German Politics Thread

[WeepingElf]

Well, I'm not 34, but in my mid-forties. That's generally a bit old to enter a new field. And my adult life has been mostly a disaster. If I would have spend the last 20 years doing something like, say, studying medicine and then becoming a well-respected and much-beloved doctor in some local community somewhere, I might, now, be well-positioned to become a late entry to the great contest of politics. But instead, I have absolutely no (0) achievements to my name. A fortysomething with no professional references whatsoever would be unlikely to make a good impression on all that many voters.

You are not too old to start something new. I am in my mid-50s, and trying to start a new life as a solarpunk writer and prog rock musician. I don't know whether I will succeed, but I am self-confident enough to try. If you try, you can fail; but if you don't try, you will fail.

[Raphael]

You are not too old to start something new. I am in my mid-50s, and trying to start a new life as a solarpunk writer and prog rock musician. I don't know whether I will succeed, but I am self-confident enough to try. If you try, you can fail; but if you don't try, you will fail.

Thank you.

[Travis B.]

Well, I'm not 34, but in my mid-forties. That's generally a bit old to enter a new field. And my adult life has been mostly a disaster. If I would have spend the last 20 years doing something like, say, studying medicine and then becoming a well-respected and much-beloved doctor in some local community somewhere, I might, now, be well-positioned to become a late entry to the great contest of politics. But instead, I have absolutely no (0) achievements to my name. A fortysomething with no professional references whatsoever would be unlikely to make a good impression on all that many voters.

You are not too old to start something new. I am in my mid-50s, and trying to start a new life as a solarpunk writer and prog rock musician. I don't know whether I will succeed, but I am self-confident enough to try. If you try, you can fail; but if you don't try, you will fail.

Yah, just because your in your mid-40's doesn't mean you can't start something new. It's better to try, because then at least you have a chance of success, whereas if you don't try, you certainly won't succeed.

[zompist]

You are not too old to start something new. I am in my mid-50s, and trying to start a new life as a solarpunk writer and prog rock musician. I don't know whether I will succeed, but I am self-confident enough to try. If you try, you can fail; but if you don't try, you will fail.

Yah, just because your in your mid-40's doesn't mean you can't start something new. It's better to try, because then at least you have a chance of success, whereas if you don't try, you certainly won't succeed.

I'd add that I change from programmer to full-time writer in my 50s.

My best friend has basically changed careers once a decade since college.

[rotting bones]

Ask around about starting your own party. I'll be honest: I don't think it will work. On the other hand, what have you got to lose? Working people might appreciate a left-wing party that's not Stalinist. And small parties have disproportionate power in Germany.

[WeepingElf]

Ask around about starting your own party. I'll be honest: I don't think it will work. On the other hand, what have you got to lose? Working people might appreciate a left-wing party that's not Stalinist. And small parties have disproportionate power in Germany.

We have a sufficient number of left-wing parties here in Germany, none of the relevant ones being Stalinist (the BSW comes closest to Stalinism, but not quite, and they are in rapid decline and will probably be reduced to a meaningless splinter group within a year). There really is no need to start yet another one; choose the one that appeals most to you.

[Raphael]

(the BSW comes closest to Stalinism, but not quite, and they are in rapid decline and will probably be reduced to a meaningless splinter group within a year).

Out of curiosity, where exactly did that decline suddenly come from? I noticed a few days ago that they seem to be having a self-demolition party, but I apparently didn't pay enough attention over the last few months to see that coming. What happened?

[WeepingElf]

(the BSW comes closest to Stalinism, but not quite, and they are in rapid decline and will probably be reduced to a meaningless splinter group within a year).

Out of curiosity, where exactly did that decline suddenly come from? I noticed a few days ago that they seem to be having a self-demolition party, but I apparently didn't pay enough attention over the last few months to see that coming. What happened?

I haven't followed the events closely, but the BSW platform was a cranky mix of far-left and far-right ideas from the start, and the misperformance in the state-level government coalitions they are part of apparently revealed how unworkable it is. Those who want left-wing politics prefer the Left; those who want right-wing politics prefer the AfD; there are apparently not enough people who want both.

[Raphael]

Ah, thank you!

[lëtzeshark]

Well, I'm not 34, but in my mid-forties. That's generally a bit old to enter a new field. And my adult life has been mostly a disaster. If I would have spend the last 20 years doing something like, say, studying medicine and then becoming a well-respected and much-beloved doctor in some local community somewhere, I might, now, be well-positioned to become a late entry to the great contest of politics. But instead, I have absolutely no (0) achievements to my name. A fortysomething with no professional references whatsoever would be unlikely to make a good impression on all that many voters.

You are not too old to start something new. I am in my mid-50s, and trying to start a new life as a solarpunk writer and prog rock musician. I don't know whether I will succeed, but I am self-confident enough to try. If you try, you can fail; but if you don't try, you will fail.

One of our Ph.D. students in our group started their Ph.D. this year at the age of forty. To echo WeepingElf and others,, it doesn't matter how old you are when you start or finish!

And small parties have disproportionate power in Germany.

Yes and no: by US/Commonwealth standards, they do, but the 5% threshold* in most German elections means that small parties only enter the legislature if they aren't that small. The current Bundestag only has five political groupings (not counting the two non-inscrits), and the smallest of these has 64/630 seats, so it's far from the fifteen-party free-for-all in the Dutch House of Representatives.

