Peer Steinbrück
About three weeks before christmas, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) elected Peer Steinbrück, who served as Germany’s finance minister under Merkel (2005-2009), as chancellor candidate for the upcoming general elections in September 2013. Or to be more precise, the delegates elected him.
169 years ago, Charles Dickens wrote in his preface to “A christmas carol”: “I have endeavoured in this Ghostly little book, to raise the Ghost of an Idea which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me. May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it.”
The Ghost of the idea Peer Steinbrück raised yesterday, however, is unlikely to haunt many houses pleasantly, not only in Germany, but abroad, too.
Though Steinbrück has recently highlighted “justice” as a political priority, the ghost he let out of the bottle yesterday, is not exactly conducive to support justice, let alone social justice. Alluding to Dickens Christmas Carol, perhaps Scrooge is a good metaphor for the policy of the dismantlement of social services in Germany, known in particular as Agenda 2010 and Hartz IV. This “Scrooge policy” is still en vogue, at least at the head of the SPD. Not only Steinbrück, also party chairman Sigmar Gabriel and Hannelore Kraft, Prime Minister of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, referred positively to it yesterday. No single spirit, it seems, appeared to them, leading them to the shadows of the policy they had practiced in the time from 1998 to 2009, in particular in the time from 1998 to 2005 under social democratic Chancellor Gerhard Schröder.
We give here a translation of a relevant excerpt from Steinbrück´s campaign speech held at the annual convention yesterday.
“We aren´t letting ourselves, comrades, become deprived of the yield on our reform policy of the Schröder Government, that made Germany a wonderland for many foreign observers. We were the ones who guided the country forward, against resistence and despite difficulties. This is also part of the balance sheet of social democratic policy.”
And indeed, what would suit better to the so called reform policy than the word yield. However, the general public has not seen anything of that “yield”. They have generated it, an increasing number of workers under precarious employment conditions, thanks to reform policy, pushing forward temporary agency work, minijobs and forcing employees to accept any job, irrespective of qualification and payment. The yield, however, were earned by financial institutions and high net-worth individuals.
Therefore, Steinbrück had obviously no choice but to confirm that Germany appears not for the general public but for “many foreign observers” as “wonderland”. Suppose Steinbrück did not even notice what he actually said.
And then, whoever may be those “many foreign observers”, Steinbrück suggested to seeing Germany as a wonderland? I wonder whether there are really so many? I mean, I wonder, whether the general public in Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy, even in France, is seeing Germany as a wonderland – or rather the evil forcing them to cut social spending, accept lower wages, now, when Germany´s reform policy no longer taking the fruits of labour – the yield – from German employees only, but abroad, too. But for some high net-worth individuals who transfer their money from so called countries in crises to Germany Steinbrück may well be right. For the rest it is grim reality that fairy tales can be cruel, as anyone knows who ever read the classic Grimm´s fairy tales.
Steinbrück´s speech lacked not only a critical analysis of his and his parties policy when the SPD took a leading role in government; thanks to his bow to “reform policy”, Steinbrück´s recent turn to highlight social justice lacks credibility, too. Finally, someone who is not in the mood for change will hardly inspire others to a mood for change.
Steinbrück´s speech (German language)
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Alltag im Regierungsviertel