[Domestic Policy] The next level of self-dissolution of the Left - death by contradictions 2019-03-27

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  1. The Press
  2. Migration
  3. EU
  4. Identity Politics
The left spectrum in Germany is especially broad and diversified. While one side of the spectrum is concentrating on the interests of the working class identity politics and so-called cosmopolitans are found at the other end of the spectrum. However this entails the danger that both wings contradict each other and come in conflict with each other without any action from the outside.

In September 2018 the party leader of the Left Party in the Bundestag Sahra Wagenknecht (Die Linke) launched the bipartisan movement "Aufstehen" (stand up). It was supposed to again bring the interests of the working class and the social question back into focus. In March 2019 Wagenknecht (Die Linke) announced that she would withdraw from the top of the movement "Aufstehen" (stand up) and would not run for the leader of the Left Party in the Bundestag. This wing has suffered at least a heavy setback. While the Left Party still received 9.2 % in the 2017 general election the Left Party dropped to 7 % after that announcement. [1]

Wagenknecht (Die Linke) justified her retreat with feel burned out. She addressed the Left Party with that one can either focus on the academic metropolitan milieu or on the desperate middle class and the poorer ones. [2] [3] [4] Several well-known initiators, co-founders and activists of the movement "Aufstehen" (stand up) have according to their own information heard only from the press from the retreat of Wagenknecht (Die Linke). They complain that the movement "Aufstehen" (stand up) has not gathered but split the different forces. [5] This contradiction is on the one hand the peak of the left-wing in Germany so far. On the other hand it also casts a spotlight on a big and growing problem of the left-wing camp in Germany.

The Press

Many leftists have now arrived in the institutions and also in the press. And the press landscape in Germany is often referred to as part of the left-liberal upper class and loyal to the government. This picture was also confirmed by the University of Mainz with a survey. Thereafter the proportion of those who reported that the social conditions were different than the media represented rose from 36 % in 2017 to 42 % in 2018. The proportion of those who reported that the media lost contact with people rose from 18 % in 2017 to 27 % in 2018. And people who condemn the media wholesale are described by the University of Mainz as people who have a high economic uncertainty of the future and also tend to the Left Party. [6]

In terms of content the press in Germany confirms the image of the left-liberal upper class and government-loyal reporting. What supports the agenda of the spectrum of identity politics and the so-called cosmopolitans is reported upon well. A leftist can either admit that its narrative is being served by the press. Or a leftist from the spectrum who wants to bring the interests of the working class and the social question back into focus sets himself apart from this press and criticizes it. See also:
[Fake News] A guide to the german press

A case from January 2019 however shows the contradictions in the movement "Aufstehen" (stand up). For example in January in a group of the movement a post was shared in which public service media was referred to as government broadcasting. This was picked up by the press and scandalized. And in an interview with Andreas Nölke of the working committee of the movement Nölke asserted that this was a mistake and should not happen again. [7] [8] [9]
Less yield, higher fees? In 2017, citizens already paid 8 billion euros for #GEZ #broadcasting-fees. For that CDU, CSU and SPD can radiate their political line. Diversity looks different. Public media instead of government broadcasting!
Raise broadcasting fee? Better idea: Lower the income of television directors!
The ARD chairman Ulrich Wilhelm has a monthly salary of about 30,600 euros and calls if necessary by constitutional complaint higher fees. Also from people with around 1,500 euros and less income/pension per month.

Migration

Migration causes more people to compete for limited resources such as jobs, housing and social welfare. In the process, the equilibrium price for work is falling, living space is becoming scarcer and therefore more expensive and the costs of social assistance are rising. Thus companies benefit from lower wages can get lucrative orders for care and employers' organizations can use sentiment through migration to cut social assistance and thus lower the implicit minimum wage.

