The Sarrazin Debate, or Spiegel Doesn't Get It

[Die Neue Zeit]

The Sarrazin Debate: Searching for Germany's Right-Wing Populists (http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,715602,00.html)


Right-wing populist parties are everywhere in Europe. But in Germany, home to controversial Islamophobe Thilo Sarrazin, the right side of the political spectrum is decidedly vacant. Why?

[...]

The debate, however, has revealed a gaping void. While there have been several voices who have lent their support to Sarrazin, a political movement espousing his brand of right-wing populism is virtually non-existent in Germany. Aside from a few fringe figures from the right-wing extremist NPD party and a collective nodding of heads from the Islamophobic activists at pro-Cologne, the right side of the country's political landscape would appear to be sparsely populated.

In contrast to virtually all of its neighbors -- particularly Belgium, Holland, Denmark and France -- there is no political home in Germany for people like Sarrazin.

[...]

One reason for the lack of a political home for such views is perhaps obvious: World War II. "The rejection of racism and fascism is part of the founding myth of modern Germany," Ulrich Kober, head of the integration and education department at the Bertelsmann Stiftung think tank, told SPIEGEL ONLINE. "It is a major part of our education: Schoolchildren groan at how often they have to hear about the Holocaust."

But there are several other hurdles facing right-wing populist parties as well. For one, Germany's mainstream political parties, particularly Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), have long been extremely skeptical of immigration. For decades, the phrase "Germany is not an immigrant country" seemed to be a kind of unofficial party slogan and the CDU is adamantly opposed to Turkish membership in the European Union.

The result has been that many of those who might otherwise have been tempted by a right-wing populist party have found a home in the CDU. While Sarrazin's particular brand of ethnic hyperbole is both articulate and vociferous, many of the fears he plays on have long found a place in CDU discourse.

Why did I change the title to ridicule Spiegel? Because it doesn't give credit to the political force that prevents right-populism from rearing its ugly head. It's two words, first in English, then in German: left-populism and Die Linke.

[Q]

Why did I change the title to ridicule Spiegel? Because it doesn't give credit to the political force that prevents right-populism from rearing its ugly head. It's two words, first in English, then in German: left-populism and Die Linke.

Yep, that pretty much nails it. The existence of Die Linke gave a class character to the discontent of workers within capitalist society. The fact that in countries like the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark we see mass following of the extreme right is quite simply another way of this reflection, be it that it is in favor of the capitalist policy of divide and rule to prevent any serious opposition from growing. The Dutch SP is perhaps the clearest example of how the decline of a left anti-establishment party (primarily caused by the degeneration of its leadership towards becoming an "acceptable" party for coalition participation) caused the far right to gain massive influence.

Yes, I know I'm being captain obvious for many of you, but Der Spiegel is thoroughly disapointing here.

[Wanted Man]

Is there anything that proves that Die Linke acted as an "antidote" for right-populism in Germany? All I'm seeing here is two posters asserting it.

In the Netherlands, even when the SP earned 17.3% of the seats, the right-populist PVV still made inroads and was already emerging at the forefront in terms of public debate and what kind of subjects were most important on the agenda. If the Fortuynists hadn't suffered severe splits, this effect would have been even more pronounced.

I do think that if the right leadership emerges, Germany will also see stronger right-populism. At the moment, it's too tainted by the NPD, but I can't see why a figure like Wilders cannot emerge in Germany.

Finally, you'd have to wonder what's still progressive about parties like Die Linke and the SP when they are basically interchangeable with the far-right, at least in electoral terms.

[Die Neue Zeit]

The Dutch SP is perhaps the clearest example of how the decline of a left anti-establishment party (primarily caused by the degeneration of its leadership towards becoming an "acceptable" party for coalition participation) caused the far right to gain massive influence.

Yes, I know I'm being captain obvious for many of you, but Der Spiegel is thoroughly disapointing here.

Even the more sensational British right-wing newspapers get the obvious, by allowing "debates" on the allegedly "far-left" BNP as the replacement for Old Labour.


I do think that if the right leadership emerges, Germany will also see stronger right-populism. At the moment, it's too tainted by the NPD, but I can't see why a figure like Wilders cannot emerge in Germany.