*As of writing, there are two exceptions to the 5% threshold at the federal level: win at least three of the 299 first-past-the-post constituencies or represent a national minority party. (One seat is held by a national minority party.) Also, independent candidates who win their FPTP constituencies can keep their seats.

[Raphael]

I'm a bit older than 40, and never finished any kind of higher education, so I'm in no position to start a Ph. D. If I would start some kind of formal training now (that is, next year), I'd be done in my late 40s, not that much more than 15 years before retirement age.

And small parties have disproportionate power in Germany.

Yes and no: by US/Commonwealth standards, they do, but the 5% threshold* in most German elections means that small parties only enter the legislature if they aren't that small. The current Bundestag only has five political groupings (not counting the two non-inscrits), and the smallest of these has 64/630 seats, so it's far from the fifteen-party free-for-all in the Dutch House of Representatives.

*As of writing, there are two exceptions to the 5% threshold at the federal level: win at least three of the 299 first-past-the-post constituencies or represent a national minority party. (One seat is held by a national minority party.) Also, independent candidates who win their FPTP constituencies can keep their seats.

There's also no threshold in elections for the German part of the EU Parliament, and in local elections.

[WeepingElf]

And small parties have disproportionate power in Germany.

Yes and no: by US/Commonwealth standards, they do, but the 5% threshold* in most German elections means that small parties only enter the legislature if they aren't that small. The current Bundestag only has five political groupings (not counting the two non-inscrits), and the smallest of these has 64/630 seats, so it's far from the fifteen-party free-for-all in the Dutch House of Representatives.

*As of writing, there are two exceptions to the 5% threshold at the federal level: win at least three of the 299 first-past-the-post constituencies or represent a national minority party. (One seat is held by a national minority party.) Also, independent candidates who win their FPTP constituencies can keep their seats.

Yes, the German election system is a good middle road between Anglo-American first-past-the-post and the kind of splintering pure proportional representation may result in as in the Netherlands. Furthermore, we have a solid coalition culture here in Germany: all federal governments since 1949 have been coalitions. On the federal level, only once did a party win a narrow majority (the CDU/CSU in 1957), and they nevertheless formed a coalition with two smaller parties, probably because the majority was so narrow that they wanted a broader base to be sure.

[Raphael]

Yes, the German election system is a good middle road between Anglo-American first-past-the-post and the kind of splintering pure proportional representation may result in as in the Netherlands. Furthermore, we have a solid coalition culture here in Germany: all federal governments since 1949 have been coalitions. On the federal level, only once did a party win a narrow majority (the CDU/CSU in 1957), and they nevertheless formed a coalition with two smaller parties, probably because the majority was so narrow that they wanted a broader base to be sure.

As electoral systems go, I myself tend to prefer the Irish system of multi-member constituency STV, because it avoids the clear injustices and irregularities of FPTP while still allowing voters to vote for concrete people instead of abstractions, and elected candidates owe their seats at least partly to voters rather than parties. And within Ireland, I think the North's system of having all constituencies as five-seaters is better than the Republic's system of having different numbers of seats in different constituencies.

I don't think that can work in really big countries or jurisdictions, though. There, the individual constituencies would have to be too populous to be meaningful. That is, if we're talking about, say, entire continents. So in that kind of context, I think something like the German system is better.

[WeepingElf]

Fine. I also like the Irish single transferable vote system, which elegantly combines voting for particular candidates with proportional representation.

[Raphael]

One aspect of the "German anti-anti-semitism" debate touched on in the US Politics Thread here: https://www.verduria.org/viewtopic.php?p=101721#p101721

[rotting bones]

We have a sufficient number of left-wing parties here in Germany, none of the relevant ones being Stalinist (the BSW comes closest to Stalinism, but not quite, and they are in rapid decline and will probably be reduced to a meaningless splinter group within a year). There really is no need to start yet another one; choose the one that appeals most to you.

Raphael said he dislikes all of them.

[rotting bones]

Raphael: You don't need any qualifications to be an online influencer. You just need to be so consistently loud about your opinions that any reasonable person ought to doubt your sanity. Maybe you could start a blog or a YouTube channel. Having rational opinions is optional. If you can get some clout as a commentator, it could be easier to transition to a political career.

[Lērisama]

Raphael: You don't need any qualifications to be an online influencer. You just need to be so consistently loud about your opinions that any reasonable person ought to doubt your sanity. Maybe you could start a blog or a YouTube channel. Having rational opinions is optional. If you can get some clout as a commentator, it could be easier to transition to a political career.

He tried that with a blog¹, but there was some obscure provision of German law which made it untenable, I think.

¹ Quite a nice one, I thought

[Lērisama]

Raphael: You don't need any qualifications to be an online influencer. You just need to be so consistently loud about your opinions that any reasonable person ought to doubt your sanity. Maybe you could start a blog or a YouTube channel. Having rational opinions is optional. If you can get some clout as a commentator, it could be easier to transition to a political career.

He tried that¹ with a blog², but there was some obscure provision of German law which made it untenable, I think.

¹ Although with significantly more sanity than you seem to be suggesting
² Quite a nice one, I thought

[rotting bones]

¹ Although with significantly more sanity than you seem to be suggesting

Hey, I was a big fan of his blog. I was one of the top commentators. I'm literally advising him to be louder about his opinions on social media whether they are well-researched or not.