, democratically and demographically unviable residual Ukraine being permanently harassed by Russia – then the US and the eastern member states of the EU have Germany to blame; good for them.


The US role in Ukraine over it seems

 

[otzenpunk]

Don't know what the Guardian thinks is happening in Germany, but…

• There is no "General Strike" at all, except in right-wing fantasies. Literally. There're some embarassing videos on TikTok et al. from Right-Wingers totally shocked realising, that life goes on as usual and the masses didn't rise up as was promised by some other right-wing nuts. It's no new phenomenon, though. They called for example for a "General Strike" against anti-corona-measures as well, with the same result.
• As was already mentioned, the farmer protests are not by farm workers, but by farm owners, especially large ones, partly supported by some (right-wing) truckage and craftsmen companies. These look large and mighty because of their giant machines. But if you look at the numbers, it's rather tiny. Official numbers for their central manifestation in Berlin today are 8500 people with 6000 tractors, after a month of nationwide mobilisation. (In comparison: Yesterday there was an antifascist demonstration against the mass-deportation plans from the AfD, mobilised for about 2 days, with roundabout 25.000 people in Berlin alone, with parallel demonstrations in other cities as well.) The farmers' organization has formally distanced themselves from right-wing bandwagoneers, but symbols of the extreme-right are pretty prevalent on their events, especially in Eastern Germany.
• The train strikes are totally independent and just coincidentally at the same time. They're due, because the last big contract ran out, and they're basically striking for an ordinary wage raise. The Train Drivers Union (GDL) is one of the more combative unions, though. But they're totally not under suspicion to pact with right-wingers. They even postponed the beginning of their strike by two days, probably to not become pocketed by the fascists and their "general strike" bullshit.

 

[The39thStep]

I missed that, in what context?

AfD were talking with Nazis about "the forceful return of migrants, allegedly including those with German citizenship, to their countries of origin through mass deportations"
Another little line I saw today was that AfD is polling in first place in all five of Germany’s eastern states.

The AfD invited Martin Sellner to their 'blue sky thinking ' meeting

https://archive.ph/qPSKd

 

[ska invita]

Don't know what the Guardian thinks is happening in Germany, but…

• There is no "General Strike" at all, except in right-wing fantasies. Literally. There're some embarassing videos on TikTok et al. from Right-Wingers totally shocked realising, that life goes on as usual and the masses didn't rise up as was promised by some other right-wing nuts. It's no new phenomenon, though. They called for example for a "General Strike" against anti-corona-measures as well, with the same result.
• As was already mentioned, the farmer protests are not by farm workers, but by farm owners, especially large ones, partly supported by some (right-wing) truckage and craftsmen companies. These look large and mighty because of their giant machines. But if you look at the numbers, it's rather tiny. Official numbers for their central manifestation in Berlin today are 8500 people with 6000 tractors, after a month of nationwide mobilisation. (In comparison: Yesterday there was an antifascist demonstration against the mass-deportation plans from the AfD, mobilised for about 2 days, with roundabout 25.000 people in Berlin alone, with parallel demonstrations in other cities as well.) The farmers' organization has formally distanced themselves from right-wing bandwagoneers, but symbols of the extreme-right are pretty prevalent on their events, especially in Eastern Germany.
• The train strikes are totally independent and just coincidentally at the same time. They're due, because the last big contract ran out, and they're basically striking for an ordinary wage raise. The Train Drivers Union (GDL) is one of the more combative unions, though. But they're totally not under suspicion to pact with right-wingers. They even postponed the beginning of their strike by two days, probably to not become pocketed by the fascists and their "general strike" bullshit.

no one said there was a general strike, whats interesting is the AdF using that language of the general strike and positioning themselves around this....the coincidence of timing of different strikes is based on underlying economic conditions... the reason any of this is worth talking about is because the AdF have already 'won' east germany and are polling so well across germany as a whole...

 

[ska invita]

Deutshxit
FT interview

https://archive.ph/RCF57

Far-right AfD leader vows to campaign for Brexit-style EU exit vote in Germany

Alice Weidel says UK departure is model for her country as party struggles with reaction to exposé about deportation ‘masterplan’

www.theguardian.com

i didnt know Germany welcomed over a million Ukrainian refugees

 

[CNT36]

Deutshxit
FT interview

https://archive.ph/RCF57

Far-right AfD leader vows to campaign for Brexit-style EU exit vote in Germany

Alice Weidel says UK departure is model for her country as party struggles with reaction to exposé about deportation ‘masterplan’

www.theguardian.com

i didnt know Germany welcomed over a million Ukrainian refugees

"Welcomed" may be a bit strong.