There was a Trotskyist article on this, actually. At least some on the right are getting pissed at the CDU stealing the "social-democratic" spotlight and at the FDP for its bohemian liberalism, but don't want to tread on NPD waters.

[Obs]

Perhaps the antifascist movement should start fighting these right-populist parties as actively as they do groups that are openly fascist?

[Q]

Perhaps the antifascist movement should start fighting these right-populist parties as actively as they do groups that are openly fascist?

That would rather miss the point: there is no fundamental difference between right and right. Some anti-racism group recently contacted us (CWI Netherlands) to sign a petition to call upon the christian-democrats here in the Netherlands to not go into any coalition deal with the party of Geert Wilders (this was just before the coalition talks failed anyway). This type of opposition effectively raises a popular front which is devoid of any class position. Wilders is just an exponent of the capitalist problem, but we should be opposed to all capitalist parties.

By the way, we never signed that petition, obviously.

In contrast, openly fascist parties are an actual threat to the working class, as they organise fighting clubs to smash workers (migrants) and communists.

[Obs]

Alright, cool. I'm rather new to active anti-fascism, so I just wanted to hear the opinion of someone more experienced with it.

[Sasha]

its also an matter of tactics, while militant anti-fascists should for sure mobilise against the new extreme right they are hinderd because most of these islamophobic groups dont have an street presence, they only excist in their buble of media and parlement.
as soon as they get an street presence the old tactics can work again (see the edl and pro-koln).
we never managed to get an grip on wilders until now for this reason.

and as Q pointed out, the whole "populair front" of hope not hate in brittain and nederland bekend kleur in the netherlands shows that that is an dead, embarsing, end.

[Widerstand]

I didn't bother to read the article, as I have a strong dislike for Der Spiegel, but the extracts you posted reveal a deep understatement of Islamophobic, but especially Anti-Turkish, resentments in the population. Especially in the non-migrant youth (speaking of personal experience here).
Also they seem to think that the already existing support for Sarazin isn't a serious issue? What if it gets amplified by perceived legitimacy derived from the success of similar figures in other countries?
Not to mention their rave over the German education about the holocaust reeks of bullshit. The holocaust is rarely a public topic of fascist groups. Migration is. Traditional values are. And quite honestly, a lot of teachers I've had are just as reactionary when it comes to these topics.

Also, I really don't get the rave over Die Linke. Sure they are a left populist group, but do they actually hold revolutionary views? Maybe. Do they do anything about it? No. They participate in the same reformist bullshit as every other mainstream party - and in nothing else!
I don't see them raise class consciousness at all. They appeal to low-income or unemployed workers which are disappointed with the SPD. That's all. They serve as a SPD trashcan, and they continue their trashyness in exactly that direction. When was the last time the SPD actually did something?
You may argue with the historical influences Die Linke has, but what good are they when the party's current manifestation doesn't live up to them in any shape or form? It looks like wishful thinking to me, sort of like labeling present-day Spain socialist because they had a revolution once.

The only thing remarkable about Die Linkes left-populism is that it's extremely effective in generating a unison of hate from media, politicians and "intellectuals" (retarded high income people with too much time writing articles for Die Zeit just as well as the more Sarrazinesque ones). Does this help anyone? No. It splits the working class further, or rather it recreates the old splits (CDU-SPD) under a new name. Sure, it's better than leaving all the pie to the CDU, but it doesn't justify praising Die Linke as the German left messiah party.

[Q]

Also, I really don't get the rave over Die Linke. Sure they are a left populist group, but do they actually hold revolutionary views? Maybe. Do they do anything about it? No. They participate in the same reformist bullshit as every other mainstream party - and in nothing else!
I don't see them raise class consciousness at all. They appeal to low-income or unemployed workers which are disappointed with the SPD. That's all. They serve as a SPD trashcan, and they continue their trashyness in exactly that direction. When was the last time the SPD actually did something?
You may argue with the historical influences Die Linke has, but what good are they when the party's current manifestation doesn't live up to them in any shape or form? It looks like wishful thinking to me, sort of like labeling present-day Spain socialist because they had a revolution once.

