In the last few years Germany has had some of the biggest problems in the "developed" world. The Russian-Ukraine argument, a fixation with climate change, immigrant invasions, increasing energy problems, deteriorating industry and Covid epidemics have plagued the Krauts, like they have everyone else. Unfortunately, their responses to these issues haven't improved the situation. The citizenry has a low opinion of their elected officials who have been abject failures.
The US media empire can't sell advertising if they produce stories about non-English speaking minor league officials. So they don't. This means that they miss some interesting and important developments. One is the opportunity for influence of 54 year old Sarha Wagenknecht.
theuropeanconservative
At one point Wagenknecht was an important figure in the German Communist Party. Eventually she moved to the leftist Die Linke party. But the policies of the Die Linke didn't seem to be a path to German success. She decided to form her own political party, the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance-Reason and Fairness or BSW. Her views strangely coincide with many of those of rightist parties like the AdF.
Her appeal is Reason and Fairness. Higher wages and better working conditions for the middle class. The on-line European Conservative says this about her:
"Once, Sahra Wagenknecht was the darling of the Left party. In her early years as a politician, she joined the communist platform and rose to become party vice-president for die Linke (the Left Party), in 2010, and parliamentary leader in 2019. Her economic policy is quite critical of capitalism, but her foreign policy, stand against COVID mandates, and rejection of Chancellor Scholtz’s support of economic sanctions put her in traditional conservative territory. She had already begun to show her colours six years ago when she called for the dissolution of Germany’s alliance with NATO and for more secure ties to Russia. She took a clear stance toward peace negotiations after the Russia-Ukraine war broke out, accusing the U.S. and NATO members of inciting Russian aggression. She referred to the German sanctions that followed Russia’s invasion as a “stupid policy,” and her criticism has especially escalated since September. In an interview conducted by media site MDR Investigative on October 22nd, Wagenknecht insisted that Germany drop sanctions, and several episodes on her website feature ways German sanctions have hurt the German people.
Wagenknecht is an avowed atheist. She has no stake in human rights for any transcendental reason. Even so, the book she published in 2021, The Self-Righteous (Die Selbstgerechten), exposed the “left liberals” as derailed and offensive to working-class values and human dignity. To Wagenknecht, the “left liberals advocate a multi-cultural, multi-gender, globalist form of identity politics. Their electoral and activist base lies in those with university degrees in relatively well-paid and secure jobs, who have benefited from immigration and free trade.” Wagenknecht sees clearly the Left for what it is: dead...."
Her view seems to be that there are more than one kind of leftists. The idea that there might be space in the public sphere between bandit corporate capitalists and genuine communists is a pleasant thought. Her views also align with some unexpected European leaders. All in all, she's now a pragmatist rather than an ideologue. Her website https://www.sahra-wagenknecht.de/
Of course in an electorate divided into opposing and unaligned minorities it's difficult to tell what effect she might have on the German future. It will be interesting to see what happens in the upcoming elections.
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