GER politics thread

[Skybird]

Welcome to German school educaiton. Today's class will investigate matters that really move the world.
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Gender lessons for sixth graders

A friend reports, "Today my daughter came home confused and brought worksheets from biology class that the kids seemed to barely understand or the teacher had explained incorrectly because they all gave the same answers."

On January 12, 2023, an 11-year-old girl - the daughter of a friend - returned from a school in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, bringing home a worksheet from 6th grade biology class that asked this question (photos of the sheet are available to the editor):

"What is the sexual orientation of a trans* woman, a person born with XY chromosomes who lives as a woman when she likes women?"

The 11-year-old girl answered the question with "homosexual," which the teacher declared correct. I am not a child. I am a 46-year-old man. Here's how I would answer that question:

"Homosexuality means that a person loves a person who is the same biological sex. A biological male who feels he is a woman is not homosexual. However, I would not use the term heterosexual either. If I may, I would like to create my own word for it: a trans* woman who loves a woman is homogenderic to me because a biological man who sees himself socially as a woman loves a woman."

However, there was not enough room on the worksheet for such a long answer. More questions were asked. Here are the questions with the answers that the teacher declared correct:

Today woman, tomorrow man

To which group do the following people belong? Match them up.

a) Whether Lea spends his/her day as a woman or as a man depends on how he/she feels in the morning. Sometimes as a woman, sometimes as a man. (Answer: transgender)

b) Since Paul can think, she/he feels as a woman. She/he doesn't know yet if she/he will have her/his biological sex surgically adjusted. (Answer: transsexual)

c) Tom can't do anything with the gender assignments. Tom feels neither as a man, nor as a woman, but simply as Tom. (Answer: agender)

d) Sarah would sometimes be interested in what men feel and think, but she is happy to be a woman. (Answer: cis-woman)

e) Elias gets along much better with girls than with boys. He also has many more topics of conversation with them. But that doesn't change the fact that he feels like a man through and through. (Answer: cis man)

f) Zeynep feels she was born in the wrong body. She*he wants to have an operation as soon as possible to finally be able to live as a man. (Answer: transsexual)

She wanted to become a boy or die

My answers are quite different.

Re a): Lea is a person who does not always feel the way some members of her biological sex are expected to feel.

Ad b): Paul is a biological male who feels like a woman, whatever that means.

To c): Tom is Tom.

To d): Sarah is a joyful person.

To e): Elias is a good friend.

Ad f): Zeynep is a person who feels like she is in the wrong body, which I personally think is a shame, but everyone is allowed to do what they want with their body.

I think these answers are very good, but they are too long to fit in the answer columns. When asked, the girl's mother explained:

"In second grade, my daughter was bullied because she didn't wear skirts and therefore wasn't a "real" girl. She wanted to become a boy or die. It took a lot of love and patience to show her that it wasn't the skirt, the long hair, or the favorite toy that made gender. Today she came home confused, bringing worksheets from biology class that the kids seemed to barely understand or the teacher had explained incorrectly because they all gave the same answers."

If all the children gave the same answers to these questions, then we are clearly dealing with indoctrination. I therefore have a few questions:

How are children supposed to find the "right" answers to such questions? Why do children have to learn these ideologized terms? Why are they taught to put people into such unloving categories? Why are children sexualized by adults? Why are children taught, even before spring awakening, that they might be in the wrong body if they have certain feelings that supposedly don't match their biological sex? What are these typical female and male feelings supposed to be? Why is a physical conversion therapy with surgical interventions put forward as something so normal? And what is a false body? Is a wrong body something like a wrong sexual orientation?
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6th class, German public school.

Germany is being turned into a total madhouse. Or should I say: it gets intentionllay "degenerated"?

The amount of wicked intention to indoctrinate and brainwash, is beyond comprehension. The complete assassination of reasonable, logical thinkling. George Orwell's remarks on the relevance of language mutilation to reprogram people, anyone?