The only thing remarkable about Die Linkes left-populism is that it's extremely effective in generating a unison of hate from media, politicians and "intellectuals" (retarded high income people with too much time writing articles for Die Zeit just as well as the more Sarrazinesque ones). Does this help anyone? No. It splits the working class further, or rather it recreates the old splits (CDU-SPD) under a new name. Sure, it's better than leaving all the pie to the CDU, but it doesn't justify praising Die Linke as the German left messiah party.

You seem to view Die Linke as a monolithic party, this is far from the case. It is indeed true that the rightwing, mainly the former PDS elements, occupy coalition spots right now and carry out neoliberal policies. But this is not the whole story. Die Linke has healthy elements of being a genuine working class party, as it has a multi-tendency structure (sadly though they, by my knowledge, do not engage with one another, which leaves a solid mechanism of the party to develop a revolutionary programme to be desired).

I disagree with you though that the party has no role in elevating class consciousness. Building the class as a class, as a collective, is a task that begins with waging the concrete struggles and even without a programme (does Die Linke formally already have one or is it still under discussion?) that does bring in the idea of "together we stand strong" into the class which, given our current extreme low point in development, is actually a huge leap forward. As far as I'm aware, Die Linke carries out exactly such a role.

About your point on negative media attention: I would rather argue that this is a good indicator that Die Linke is doing something right here to piss off the bourgeois press. I disagree that disagreements necessarily lead to splits, although in sects based around agreement on ideas x, y and z they most often do. Class parties however are based on acceptance of a programme, whether you fully agree with it or don't. This leaves room for debate, which is an important mechanism to educate the class, besides being a mechanism to work on a correct programme.

Lastly, Die Linke is certainly not a perfect party, let alone a messianic one, but the party does bring together a large layer of worker activists and allows some considerable debate, albeit confined to within its ranks. I think we should regard it as a crude diamond that needs a lot of work, but the potential of a fine working class jewel is there ;)

But this is from the position of a foreigner, being from the Netherlands and all, so I might be wrong in some assessments. I'll leave that for you to tackle.

[Rjevan]

At the moment, it's too tainted by the NPD, but I can't see why a figure like Wilders cannot emerge in Germany.
This could easily happen.
Spiegel violently closes its eyes and tries to portray Germany as a country largely free from xenophobic and fascist views among its people, at least compared to other European countries. But that's ridiculous nonsense, there is not only "xenophobic and anti-Muslim potential", like Mr Klober suggests, but actual xenophobia and Islamophobia as everybody who doesn't live in an ivory tower will confirm. I absolutely agree with United Nations, the acceptance of anti-Turkish/Islamophobic views here is not to be underestimated.

That "The rejection of racism and fascism is part of the founding myth of modern Germany"-part just made me laugh. "Myth", how very fitting.
Even in schoolbooks you can read that the Denazification in the Western zones was little more than a farce (while in the East it was political persecution and show trials against courageous democrats, according to these books), could be easily evaded even if guilty and soon ended anyway. Many known NSDAP members continued with their business as professors, civil servants, lawyers, politicians in the highest ranks and - last but not least - capitalists. How loud schoolchildren groan about repeated Holocaust lessons isn't very important compared to this.


While there have been several voices who have lent their support to Sarrazin, a political movement espousing his brand of right-wing populism is virtually non-existent in Germany [...] there is no political home in Germany for people like Sarrazin.
Not yet but there soon could be:

Support for Sarrazin puts politicians in spin

Nearly a fifth of Germans would vote for a political protest party headed by Thilo Sarrazin, a poll revealed on Sunday, as mainstream politicians argue about how best to react to his statements on Muslims, immigration and Jews.

The survey, conducted by Emnid pollsters for the Bild am Sonntag newspaper, showed that 18 percent of Germans would vote for a political party headed by the Bundesbank board member.

He has created a furore in Germany with assertions about Muslim immigrants to Germany failing to integrate, and what he insists is a genetic element to intelligence – and the astounding proposal that people of a common religion are genetically related.

His theory is that genetically stupid immigrants are making Germany increasingly stupid as they are multiplying faster than Germans – and refusing to integrate into German society.

