German Politics

[theMathematician]

According to Philipp Amthor (member of parliament, opposition), the Ukrainian president spoke to the parliament via video call, but instead of referring to that, the Chancellor completely skipped it and decided to talk about the Covid vaccination mandate (source).

[theMathematician]

Vice Chancellor Habeck is advertising the mandatory vaccination by claiming that it leads to herd immunity (source) although that theory has been proven to be incorrect for months now.

[stevyy]

hmm... well... I find it weird that the government didn't talk about Ukraine... after Zelensky's video message... however, I'm also very pleased with Olaf's plan to give Germany the 3rd largest military in the world.

[theMathematician]

The German government proudly announced that everyone who has to pay income tax will get an energy bonus of 300€. Good to know that someone like Helene Fischer will get, but I won't...

[stevyy]

The German government proudly announced that everyone who has to pay income tax will get an energy bonus of 300€. Good to know that someone like Helene Fischer will get, but I won't...

so, pay income tax.

[aRat]

so, pay income tax.

Phew all of us who have real jobs and pay income tax getting a nice bonus Rihab

I think I am gonna use mine on a weekend vacation

[stevyy]

Phew all of us who have real jobs and pay income tax getting a nice bonus Rihab

I think I am gonna use mine on a weekend vacation

I'm going to save mine. Just this year, my Corona bonus has been 1,600€ (this new 300 Euro bonus included). <3

If I were a manager at a bank, my Corona bonus would have been 25 million €.

[theMathematician]

so, pay income tax.

I need a full time job first ^^ .

[Rihab]

Phew all of us who have real jobs and pay income tax getting a nice bonus Rihab

I think I am gonna use mine on a weekend vacation

I'll visit your hole again, and then we invest it all in alcohol.

[LittleLinda]

I need a full time job first ^^ .

Nope, part-time jobs are subject to income tax, too. What you need to do is get a job that pays more.

[theMathematician]

Or that... In that case, I need the certificate of formal qualification to justify the higher pay first.

[theMathematician]

What's your current view on the government after 3 months now?
My opinion:
Chancellor - He kind of lacks leadership - and spice. He could be much more dominant in the context of the Ukraine situation, while he seems to focus too much on the vaccination duty.
Economy & climate - I considered him superior to Baerbock, but currently, he's not really shining in his political function, is he?
Finance - Even though it's Lindner's area of expertise, I can't say that he caused major (positive) noise by now in his political function.
Internal affairs - Oh boy, that woman is a catastrophe. Totally wrong choice!
Foreign affairs - To my surprise, Baerbock is doing a solid job by now. I believe that it was the best choice that she didn't get Chancellor, but Foreign affairs is her area of expertise and there's nothing to complain, I'd say.
Legal affairs - Well, he hasn't caused much noise yet, so I can't say anything about his political abilities.
Work & social issues - Well, he's better than Nahles, but that doesn't take much, I guess.
Defence - And yet another catastrophe. What was Scholz thinking given her that position? Kramp-Karrenbauer was already very questionable, but Lambrecht?
Nutrition & agriculture - I've only heard one interview of him recently, so he hasn't caused much noise either.
Family, women and youth - I didn't even know who it is in that function up to just now . Tells much about her accomplishments by now...
Health - Oh boy, oh boy, what shall I say... Let's say he wasn't my favorite person for that political function!
digital & traffic - I haven't heard of him by now.
environment, nature and consumers - Considering that it's such an important political function actually, she hasn't caused any noise by now, like nothing...
education & research - I'm not sure why education even needs a national function as it's the states' job, but yeah, another woman who hasn't really been noticeable in the public eye by now.
cooperation & development - I didn't even know that function existed by now . To be honest, there already is a minister for economy, so it seems kind of unnecessary and I haven't heard of her by now, really.
living and building - Another woman I haven't heard of yet. I think there's a lot of potential for that political function, but it remains unused by now.

[stevyy]

What's your current view on the government after 3 months now?
My opinion:

positive: the Russia-relations-U-turn + the idea of making the military useable again.

negative: everything else. The Greens should be thrown out of the government completely, along the FDP and SPD for their idea of increasing coal production and the wish to use and re-establish nuclear power as a green option.

[Rihab]

I think they're doing a pretty good job so far, with Baerbock being the clear standout.

Still not a huge fan of Scholz, but I believe that we're 100 times better off with him than we would have been with Laschet or Söder. Idk if I agree with the common criticism that he lacks ''leadership''. Sure he could be more clear and ''visible'' in certain situations, but have people forgotten about Merkel? The woman literally disappeared for months at a time, let her incompetent ministers run the country, never made decisions until it was too late, and then was praised for it.

[ferrero]

i feel sorry for Scholz to be in a very difficult position between having to be politically correct by not buying energy n oil from Russia, having to buy from US at a much higher rate. He may also have to deal with the potential loss of jobs if factories choose to reallocate due to higher cost caused by higher energy n oil prices. EU is almost certainly going to face a lot worse inflation.

[theMathematician]

Rihab : I don't know what it is, but Merkel kind of made everyone believe that there's no alternative to her. Her marketing team must've done quite a few things right for because if I think about what she actually accomplished, what she's known for... It's basically sitting out uncomfortable situations and the 'We can make it.' claim.

[stevyy]

Rihab : I don't know what it is, but Merkel kind of made everyone believe that there's no alternative to her. Her marketing team must've done quite a few things for because if I think about what she actually accomplished, what she's known for... It's basically sitting out uncomfortable situations and the 'We can make it.' claim.

The horrific part is... that had she not stepped down on her own, she would have probably won 2-3 more elections... lol. Towards the end of her tenure... she had that weird standing that THE Queen has in the UK... in the sense that almost all gen z people had no memory of anyone else being chancellor.

[theMathematician]

You're right. I'm sure that Merkel would've won against Scholz had it been a Merkel vs. Scholz. Maybe simply because Germans love continuity. Kohl was around for ages as well, and Merkel was considered his inofficial daughter from a political point of view.

[theMathematician]

The mask mandate is finally going to drop next week. According to surveys, more than 50% of all Germans want to keep wearing the mask. I will report about how the situation is in my area in the upcoming weeks.

[Rihab]

^ I don't think there's demand.

[theMathematician]

According to RTL, 65% think that relieving measurements is too early (When it happened weeks or even months ago in other countries, but OK...) and 69% would've preferred the mask duty to continue.

[theMathematician]

First day with the drop of the mask mandate, and this is how it looked like in my area:
supermarket: ~ 80% wore the mask, including 90% of the staff (I really felt like an alien .)
gym: ~ 70% wore the mask, including the receptionist
work: ~ 45% wore the mask

It was obviously far more than what I would've expected (Why have we had this back and forth for so long when so many people want to wear the mask voluntarily anyway?), but it was a 'live and let live' attitude on both sides - and I liked that .
I'll report in a week to see whether there's been a shift of behavior in the meantime.

[stevyy]

i still love the mask and will continue wearing it.

[theMathematician]

i still love the mask and will continue wearing it.

Have you already worn them pre-Covid ?

[stevyy]

Have you already worn them pre-Covid ?

If only I had known about this being a thing before covid... imagine all the flus that never happened. In this day and age I think it is very dangerous to not wear a mask in a closed room facility or outside.