I was on a very good school from class 6 on until end of my shcool time. But I learned some years ago, that for some years they had deleted history classes and form 8th class on any courses in chemistr,y ohscis and billogy, before they were forced to bring these courses back inte the course plan. When i was there until mid-80s, there was a music wokrign groupd, as hpobby for intersted poaricipents, after classes were over, like I played in the school chess team. Today, they have three theatre groups, six music bands as oreidnary course slike math (reduced presence), a foreign language, and participating in climate working groups and projects promoting vegetarian diets is mandatory. When i eas there, most etachers were male, and I st say I had the kuckl to have had very, very good teachers, most of the were both liked and repsected, and were comeotent, also basing for the kost in the gorudns of reaosn and sciences. Last time I checked, 4 out of 5 names on their list of teachers, were women.

My school has had a great history and was once a social institution, a hundred years ago, a centre of social life far beyond the shcool context. That was a tiem ehwne educaiton had a high value and relevanc, ean dthat was refelct bvy the care ofn architectural beauty pout into the construciton of the very school building sitself. They held balls there - balls for the common burgoise society, not just students, it was a centre of social life and a pillar of communial mintegrity in the district. Famous.

They have completely brought it down. And I will never forgive this scum its ideology-driven crimes against the spirit and intention of idealistic humanism.

Welcome to Berlin. The worst of the worst of federal states in Germany. What they tested there, they now bring to all the nation.

[Catfish]

Originally Posted by Skybird

This too is the new reality in Germany: Die WELT:

[I]The electricity grid operator TransnetBW is calling on electricity customers in Baden-Württemberg to consume as little energy as possible on Sunday evening. There is a "tense situation" in the power grid. It is already the second warning within just over a month.

Ah yes. If i remember correctly the southern part of Germany like Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg did not want more electrical lines being built from the north of Germany for whatever reason.
The north has too much electrical power and it cannot be transferred due to missing power lines. The south (or better their politicians) also neglected thinking about what should be done instead, to keep up electrical support.
This is one thing.

But why is the power demand so high on a sunday afternoon? It is not. It is like every sunday at that time.
So why can't they suddenly supply enough energy?
Seems the company managing the power grid neglected repairs and adapting out of simple greed.

Apart from this power saving is not a bad idea at all.

[Skybird]

Its official, Lambrecht as defence mini-stress is history, she filed her resignation and announced it not in person to the press, but by a brief written announcement only. Rumour holds it that - being member of the far left wing of her party - she did not want to participate in the expected allowance of Leopard deliveries to Ukraine. If that is true, then my initial suspicion from beginning on would be confirmed - that she was not just desinterested or incompetent, but that she practiced active sabotage against her office. Cluelessness then would just have been the cream on the top.

We have had three total duds in a row as defence ministers now: Pomade-Gutti, Super-Uschi, and Lambrecht the lamb. All of them totally clueless of the matter, and carricatures as ministers for defence.

Another dud we cannot afford. The next shot must hit. The next one miust have fangs and claws, not onyl againstn Russia, but especially against the Bundeswehr's internal networks of bureaucrats and career-desktop officers who endlessly delay evrything and have spread bureaucratic complications like cancer. The big issue of the German army is not only lacking funds, but its internal personell structure and overboarding bureaucracy. Too many generals and desktop-only warriors.


edit:
I forgot de Maiziere and Kram-Karrenbauer as defence ministers who separate the reigns of the three I listed. Forgetting somebody also is a way to express the impression that somebody has given.

[Jimbuna]

Christine Lambrecht: German defence minister resigns after blunders

Germany's Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht has resigned following a series of blunders and PR disasters.

It comes as Berlin comes under rising pressure to allow the delivery of German-built battle tanks to Ukraine.

Ms Lambrecht was mocked for her announcement that Germany was supporting Ukraine by sending 5,000 military helmets.

She was also widely criticised for failing to improve Germany's notoriously ill-equipped armed forces.

This was despite the provision of €100bn (£88bn) for that task following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Ms Lambrecht, a member of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats (SPD), also came in for criticism when it emerged that she had taken her son on a trip in a military helicopter.

