Article

2017-11-22 Europe

h/t Instapundit
The collapse overnight of negotiations to form a new German government is yet another shock to the liberal world order, not of the same magnitude as the Brexit vote or the U.S. presidential election, but of the same character. Chancellor Angela Merkel's tenure in office is now in jeopardy. After failing to form a coalition between the odd trio of Christian Democrats, Free Democrats and Greens, Merkel may have to call new elections, which are likely to produce the same intractable stalemate as before. There are many ways in which the deep division in German opinion about the migrant flood might be papered over--Merkel's partners in the outgoing government, the Social Democrats, could change their mind and remain in a coalition with the Christian Democrats--but the crack in German society has been exposed and will only deepen in the future.

The migrant issue is the elephant in Merkel's parlor. The Christian Democrat-Social Democrat coalition was Germany's equivalent of Washington's Swamp Fusion Party and tolerated no criticism of Merkel's decision to let almost a million and a half migrants (some of whom actually were Syrian war refugees) into Germany during 2016 and 2017. A protest vote brought smaller parties into the Bundestag on an anti-migrant platform; in Germany's eastern half, the Alternative fur Deutschland swept the ballots, and in the West, the small Free Democrats won votes on a platform of tax cuts, reducing immigration, and skepticism about Euro bailouts of Greece and Spain. The Social Democrats imploded while the Christian Democrats lost ground.

...A great deal of the present problem is the result of Merkel's incompetence. Nearly 300,000 Bulgarians and Romanians entered Britain in 2015 right after their countries joined the European Community. That explains a great deal of the Brexit vote. The Germans suffer from a massive labor shortage, especially in the construction industry, and the Eastern Europeans might have helped. The Germans would not have objected to European immigrants who can assimilate into their society as much as they do to Muslims who cannot. The European Community's blanket policy of free migration among its members makes it extremely difficult to manage immigration even when it might be beneficial rather than burdensome.

Now Germany is split between ordinary citizens who want to hold on to some notion of German-ness, even if they are not quite sure what that means, and those who want to liquidate German culture as a remedy for war guilt. A natural conservative majority exists in theory, but does not exist in practice because no German party can articulate a coherent, let alone an acceptable, message of German particularism. I do not anticipate a good outcome from this polarization. It is nonetheless instructive that even the long-suffering Germans do not want to be Guinea pigs for globalism.

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2017-11-22 12:46|| || Front Page|| [11134 views ] Top

#1 A great deal of the present problem is the result of Merkel's incompetence.

Assuming Merkel's objective has been inflicting maximal damage on Western nations one could hardly call Merkel incompetent.

Merkel is competently malicious.

Posted by Elmerert Hupens2660 2017-11-22 14:23|| 2017-11-22 14:23|| Front Page Top

#2 Oh, come on now, the Germans are more than happy to let Polish workers come in and work the asparagus fields. Why would a self-respecting German want to work in such conditions?

Posted by DooDahMan 2017-11-22 16:08|| 2017-11-22 16:08|| Front Page Top

#3 When "fascists" go Trump in the night,
The Teutons take terrible fright,
But, laying their ghosts,
They'll play tolerant hosts
To the Volks that think Hilter was right.

Posted by Zenobia Floger6220 2017-11-22 17:39|| 2017-11-22 17:39|| Front Page Top

#4 My vote for Z's most trenchant rhyming analysis of 2017...

Posted by M. Murcek 2017-11-22 19:17|| 2017-11-22 19:17|| Front Page Top

#5 "The European Community's blanket policy of free migration among its members makes it extremely difficult to manage immigration even when it might be beneficial rather than burdensome."

To Whom? People moving from different rent and income areas who have never paid in a penny are not "free" movement, they are beneficiaries of subsidized movement.

Posted by Bright Pebbles 2017-11-22 23:04|| 2017-11-22 23:04|| Front Page Top

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