These kind of ideas seem to be welcomed by many conservative voters, with 17 percent of Christian Democrat Union (CDU) or Christian Social Union (CSU) voters telling pollsters they would vote for him if he were to establish a political party.
http://www.thelocal.de/politics/20100905-29619.html

Now I know that "Bild" is the German equivalent to the British "Sun", that this poll is hardly representative for whole Germany and I also don't expect Sarrazin to found his own party and go Geert Wilders style now. But anybody who thinks that Sarrazin is a lone loonie whose babble is completely waisted on the "anti-fascist founding myth"-steeled Germans, like Spiegel does (or pretends to do), should probably rethink that.
And finally the article continues with what I found most interesting:

He appears to be even more popular among left-wing Die Linke supporters, with 29 percent saying they would vote for him.

[Widerstand]

You seem to view Die Linke as a monolithic party, this is far from the case. It is indeed true that the rightwing, mainly the former PDS elements, occupy coalition spots right now and carry out neoliberal policies. But this is not the whole story. Die Linke has healthy elements of being a genuine working class party, as it has a multi-tendency structure (sadly though they, by my knowledge, do not engage with one another, which leaves a solid mechanism of the party to develop a revolutionary programme to be desired).

I am well aware that Die Linke attracts a variety of people, including more or less opportunistic Marxists and DDR-nostalgics, but honestly, even if there are good tendencies in the party: As long as they act under the Die Linke name they still propagate what Die Linke stands for, which is what the party elite dictates. And that's pure bullshit.



I disagree with you though that the party has no role in elevating class consciousness. Building the class as a class, as a collective, is a task that begins with waging the concrete struggles and even without a programme (does Die Linke formally already have one or is it still under discussion?) that does bring in the idea of "together we stand strong" into the class which, given our current extreme low point in development, is actually a huge leap forward. As far as I'm aware, Die Linke carries out exactly such a role.

They have a program draft (http://die-linke.de/fileadmin/download/programmdebatte/100426_draft_programme_en.pdf). It evades me how they do any of the things you mentioned, let alone in a particularly good manner. They may wage concrete struggles - or rather, they have people, who show up at demonstrations organized by other groups, waving Die Linke flags.

I would say they are very much failing in building class consciousness, just as the DGB and current SPD is. I fail to see how Die Linke creates a "Together We Stand Strong" attitude at all. They attract workers, yes, but that's because of their populist slogans like "Riches For Everyone", not because they propagate worker unity.


About your point on negative media attention: I would rather argue that this is a good indicator that Die Linke is doing something right here to piss off the bourgeois press.

No it's not. The state is wagng a war on left wing activism, as evident by publishing biased statistics about "left wing violence" being on the rise, harsher actions against activists, law reforms regarding demonstrations, etc.

This serves as the framework for waging a war on Die Linke, which, in my opinion, is solely motivated by the old established party's desire to not have to share votes with one more party. And nothing more.



I disagree that disagreements necessarily lead to splits, although in sects based around agreement on ideas x, y and z they most often do. Class parties however are based on acceptance of a programme, whether you fully agree with it or don't. This leaves room for debate, which is an important mechanism to educate the class, besides being a mechanism to work on a correct programme.

I would say at least 70% of German voters never read the program of the party they vote for. German elections are LARGELY dependent on Wahlkampf, which basically comes down to talking shit in interviews and talk shows and having pretty posters with slick slogans.


Spiegel violently closes its eyes and tries to portray Germany as a country largely free from xenophobic and fascist views among its people, at least compared to other European countries.

That's not only Der Spiegel though. Just a quick look at how the German media jumps on Sarkozy's Roma deportation plans shows the extreme bias present in German media. Germany deports "Gipsys" since quite some time now, did the German media ever care about it? No. The German media has a very interesting tendency to present Germany as a great country full of good guys - which is exactly why people are so perplexedly upset over our involvement in Afghanistan: "What!? We're in a war!? BUT WE ARE THE GOOD GUYS!!!!".



But that's ridiculous nonsense, there is not only "xenophobic and anti-Muslim potential", like Mr Klober suggests, but actual xenophobia and Islamophobia as everybody who doesn't live in an ivory tower will confirm. I absolutely agree with United Nations, the acceptance of anti-Turkish/Islamophobic views here is not to be underestimated.