But it was an awkward video she posted on New Year's Eve which triggered widespread contempt and undermined her support within political circles. In the video, Ms Lambrecht talked about the positive personal encounters she had enjoyed during the war in Ukraine, while fireworks exploded around her in Berlin.

In a resignation statement seen by the German national news agency, Ms Lambrecht said: "Months of media focus on me doesn't allow for fact-based reporting and discussion about soldiers, the army and security policy in the interest of German citizens.

"The valuable work of the soldiers and many motivated people in the defence area needs to be in the foreground."

Ms Lambrecht was due to meet other defence ministers from Ukraine's western allies at the American military base in Ramstein on Friday to discuss further support for Ukraine.

The German government is facing renewed calls to approve the delivery of German-built Leopard 2 tanks.

It is not yet clear who will succeed Ms Lambrecht in a job which is considered such a poisoned chalice that many refer to it as "the ejector seat".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-64288267

[Skybird]

FOCUS:
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If there were any doubts about Christine Lambrecht's lack of character as Federal Minister of Defense, they have been finally dispelled by her resignation. Because the media are to blame for Ms. Lambrecht's failure. Says Ms. Lambrecht. What an undignified departure.

"The months-long media focus on my person hardly allows for objective reporting and discussion about the servicemen and women, the Bundeswehr and security policy course-setting in the interest of the citizens of Germany." So Lambrecht is resigning because she fears for factual reporting on the Bundeswehr - seriously now?

The reporting was fixated on her person because the reporters had no choice. With the difficulties of memorizing ranks and the 5000 helmets for Ukraine, the matter was clear from the start - here a minister simply had not understood her office.

At least the chancellor was the first to realize that Lambrecht was not a "first-class" defense minister. If things had been different, Olaf Scholz would not have had to take all the key decisions out of her hands - from the "turnaround" to the two-percent target.

[Skybird]

Dr. Joachim Weber is a Senior Fellow at the CASSIS Strategy Center at the University of Bonn, where he teaches and conducts research on strategy and security policy issues. He is considered an expert on Russian issues and the High North, maritime security, armament policy and armed forces. In addition, he is a Non-resident Senior Fellow at the Institute for Security Policy at Kiel University (ISPK). The author looks back on a long career in various federal agencies and ministries with previous activities in the field of civil protection and critical infrastructures, maritime security and armaments.


Focus has this interview with him:

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Christine Lambrecht is out. Now Germany is waiting to see who will succeed her as head of the Ministry of Defense. It should be someone with expertise and leadership quality, demands military expert Joachim Weber. He sees the Bundeswehr in a deplorable state.

Since Monday morning, it has been clear: Germany needs a new defense minister. In an interview with FOCUS online, Joachim Weber describes what this person will find in the ministry and the troops as "dysfunctional." Considering a war in Europe, that's not something that lets you sleep soundly at night.

FOCUS online: Mr. Weber, what awaits the newcomer at the head of the Defense Ministry?

Joachim Weber: A truly Herculean task awaits this unenviable individual, for which a very special personality is needed. I'm very curious to see who the coalition partners want to appoint for this task. In view of a major war in the middle of Europe, the Ministry of Defense is a key department of German politics. At the same time, we have the situation that our country's armed forces are not really operational. Against this background, there is an urgent need for action, especially with regard to structures that can unfortunately only be described as dysfunctional.

Given this dramatic state of affairs, did Ms. Lambrecht have any chance at all?

Weber: Ms. Lambrecht should at least have tried. Instead, she has tried to continue administering the Bundeswehr in the same old way, in an obviously listless manner and unfamiliar with the subject matter. This is in no way in line with the demands that are currently being made in this job.

Is it high time to put a military man at the head of the Ministry of Defense?

Weber: At least that wouldn't hurt, because then the expertise would definitely be there. Not everyone can do every job, especially in such a specialized area as security and defense policy. What is at stake now is nothing less than making a dysfunctional large-scale organization, i.e. both the ministry and the troops, functional again.

Who would be the right person for the job?