 

[ska invita]

 

[klang]

Sylt was taken over by punks a couple of years ago....much more valuable than nazi posho scum.

Fwiw - a true sign of our times who chants 'deutschland den deutschen' these days...used to be reserved to pissed up nazi skins. Being a proper right winger has been normalised across so many layers of society.
From Merkel via AFD to fringes like Gen Identity - they all have their part in it.
'Don't be ashamed of being German and Christian....be proud, show it, don't be afraid of being superior '

Back to the sylt punks

 

[ska invita]

Sylt was taken over by punks a couple of years ago....much more valuable than nazi posho scum.

Fwiw - a true sign of our times who chants 'deutschland den deutschen' these days...used to be reserved to pissed up nazi skins. Being a proper right winger has been normalised across so many layers of society.
From Merkel via AFD to fringes like Gen Identity - they all have their part in it.
'Don't be ashamed of being German and Christian....be proud, show it, don't be afraid of being superior '

Back to the sylt punks

View attachment 425743

yeah exactly its the normalisation that feels scary here - the video is just a few chumps, but if this is socially acceptable in public like this, thats almost worst than extremist headbangers

 

[ska invita]

.... Similarly Polish elections mapped across a russian border that crossed Poland that hasn't existed in over 100 years ( I posted it on whatever polish thread it was

ETA

Very interesting polish map thread... Voting patterns falling on borders that existed 100 years ago!

Thread by @sheemawn on Thread Reader App

@sheemawn: It's 2023, 109 years after WW1 started, yet the pre-WW1 imperial borders are still visible on the election map of Poland - and on many others, for that matter. A thread 🧵🧵🧵--> 1. You can see...…

threadreaderapp.com

 

[otzenpunk]

Varoufakis is talking shit. What "social democratic-green austerity" is he talking about? I'm way no fan of the Green party, but they where out of government for 17 out of the recent 20 years. It's been the christian democrats, who did the largest part of this austerity thing together with the free (market) democrats and the social democrats in turns. And the problem, why Die Linke got ousted (and probably won't return) is not, that they got "tamed", but that they didn't manage to show any reasonable option to end up getting their policies implemented. You vote for Die Linke, they'll end up in opposition, your vote is lost. That's presumably how voters see it after 30 years of trying.

Maybe Varoufakis trash-talks especially about these parties, because he sides with ex-left turned right-wing Sahra Wagenknecht?

 

[yield]

LRB. Vol. 46 No. 16 · 15 August 2024
Anti-Constitutional. Wolfgang Streeck
Verfassungsschutz: Wie der Geheimdienst Politik macht by Ronen Steinke.
Office for the Protection of the Constitution: How the secret service makes politics

The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz, or BfV) owes its existence to the Allies. When the Western powers gave the green light for the creation of the Federal Republic of Germany in their zones of occupation in 1949, they also gave the constituent assembly permission to set up ‘an office to collect and disseminate information on subversive activities against the federal government’. According to Ronen Steinke, the intention was to nip in the bud any attempt at a coup d’état, whether fascist or communist, that would have given the Soviet Union an excuse to invade western Germany. (Instead, the Soviets founded their own German state, the German Democratic Republic.)

In post-fascist Germany, where memories of the Gestapo were still vivid, setting up a domestic intelligence agency for political surveillance was a politically sensitive move. The Allies had already passed a statute in 1946 disbanding ‘any German police bureaux and agencies charged with the surveillance and control of political activities’. Three years later, writing to the constituent assembly, they reiterated that the new agency ‘must not have police powers’.

This injunction is still observed. BfV agents aren’t allowed to arrest people; they don’t wear uniforms or carry guns. ‘They’re meant to listen as inconspicuously as possible,’ Steinke writes, ‘and take notes.’ Their job, as stated in the legislation, is ‘the collection and evaluation of information ... on activities against the free democratic basic order’. Defending the state against threats to this order is the domain of the police and public prosecutors, sometimes acting on information provided by the BfV.

The BfV is subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior, and is therefore subject to political instruction, in a way that, say, the office of the public prosecutor is not. Today, nudged by its masters, it has extended its responsibilities from the observation of subversive activities to their prevention.

Worth a read

 

[countingtozero]

Varoufakis is talking shit. What "social democratic-green austerity" is he talking about? I'm way no fan of the Green party, but they where out of government for 17 out of the recent 20 years. It's been the christian democrats, who did the largest part of this austerity thing together with the free (market) democrats and the social democrats in turns. And the problem, why Die Linke got ousted (and probably won't return) is not, that they got "tamed", but that they didn't manage to show any reasonable option to end up getting their policies implemented. You vote for Die Linke, they'll end up in opposition, your vote is lost. That's presumably how voters see it after 30 years of trying.

