spectator.org
Lights Out in Germany
The German government has just imploded. It would be arrogant to credit solely Donald Trump. However, the U.S. president’s electoral victory does have far-reaching consequences, even if the fall of Germany’s Federal Cabinet stems primarily from domestic sources. Namely, it collapsed because of the incompatibility of the political partners.
Dubbed “the traffic light coalition” (Ampelkoalition), the ruling team was crippled by its own diversity. Its erstwhile participants: the Social Democrat Party (SPD), known as the Reds; the libertarian Free Democratic Party (FDP), known as the Golds; and the environmental Green Party, known as the Greens, made strange bedfellows indeed. And, instead of a “traffic signal” operating smoothly, each light was blinking wildly out of sync.
The original idea was that three would complement one another to please their disparate electorates. But that proved nigh impossible. The civilizational differences between the partners was just too vast.
The Greens are woke on steroids. Some years ago, their parliamentarians even floated the idea of legalizing pedophilia and incest. They have not met a progressive idea they do not like. Hence, they enjoy the support of garden variety radicals at universities and the youth vote.
The Greens support anything from deindustrialization and de-carbonization to transgenderism and abortion on demand. They embrace the inefficient pipe dream of “clean” energy — solar and wind in particular. On the other hand, they of course hate nuclear power that could save shivering Germans from Europe’s frigidity and high energy costs.
Social Democrats are ostensibly a working folks’ party. Typically, they draw strength from legacy media, trade unions, and progressive intellectuals of the older generation. They support the welfare state and government interference in the economy. They are not averse to inflation and deficits. However, their social engineering zeal in culture and community life is much less extreme than that of the Greens.
The libertarian FDP prioritizes the economy, though it does have a libertine edge. It is, however, much more Friedrich von Hayek than Marquis de Sade. Thus, the party is not extreme enough to titillate the Greens permanently. Neither the Greens nor the SDP appreciated the FDP’s calls for budget discipline and frugality.
For a while, “the traffic light coalition” endured. The woke Greens practiced their crazy pranks; the Social Democrats milked the German taxpayer, partly to accommodate the Greens; and the libertarians endeavored to serve as a resident reality check. Since the German economy has not been doing well, the economy suffered due to high taxes, inflation, and lack of skilled workers, as Germany, with the rest of the European Union, has been suffering serious labor shortages. (RELATED: The Imminent Death of Volkswagen)
Since becoming chancellor in 2022, Social Democrat Olaf Scholz did try to herd his coalition cats. Ultimately, however, he failed. The breaking point came over the Russian aggression in Ukraine. Initially, Berlin was very tepid in its support of Kyiv. In contrast to Warsaw and others, it offered to send humanitarian help in the form of helmets at the most. It took a while before the Germans sent real assistance, including weapons, to Ukraine.
However, because the economy has been performing so poorly and the business deficit was getting out of control, FDP’s former Minister of Finance Christian Wolfgang Lindner suggested that the Scholz coalition government send military equipment instead of cash to Ukraine. In addition to addressing the question of the state budget, handing over weapons instead of cash would help to counter corruption in Ukraine.
Lindner quite understandably wanted to prevent embezzlement by bad actors in Kyiv. After all, it is much harder to rip off a Leopard tank or a Taurus missile than cash. In response, Scholz fired his Minister of Finance. The FDP withdrew from the coalition and the government fell.
Lindner’s recommendations underlined the incompatibility of libertarian solutions in a Social Democratic and woke Green coalition. They also suggested ongoing tensions regarding Germany’s Ukrainian policy. Berlin was long enmeshed with Moscow and it took a long time to send assistance to Kyiv. Germany’s irresponsible energy dependency on Russia informed the former’s tepidity toward Ukraine’s plight.
Now, with President Donald Trump back at the helm, the United States will be able to supply Europe, including Germany, with American LNG (liquified natural gas), thus breaking the European addiction to Russian energy sources. Germany will also have to start paying its share of defense costs to NATO. Other changes are afoot as America reasserts its global position. It will also provide leadership in finding a solution to end the war in Ukraine.
So, as far as Berlin, Ukraine was a trigger for the German coalition government’s fall — but the root cause for the collapse was the inherent incompatibility of “the traffic light coalition.”
Now what? The libertarians are gone. Scholz’s Social Democrats and their Green friends want to maintain a minority government. The chancellor proposes to hold an early election in March 2025. However, opinion polls show that the German people would like to vote as soon as possible — preferably in December.
With Trump back in the White House, there may be a shift to the right even in Germany: a Christian Democratic Union victory. If that shift were to happen, Berlin would more closely align with the incoming American administration’s goals. And the lights will return to Germany.
READ MORE:
Is Biden Trying to Start World War III Before Trump Takes Office?
Britain’s Mass Immigration Scam
A Wrong Turn on the Road to ‘Green’ Energy
The post Lights Out in Germany appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.
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