Weber: I don't see anyone in the coalition who would be fully up to the task. What is needed now is someone like Helmut Schmidt. Someone with comprehensive expertise, the will to act energetically and the ability to really lead. I don't see anyone stepping up to the task.

It will probably come down to someone from the SPD.

Weber: I think we have to assume that. Siemtje Möller, the Parliamentary Secretary of State for Defense, certainly has a certain expertise, which she has acquired through her interest in the subject matter. However, I don't know whether she is capable of turning everything around with the necessary vigor that would now be required. Eva Högl, the Federal Government Commissioner for the Armed Forces, may not be a specialist in the field, but she has earned the respect of the troops for her commitment. But even with her, the question arises as to the necessary clout.

What are the biggest problems facing the Bundeswehr?

Weber: The troops are least of all responsible for the state they are in. I'm always amazed at how many tens of thousands of men and women in this Bundeswehr are still serving faithfully and with dedication, even though they're being let down from above. The troops are doing what they can, but they can't simply reverse the top-down processes.

Things have to be reorganized at the top. And then the Bundeswehr must be managed in functional structures. The necessary resources must also be made available for this. There is a lack of both.

Is the Bundeswehr ready to defend itself?

Weber: We are definitely not ready for defense. That's also what those in charge of the Bundeswehr say. If there were a war, probably none of the eight brigades of the Army would really be operational. That makes it all the more important now to ensure through smart policies that no one even thinks of attacking us. For that, however, we need a powerful, modern Bundeswehr. At the moment, we are miles away from that.

How do countries with smaller military budgets, such as Israel, still manage to put together a powerful army?

Weber: That has to do, above all, with the different ways in which the military is viewed. In Germany, social discourse has allowed security policy to become something of a dirty subject. But now we realize that there's a fire, but we don't have the insurance. We have completely run down the fire department. Who is going to put out the fire now? Or to put it another way: Do we want to be able to defend ourselves or not?

Do we need a return to compulsory military service?

Weber: We probably won't be spared that. If we really want to strengthen the Bundeswehr in a measured way, it won't be feasible with the existing number of applicants. In the overall situation, I think it makes sense, for example in the context of a general compulsory service.

Is there an area of the Bundeswehr where things are going well?

Weber: It's hard to find one at the moment. There is either a lack of quality equipment or a lack of quantity forces, usually both at the same time.
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[Rockstar]

Here’s my top three picks for German Defense Minister

1. General William Tecumseh Sherman



2. Chuck Norris



3. Al Bundy



But you’ll probably end up with this guy.

[Skybird]

Or this guy.



The guy to the left I mean. The guy on the right side is dead.

[Rockstar]

How about Erich Vad?

He hasn’t got it right yet, but that’s what gets him a job in government!





For those who don’t know who he is
https://de-m-wikipedia-org.translate..._x_tr_pto=wapp

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Skybird

Or this guy.

Unfortunately, those suitably qualified and motivated were dealt with at Nuremberg

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

Unfortunately, those suitably qualified and motivated were dealt with at Nuremberg

There were more than just Nuremberg ones. Helmut Schmidt would have been a good choice for defence minister today. And his own SPD (and the Greens) would again have been against him.



Anyhow, its now Mr. Pistorius, so far inteiror minister of Lower saxony, 62 years old, and served his mandatory time in the BW 40 years ago. A name nobody had on his radar. So far I have no idea what to make of him, so nobody please asks me about him, okay?

[Jimbuna]

Germany’s no-nonsense new defence minister faces early test over Ukraine

A veteran but low-profile politician is to be appointed as Germany’s new defence minister, the government has announced, filling the role at a crucial time when the country is under acute pressure to increase its commitment to Ukraine, especially by allowing it the use of tanks.

Boris Pistorius, 62, who has been the interior minister of the northern state of Lower Saxony for the past decade, will face his first major task on Friday when western allies meet at the US military’s Ramstein base in south-west Germany to discuss providing Kyiv with more weapons and equipment.