But the Left Party contradicts them. While Wagenknecht (Die Linke) rejects such a migration policy their party demands a policy of open borders. Thus this left is no longer there for the working class but only for itself. See also:
[Commentary] The left is looking for a replacement proletariat

And if there is no resistance to such a policy from the left, then leftists lose their electorate to immigration-critical parties. In this context one must also consider the myth of the Portuguese miracle of a successful left-wing government. Portugal has not discovered the formula against all parties who are against immigration. Sweden and Portugal each have a population of about 10 million people. But while more than 200,000 people have entered Sweden following the 2015 migration crisis there were fewer than 5,000 in Portugal. In the absence of immigration Portugal simply does not offer potential for parties that are against immigration. [10] [11] [12]

EU

As far as the EU is concerned a leftist would have to supply the criticisms in the interests of the working class. It could criticize the strongly supply-oriented economic policy. It could criticize the large free trade area and the resulting wage pressure of high-wage countries with low-wage countries within the EU. A leftist could question a policy by which several states with their own economy were transformed into an economy with multiple competing locations. See also:
Euro Currency

Instead the Left Party has adopted a party program that is explicitly pro-EU. After that the EU does not work anymore but leaving is not an option. The left also often accuses the new right-wing parties that they have come to terms with the EU. However this is the de facto behavior of the left. In addition one would rather have an EU nation state than individual nation states wich is EU nationalism against nationalism. With this vague internationalism the left plays into the hands of the economic globalization. [13]

Identity Politics

Another contradiction between the spectrum that focuses on the interests of the working class and the spectrum of so-called cosmopolitans is the identity politics. Here both sides contradict whether people should be sorted into groups and treated as such and should be favored or disadvantaged by certain properties. Or whether everyone should be just equal before the law.
Die linken Parteien versuchen eine Politik zu betreiben, für die es keine Wähler mehr gibt. War vor 30 Jahren die Arbeiterschaft männlich, weiß und heterosexuell, so ist sie heute extrem divers geworden.
...
Von einem gemeinsamen Klassenbewusstsein kann unter Arbeitern schon lange nicht mehr gesprochen werden.

The left-wing parties are trying to operate a policy for which there are no more voters. When the workforce was male, white and heterosexual 30 years ago, today it has become extremely diverse.
...
A common class consciousness can no longer be spoken among workers for a long time.

Yannick Haan (SPD) []
Since no wing will disappear the debate essentially decides the distribution of resources each side receives. In many cases such as the migration policy both even contradict each other. [14] [15]
Von der identitätspolitischen Seite wird gesagt, dass die beiden Merkmale "Gender" und "Race" zentral wären für alle Formen von emanzipatorischer Politik. Der dritte Aspekt, die "Klasse", sei zu vernachlässigen, da sich dahinter in Wirklichkeit nur die Dominanz des weißen, heterosexuellen, patriarchalischen Arbeiters verberge. Das heißt, die Klassenfrage wird auch zu einer identitätspolitischen Frage gemacht.
Also Klasse ist nicht mehr ökonomisch begründet, nicht mehr aufgrund von Arbeits- und Ausbeutungsverhältnissen, sondern wird auch auf Geschlecht, Hautfarbe und patriarchale Denkmuster reduziert. Damit hat der identitätspolitische Flügel die Diskurshoheit über die Dreiheit der Diskriminierung übernommen. Denn diese Trias besteht aus der ethnischen Diskriminierung, der sexuellen Diskriminierung und der Diskriminierung durch Ausbeutung und Entfremdung. Aber wenn alle drei Dinge nur identitätspolitisch gedacht werden, dann sind Ausbeutung und Entfremdung sozusagen unter die Räder gekommen.

From the identity policy side it is said that the two characteristics "gender" and "race" are central to all forms of emancipatory politics. The third aspect the "class" is negligible since in reality it is only the dominance of the white, heterosexual, patriarchal worker. That is the class question is also made an identity policy question.
So class is no longer economically justified, no longer due to labor and exploitation relationships but is also reduced to gender, skin color and patriarchal patterns of thinking. Thus the identity-political wing has taken over the discourse sovereignty over the triad of discrimination. Because this triad consists of ethnic discrimination, sexual discrimination and discrimination through exploitation and alienation. But if all three things are thought only in terms of identity politics, then exploitation and alienation have come under the wheels, as it were.