Yes. Netherlands, Switzerland and Belgium have already taken it to politics, it is on the way to emergence in Germany and Austria, and France has a history of Arab-French conflict anyway. I would not be surprised at all if the whole Islamophobic attitude took on proportions similar to pre-WW2 antisemitism within the next decade or two. Especially with the imminent failure of European economies in Greece, Spain, Italy, etc, which will most likely be devastating enough to drag down Germany and France, too.



That "The rejection of racism and fascism is part of the founding myth of modern Germany"-part just made me laugh. "Myth", how very fitting.

Heh, I smiled too :)


Even in schoolbooks you can read that the Denazification in the Western zones was little more than a farce (while in the East it was political persecution and show trials against courageous democrats, according to these books), could be easily evaded even if guilty and soon ended anyway. Many known NSDAP members continued with their business as professors, civil servants, lawyers, politicians in the highest ranks and - last but not least - capitalists.

Of course. And it's not like the 68's student movement was much successful in removing reactionary elements from key positions either. Sure, they might have gotten the worst cases and most of the ex-NSDAP members, but what about those that were born towards the end of the Third Reich or after? I could bet there are tons of teachers with no personal involvement in Nazi Germany which hold and propagate Islamophobic/Xenophobic views.



How loud schoolchildren groan about repeated Holocaust lessons isn't very important compared to this.

I groaned too. Especially since they all were so apologetic and incomplete. It's not like we ever talked about Fascism in Italy and Spain or the Japanese-Chinese conflicts during WW2 in history class.


I also don't expect Sarrazin to found his own party and go Geert Wilders style now.

Maybe not him, but others. Fact is, there is a lot of potential for a Xenophobic/Islamophobic party. I'm not so sure about him not founding his own party. TAZ argues that he's too old and too technocrat to do so, but he's just around the age of the likes of Gysi and Lafontaine.


And finally the article continues with what I found most interesting:

I'm not at all surprised. Due to the nature of the party and it's propaganda, a lot of Die Linke voters are those that are dissatisfied with their work conditions. Typically, a lot of those dissatisfied with their work conditions blame immigrants for it.

[Kiev Communard]

Sarrazin is the most vivid example of how "decent", "common-sense" paleoconservatism gives birth to Fascism. It is most ironic, by the way, that pro-Nazi cast in Russian and Ukrainian segments of the Web sprang to his defence, wailing "if only we had such courageous leaders among our politicians, they would give these accursed migrants something to fear!". It is truly sickening to read such rants.

[Die Neue Zeit]

Rjevan, that part about Die Linke supporters scares me.

[L.J.Solidarity]

Looks like a layer of German capital is trying to revitalize neoliberal ideology. They seem to be exploring several possible routes to do so. The one represented by Sarrazin is making a racist and social darwinist foundation for neoliberal measures such as abolishing child support to prevent "people on welfare who have stupid genes" from having children. This divides into two paths - one through a new right-wing populist party, such as "Die Freiheit" (Freedom), announced yesterday as a party "to be founded" by a Berlin state MP expelled from the CDU for inviting Geert Wilders, another Ex-CDUer and a right-winger who had his 15 minutes of fame last year for demanding war against Iran while being the vice chairman of the German Pirate Party - the other through winning majorities in CDU/CSU, SPD and FDP over to Sarrazin's views and shifting the political landscape to the right as a whole.
A group of FDP MPs just launched a platform within the party called "Liberaler Aufbruch" (Liberal Start) that criticizes the leadership for catering too much to particular economic sectors (this refers to the tax exemption granted to hotels by the CDU-FDP government) and claims the FDP had made "enormous concessions to collectivism since the 70s" - which in fact can only mean the group of MPs is completely anarcho-capitalist. Until now, they don't mention "race" or "genetics", so they might be representing another route - an attempt to make the FDP into a representative of the entirety of German capital (again), not just the sectors who happen to make the biggest donations, as voters don't like openly corrupt parties.

The right-wing press, such as the papers owned by Springer, doesn't seem to have decided on what to support yet, we'll see if they go for Stadtkewitz and his Freedom party, for a new right-wing party yet to be created or for an option within the established parties.