Germany has been extremely cautious so far about approving the sending of heavy Leopard tanks to Ukraine, owing to concerns that the decision could lead to an escalation of the war. Other countries in possession of the German-designed tanks need the permission of Berlin before they are able to be dispatched to another country.

Pistorius is a member of the chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic party, but his appointment by Scholz came as a surprise, not least because he has a low profile in Germany and is little known internationally. He has a reputation as a sharp-tongued, no-nonsense policymaker.

Scholz was forced to replace Christine Lambrecht, who had made a series of blunders during her short tenure as minister in his coalition government, including admitting she did not understand the makeup of the German military and failing to make progress with obtaining new equipment and resources via a €100bn reform fund.

Announcing her resignation on Monday, Lambrecht said she had been unable to concentrate properly on the job because of a “months’ long media focus on my person”.

Scholz had come under pressure in particular from within his own party to appoint a woman, to fulfil his pre-election pledge to have male-female parity in his cabinet. The German Armed Forces Association and the Reservist Association urged Scholz to choose the candidate with the “best leadership competence”.

Importantly for Scholz, Pistorius has spoken out in favour of helping Ukraine defend itself, and expressed his scepticism earlier on in the conflict about the efficacy of sanctions against Russia.

Pistorius follows on from three female defence ministers who served Germany over the past decade. Previous to that the post had only ever been held by a man.

Robert Habeck, the economics minister and deputy chancellor, said the new defence minister’s first and crucial decision would be regarding the issue of tanks for Ukraine.

Speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, before the announcement, he said: “When that person, the minister of defence, is declared, this will be the first question they will concretely have to decide on.”

He said the “urgent question” of how Ukraine should be supported to defend itself was an important short-term decision that the minister would have to tackle.

During talks in Davos with Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, Habeck reportedly pledged further German support and help for Ukraine, including the transfer of more weapons. Klitschko wrote on his Telegram account that “positive decisions” had been made at the meeting, and there was “good news coming soon”.

It had long been speculated that Pistorius had wider political ambitions. He had campaigned to become the leader of the Social Democrats and is believed to have been under discussion as a potential interior minister in the central government when Scholz was forming his new administration in late 2022.

Colleagues described him on Tuesday as having a reputation among Germany’s other state interior ministers as a knowledgable expert on domestic security. His biography indicates time spent doing his military service in the early 1980s, but otherwise he is not believed to have any military experience or expertise. National military service in Germany was scrapped in 2011. Since the invasion of Ukraine, there has been a debate about whether to reinstate it.

Pistorius will be expected to show expediency over acquiring new equipment and to sort out chronic issues such as a shortage of ammunition and faults in existing equipment. He will also have to oversee the withdrawal of German troops from Mali, which is due to take place next year and which it is feared may leave a dangerous power vacuum in the region.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...torius-ukraine

[Rockstar]

Germany banning the export of tanks to Ukraine unless America sends its own tanks is absurd. It makes the SPD and Olaf look ridiculous. I guess Olaf is suffering from battered women syndrome with Russia.

Scholz wants to be last to commit tanks because he wants to be first in line for deals with Russia in the future. He's hedging his bets. We all see it

[Rockstar]

Young socialist, 1975–1989

Scholz at the Young Socialists Congress, 1984
Scholz joined the SPD in 1975 as a student, where he got involved with the Jusos, the youth organization of the SPD. From 1982 to 1988, he was Deputy Federal Juso Chairman, and from 1987 to 1989 also Vice President of the International Union of Socialist Youth. He supported the Freudenberger Kreis, the Marxist wing of the Juso university groups, promoting "overcoming the capitalist economy" in articles. In it, Scholz criticized the "aggressive-imperialist NATO", the Federal Republic as the "European stronghold of big business" and the social-liberal coalition, which puts the "bare maintenance of power above any form of substantive dispute". On 4 January 1984, Scholz and other Juso leaders met in the GDR with Egon Krenz, the secretary of the Central Committee of the SED and member of the Politburo of the SED-Central Committee, Herbert Häber. In 1987, Scholz crossed the inner-German border again and stood up for disarmament agreements as Juso-Vice at an FDJ peace rally in Wittenberg.