Maybe Varoufakis trash-talks especially about these parties, because he sides with ex-left turned right-wing Sahra Wagenknecht?

So which government instituted Agenda 2010 and Hartz IV?

 

[otzenpunk]

So which government instituted Agenda 2010 and Hartz IV?

What's your point? I don't negate that the Greens were in government back at the time, although they were in charge of the departments of foreign policy, consumer protection, agriculture and environmental protection, so weren't exactly the driving force, but of course they didn't resist these laws either. But they surely weren't in government for "20 years" as Varoufakis statet, and the notorious German constitutional "debt brake" for example, definitely another foundation of "20 years of austerity" politics, was implemented by christian and social democrats against the Green and Left votes. It's just ridiculous to blame "20 years of austerity" on the Greens, and not on christian democrats or the so-called "liberals".

Ironically Sahra Wagenknecht's new party now ran for the EU parliament elections with one of their two front runners, an Ex-SPD member, explicitly defending the Agenda 2010 as "necessary".

Ein Schröder-Jünger für Wagenknecht

Wagenknecht macht mit Thomas Geisel einen strammen Agenda-Anhänger zum Spitzenkandidaten. Ausgerecht zur Europawahl?

www.geldfuerdiewelt.de

„Nichts kommt von selbst und wenig ist von Dauer“ – Eine Reform-Agenda für die SPD in NRW und Deutschland. Gastbeitrag von Thomas Geisel | Blog der Republik

Am 18. Mai konnte ich ein ganz besonderes Jubiläum feiern: seit 40 Jahren bin ich Mitglied der SPD. Eingetreten bin ich am Tag meines Abiturs. Was hatte mich damals bewogen, SPD-Mitglied zu werden? Zunächst einmal eine familiäre Prägung: Mein Vater war SPD-Landtagsabgeordneter in der...

www.blog-der-republik.de

 

[countingtozero]

What's your point? I don't negate that the Greens were in government back at the time, although they were in charge of the departments of foreign policy, consumer protection, agriculture and environmental protection, so weren't exactly the driving force, but of course they didn't resist these laws either. But they surely weren't in government for "20 years" as Varoufakis statet, and the notorious German constitutional "debt brake" for example, definitely another foundation of "20 years of austerity" politics, was implemented by christian and social democrats against the Green and Left votes. It's just ridiculous to blame "20 years of austerity" on the Greens, and not on christian democrats or the so-called "liberals".

Ironically Sahra Wagenknecht's new party now ran for the EU parliament elections with one of their two front runners, an Ex-SPD member, explicitly defending the Agenda 2010 as "necessary".

Ein Schröder-Jünger für Wagenknecht

Wagenknecht macht mit Thomas Geisel einen strammen Agenda-Anhänger zum Spitzenkandidaten. Ausgerecht zur Europawahl?

www.geldfuerdiewelt.de

„Nichts kommt von selbst und wenig ist von Dauer“ – Eine Reform-Agenda für die SPD in NRW und Deutschland. Gastbeitrag von Thomas Geisel | Blog der Republik

Am 18. Mai konnte ich ein ganz besonderes Jubiläum feiern: seit 40 Jahren bin ich Mitglied der SPD. Eingetreten bin ich am Tag meines Abiturs. Was hatte mich damals bewogen, SPD-Mitglied zu werden? Zunächst einmal eine familiäre Prägung: Mein Vater war SPD-Landtagsabgeordneter in der...

www.blog-der-republik.de

My point is that most people in Germany think of Schröder/Fischer if asked about austerity, at least if they're old or informed enough. You seem to be very keen to make excuses for the Greens who were in that government. The SPD, obviously, went on to form the coalition with Merkel and which created the constitutional debt break/Schuldenbremse.

In light of these facts, I'm confused why you are so upset with Varoufakis.

 

[otzenpunk]

My point is that most people in Germany think of Schröder/Fischer if asked about austerity, at least if they're old or informed enough.

Well, I don't know which majority of Germans you've talked to, but I'm certainly old enough and consider myself sufficiently informed as well. And inside my political bubble, this Agenda 2010 thing is of course tightly connected to Schröder and the SPD. It's not forgotten, that the Greens did nothing to stop or at least mitigate it, but it wasn't their thing. It was a central "social democrat" project, and besides Schröder I'd definitely name people like Clement, Müntefering, Riester or Hartz before Fischer, when asked about it.