Bernd Stegemann (Chairman Aufstehen) []
The left-wing identity policy is also always seen as the driving force and predecessor of right-wing politics. The view that people with the same characteristics can act or be valued collectively either creates the resistance or the claim to it with the opposite sign. This also occasionally serves as an explanation for the election of Donald Trump as US President. And China is repeatedly accused of displacing the local minorities and their culture. In the past this was mainly done with regard to Tibet, but now also with regard to the Uighurs in Xinjiang. With this in mind it will only be a matter of time before right-wing identity polics demands this treatment for itself. [16] [16,alt] [17] [18]

[1] RTL/n-tv Trendbarometer - Linke verlieren, FDP legt zu 2019-03-16
https://www.n-tv.de/politik/Linke-verlieren-FDP-legt-zu-article20911317.html
[2] Die Linke - Wagenknecht gibt Linken-Fraktionsvorsitz ab 2019-03-11
https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/wagenknecht-linke-fraktionsvorsitz-1.4363602
[3] Sammlungsbewegung - Wagenknecht verlässt "Aufstehen"-Spitze 2019-03-17
https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/wagenknecht-201.html
[4] Nach dem Abgang Wagenknechts - „Aufstehen“ gibt auf 2019-03-15
http://www.taz.de/Nach-dem-Abgang-Wagenknechts/!5580846/
[5] Erklärung zur Situation von Aufstehen
https://aktionscampus.de/
[6] Forschungsergebnisse der Welle 2018
https://medienvertrauen.uni-mainz.de/forschungsergebnisse-der-welle-2018/
[7] Aufstehen: Weniger Leistung, höhere Gebühren? Im Jahr 2017 zahlten die Bürger bereits 8 Milliarden Euro für #GEZ #Rundfunkgebühren. Dafür dass CDU, CSU und SPD ihre politische Linie ausstrahlen können. Vielfalt sieht anders aus. Bürgermedien statt Regierungsrundfunk! 2019-01-05
https://twitter.com/aufstehen_de/status/1081534302226210817
[8] Wieder Ärger in der Linken - Wagenknechts Sammlungsbewegung poltert gegen "Regierungsrundfunk" 2019-01-07
https://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/wieder-aerger-in-der-linken-wagenknechts-sammlungsbewegung-poltert-gegen-regierungsrundfunk/23835026.html
[9] Sammlungsbewegung: "Wir waren ein bisschen naiv" 2019-01-30
https://www.zeit.de/politik/deutschland/2019-01/sammlungsbewegung-aufstehen-sahra-wagenknecht-andreas-noelke-interview/komplettansicht
[10] Population statistics 2018-12-07 https://www.scb.se/en/finding-statistics/statistics-by-subject-area/population/population-composition/population-statistics/
[11] Portugal https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de/aussenpolitik/laender/portugal-node/portugal/210890
[12] Asylum and first time asylum applicants by citizenship, age and sex Annual aggregated data (rounded) https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/en/web/products-datasets/-/MIGR_ASYAPPCTZA
[13] Wahlprogramm zur Europawahl 2019
https://www.die-linke.de/fileadmin/Wahlen_2018/Europawahlprogrammentwurf_online.pdf
[14] Vergesst endlich die Arbeiter 2019-02-01
https://www.welt.de/print/die_welt/debatte/article188071121/Gastkommentar-Vergesst-endlich-die-Arbeiter.html
[15] "Der Klassenbegriff ist planmäßig zerstört worden" 2019-03-14
https://www.heise.de/tp/features/Der-Klassenbegriff-ist-planmaessig-zerstoert-worden-4336430.html?seite=all
[16] Deutscher Bundestag: Drucksache 13/4445 vom 1996-04-23
https://dipbt.bundestag.de/dip21/btd/13/044/1304445.asc
http://dip21.bundestag.de/dip21/btd/13/044/1304445.pdf
[17] European Parliament Motion on Tibet (1992) [p.298]
http://www.tibetjustice.org/materials/ep/ep5.html
[18] Weltweiter Hilferuf - „Kultureller Genozid“ an Uiguren befürchtet 2019-03-14
https://orf.at/stories/3115032/

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