[Skybird]

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes:
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KfW warns of "era of shrinking prosperity"

Germany is facing the threat of an economic turnaround and increasing conflicts over distribution, the state bank KfW warns in a new study. How can this be prevented?

KfW, the state-owned development bank, is not known for shrill or alarmist warnings. So when the bank's research department speaks of a "turn of the times," "ongoing losses of prosperity" and "distributional conflicts," one should listen carefully. These warnings can be read in an as yet unpublished study by KfW, which is available to the F.A.Z.. The central message: Germany urgently needs millions of additional workers and must work more productively if the country is not to become permanently poorer.

The analysis begins by taking stock. For 70 years, prosperity in Germany has grown almost continuously. For that, he says, it was enough for the German economy to keep up with international competition and digest temporary shocks. "Those times are over. The foundation for further growth in prosperity is crumbling," the analysis states.

A "business-as-usual" scenario is no longer possible, as one in two companies is already being held back by a lack of skilled workers. This shortage will not be compensated for by a slight increase in productivity in companies - for example, because better machines and new technology are being used. Labor productivity per employee has increased by only 0.3 percent per year over the past ten years. "If productivity growth remains this weak and the decline in the domestic supply of skilled labor intensifies at the same time, this will mean a turning point," the authors warn.

Germany would then enter an era of persistently stagnating, possibly creeping declining prosperity before the end of this decade. Increasing distribution conflicts and intensified competition for scarce resources are to be expected. KfW Chief Economist Fritzi Köhler-Geib warns of a problem of historic proportions: "The combination of a shrinking domestic labor supply in the long term and weak productivity development poses a unique challenge that is new to us in the postwar period."

The development bank's experts see three recipes for averting the misery: first, get more people in Germany into work; second, attract more immigrants to the country; and third, boost labor productivity.

None of these recipes alone is capable of solving the skilled labor problem, analyzes KfW. Indeed, the changes in the individual areas would have to be so far-reaching and take place so quickly that economists do not believe it is possible. For example, according to the bank's scenarios, the labor force participation rate in Germany of people aged 15 to 64 would have to rise from just under 80 percent today to just under 90 percent by 2035 to close the gap. Net immigration would have to rise from 330,000 in 2021 to 1.8 million working-age immigrants per year if this lever alone were used. "Net immigration of this magnitude appears unrealistic," the study says.

The figure calculated by KfW is higher than a much-cited figure from the Institute for Employment Research (IAB), which considers net immigration of 400,000 workers a year necessary to keep labor supply stable in the long term. In its calculation, however, the IAB already takes into account a stronger labor force participation of women and older people in Germany.

Specifically, KfW advocates a whole range of measures. In order to increase the labor force participation rate in Germany, the cultural and financial hurdles for women that have prevented them from working more hours up to now would have to be removed first and foremost. "A reform of the marital splitting system that makes it financially attractive for both spouses to take up work would reduce the disincentives," says Chief Economist Köhler-Geib. KfW also calls for expanding "free and low-cost professional childcare and care." Mandatory early childhood education could significantly improve later career opportunities, she adds. "It is also important to motivate people with low general education qualifications to take up vocational training as early as possible," the paper says.

In order to integrate more immigrants into the German labor market, KfW believes it is necessary, among other things, to offer them German language courses more quickly so that they can gain a foothold in the workplace more quickly. It is also necessary to facilitate the recognition of qualifications acquired abroad. According to research by the F.A.Z., tens of thousands of applications from potential workers are still unprocessed in German immigration authorities. The federal government wants to eliminate such grievances and strengthen immigration in principle by amending the Skilled Workers Immigration Act. KfW believes this is the right way to go, but the law alone is far from sufficient.

Increasing labor productivity should not be overlooked either if prosperity is to be secured: Less bureaucracy, a better "business-related infrastructure" and stronger innovation support are the keys to achieving this, it says. KfW concludes from all this: "Securing prosperity and further prosperity growth thus require a comprehensive mix of measures."
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