The term austerity in fact wasn't very common at the time, but got into widespread use in Germany especially in the EU financial crisis, when it was used to describe what policies the Merkel government and particularly Wolfgang Schäuble imposed onto the Greeks, and later onto themselves with the debt brake etc.

(I just did an experiment and asked a couple of (old and informed enough) friends to name 5 German politicians they associate with the term 'austerity'. I've got 2 answers by now reading "Lindner, Scholz, Merz, Schäuble, Merkel" and "Schäuble, Schäuble, Merkel, Gabriel, Lindner".)

You seem to be very keen to make excuses for the Greens who were in that government. The SPD, obviously, went on to form the coalition with Merkel and which created the constitutional debt break/Schuldenbremse.

In light of these facts, I'm confused why you are so upset with Varoufakis.

1) Because while technically not 100% untrue, it certainly bends the truth beyond a point I'm willing to accept unchallenged. He's explicitly talking about a timespan of 20 years, and the Greens had in summary the shortest time in government of all the parties taking part in any governments, even if you go back further. I hadn't objected, if he'd for example said "20 years of austerity regardless under which government" or if he'd named the Greens as one of all the four involved parties, but naming especially social democrats and greens is as if he'd said "Brexit and the rise of far-right parties like UKIP and Reform in the UK is the result of 20 years of Labour neoliberalism" (because Tony Blair did something 20 years ago). Would sound rather odd, right?

And 2) because one of the most prolific narratives of right-wing propaganda in Germany right now—regardless of the protagonists inside or outside the democratic range, and including Wagenknecht's new querfront party—is (falsely) blaming the greens for everything not going well today. I don't think Varoufakis is an idiot, so I'm pretty sure he's fully aware of that and does further this alternative reality on purpose.

 

[countingtozero]

Well, I don't know which majority of Germans you've talked to, but I'm certainly old enough and consider myself sufficiently informed as well. And inside my political bubble, this Agenda 2010 thing is of course tightly connected to Schröder and the SPD. It's not forgotten, that the Greens did nothing to stop or at least mitigate it, but it wasn't their thing. It was a central "social democrat" project, and besides Schröder I'd definitely name people like Clement, Müntefering, Riester or Hartz before Fischer, when asked about it.

The term austerity in fact wasn't very common at the time, but got into widespread use in Germany especially in the EU financial crisis, when it was used to describe what policies the Merkel government and particularly Wolfgang Schäuble imposed onto the Greeks, and later onto themselves with the debt brake etc.

(I just did an experiment and asked a couple of (old and informed enough) friends to name 5 German politicians they associate with the term 'austerity'. I've got 2 answers by now reading "Lindner, Scholz, Merz, Schäuble, Merkel" and "Schäuble, Schäuble, Merkel, Gabriel, Lindner".)

1) Because while technically not 100% untrue, it certainly bends the truth beyond a point I'm willing to accept unchallenged. He's explicitly talking about a timespan of 20 years, and the Greens had in summary the shortest time in government of all the parties taking part in any governments, even if you go back further. I hadn't objected, if he'd for example said "20 years of austerity regardless under which government" or if he'd named the Greens as one of all the four involved parties, but naming especially social democrats and greens is as if he'd said "Brexit and the rise of far-right parties like UKIP and Reform in the UK is the result of 20 years of Labour neoliberalism" (because Tony Blair did something 20 years ago). Would sound rather odd, right?

And 2) because one of the most prolific narratives of right-wing propaganda in Germany right now—regardless of the protagonists inside or outside the democratic range, and including Wagenknecht's new querfront party—is (falsely) blaming the greens for everything not going well today. I don't think Varoufakis is an idiot, so I'm pretty sure he's fully aware of that and does further this alternative reality on purpose.

Did I say I had spoken to a majority or Germans? Don't be tedious. The impression is based on many conversations with unemployed and casualised people in greater Berlin over many years. Your mileage may vary in Hamburg given that it is a lot wealthier and historically has a lower level of unemployment .

By the sounds of things you're a Green Party supporter/voter and keen to defend them from criticisms of their time in government. How can you separate them from responsibility for Hartz IV? It's not credible.

Yes, the Greens governed less than the CDU or SPD, but their actions when in power reflected support for the economic consensus. Something reinforced by their formation of coalition governments with the CDU in Hesse and Baden Württemberg. Given his role in the debt crisis I think it's safe to say that Varoufakis has forgotten more about Schäuble than you or I will ever know.

You believe that Varoufakis has a purpose in a fueling 'an alternative reality' that the Greens are to blame for everything - what is that purpose? And you have brought up Wagenknecht on several occasions now - what evidence have you of Varoufakis supporting SW or of a dalliance between Diem25/Mera and the BSW?