In Germany the "radicalization" comes from above
The nervousness of those responsible for politics at federal and state level is increasing from week to week, according to statements by leading representatives. "Enemies of democracy are just waiting to abuse crises in order to spread fantasies of doom, fear and uncertainty," whispered Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser in Welt am Sonntag. The Social Democrat hits the tenor of similar warnings that are currently being heard in large numbers from politicians, scientists and members of the security apparatus (police, secret service) as well as from the pro-government media.
They follow on from the words of Annalena Baerbock. In the event of a severe gas and energy crisis, the Green Foreign Minister saw "popular uprisings" coming to Germany.
The willingness to defame the protests, which are only feared for the autumn, must be irritating. Faeser claims: "What right-wing extremists and various other scenes in the Corona protests have in common remains the common denominator: contempt for democracy and the attempt to shake trust in our state." So much prejudice was rare: not only "right-wing extremists" (a widely inflated term), but even "various other scenes" are generally accused of despising democracy.
If there was any "radicalization" at all, it was primarily provoked from above. Even during the protests against the Corona measures, tens of thousands of ordinary citizens (with the most diverse worldviews across the political spectrum) saw themselves denigrated as extremists. When experts ask, shocked, why trust in the state and its representatives has shrunk so much, then they should look for answers here.
Everything sewn to the edge
However, the responsible politicians are actually in a situation that gives rise to considerable nervousness. It was not alone in pursuing an energy policy that could now lead to a catastrophic, unprecedented energy crisis. With its monetary policy, it has also put our money on the inflation track. In addition, it has allowed the welfare state to grow much faster than economic output over the years in order to buy voters, and has pursued an immigration policy that has further exacerbated social imbalances and tensions. And it has let the country go to waste across the board.
In this way, all systems and functions of the state, economy and society were strained to the point of their capacity to perform, for some time one has been sewing on the edge, so to speak.
Nothing bad can happen in such a situation because there are no longer any additional reserves to absorb unexpected impacts. With the irresponsible energy policy in the course of the "energy transition", this is now most vividly visible, since that unexpected impact fell exactly in this field.
The dilemma of the politicians is that the conventional methods of pasting the problem with money can hardly be implemented anymore. A massive reduction in energy costs for citizens would in any case cause other rampant problems such as the exorbitantly high tax burden (if the relief is tax-financed) or inflation (in the case of debt financing) to escalate further.
So one obviously relies on uninhibited defamation of possible civil protests and thus on the intimidation of the dissatisfied people. In doing so, however, the government is heating up the mood even more, while publicly warning of a "hot autumn". The question is whether the intimidation will bear fruit, or whether the insulted citizens will see through the cynical game.
Source: Preußische Allgemeine Zeitung
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