Looks like the Krauts are joining the Frogs in political collapse.  In Deja Vu all over again, the PM lost a vote of No Confidence and they will have Snap Elections in Feb to rejigger the Parliament and then try to agree on somebody as Prime Minister.

Similar to France also, the Far Right Populist party has the most individual support, but all the other parties refuse to work with them so they can't form a majority coalition.  This ends up with the same type of political lockup they have in France.

With the two biggest countries in the Eurozone in political and economic chaos and His Royal Trumpness escalating the trade war and trying to annex Greenland and Panama and turn Canada into the 51st state in good old fashioned Imperialist fashion, we're all set up for a full scale tri-lateral conflict with the Russians and Chinese.

The way it's shaping up, the Ruskies are working to expand into Europe and the Middle East, so the Chinese will go for Japan, Taiwan and Africa & Australia, while the FSoA tries to consolidate North America with Canada and Greenland.  South America looks like a battleground between the FSoA and China.

Needless to say, this global conflict amounts to WWIII, which nobody wins.  Trade will grind to a complete halt and even if the bombs don't drop in your neighborhood basic goods and food will be hard to come by.  So will working currency, so having a supply of Barter items in your preps is a good idea.

At least we know now the form collapse will take, basically trade collapse followed by war then infrastructure collapse.  Unless you die pretty soon, you'll get to see the first 2 installments move along over the next few years.  Enjoy the show.

https://www.dw.com/en/germany-braces-for-elections-as-parliament-dissolved/a-71166875

Germany braces for elections as parliament dissolved

RE

Germany is in a hard place economically. They are the industrial powerhouse of Europe. Unfortunately their major manufacturers are struggling and can no longer rely on China to increase sales. In fact with the rise of China's EV based companies many major German car brands are losing market share. To compound matters further the war in Ukraine means Germany can no longer rely on cheap Russian energy making their manufacturing base even less economical on the global level.

The German economy needs to pivot away from its export driven model but doing so is difficult. The average German has struggled for a number of years now and this is most keenly felt in East Germany. It should be noted that it is this region of Germany that is most supportive of these right wing/populist parties. The people in west Germany sees these parties in a less favourable light so the division is not just on the political level but also on the national. Germany and Germans are conflicted on the path they should take and this applies not only on the political level but on the economical too.

In any case, the average German struggles with mediocre wage growth and the prospect of working ever longer before receiving a pension is a source of angst. I do visit Germany on a fairly regular basis and it does seem like there are more homeless Germans than five years ago. I am actually planning a trip there at the end of January so can speak to a friend to see what it is like on the ground.

Be nice to get some boots on the ground reporting.  Will you be in Berlin?  I'd be interested to hear how it compares to NYC, which you also visited recently.

Itss hard to see how they can rejigger their car industry at this late date.  From what I have read, the German car companies made their bet on improving diesel engines instead of EVs.  Not much future in that.

Also not surprising the East Germans have gone right wing.  They lived undder Ruskie control during the worst years of the cold war, and memories don't fade that fast.  It also makes for very divisive politics.

Check in more often!

RE

Quote from: RE on Dec 28, 2024, 10:26 AMAlso not surprising the East Germans have gone right wing.  They lived undder Ruskie control during the worst years of the cold war, and memories don't fade that fast.  It also makes for very divisive politics.

The other contentious issue is since the reunification of Germany a lot of money has been sent from West to East Germany to bridge the economic gap. Naturally the West says the East received too much money while the East says the West didn't support them enough. With the rise of immigrants this has only exacerbated the situation and so the East Germans have readily accepted the populist parties as there is a strong sentiment they are being left behind.

The dynamic is not all too similar to the Rust Belt in the US or the North/South divide in the UK. Let's remember the North of England were very pro Brexit, Rust Belt states are very pro Trump and now we are getting more the same with the East Germans voting populist. It will be hard for the more mainstream parties in Germany to completely ignore the pledges of the far right as it will only underscore the East Germans misgiving that their thoughts are being dismissed/ignored.

As for traveling, I will be around the Dortmund area as my German mate lives in that region. I have been to Berlin but quite sometime ago. More gritty and less affluent than New York but had a more artistic vibe. You won't see as many pigs in Berlin as you would in New York or even Bavaria. I believe the fat catz reside more in Bavaria.

Quote from: RE on Dec 28, 2024, 10:26 AMCheck in more often!

Will try to come more often. New(ish) job is more busy than the last one but will make a bigger effort.

OK, now we can add the Austrians to the list of Euro goobermints in chaos.

What this really shows is the weakness of Parliamentary style democracy, where you have multiple parties with a variety of different positions in different areas all vying for power, instead of the 2 party system here in the FSoA.  When times are good it works OK, when times get tough and the choices more difficult, you can't get agreement on enough to have a functional goobermint.

How do you have a Democracy when there is no Majority?  The only thing a majority of people agree with is they disagree with goobermint policy, but they have no policy they all agree on to replace it.

Of course it's no coinkidink that Austria is one of the central Euro states most affected by the Ukraine war and the gas shutoff through those pipelines.  A wider war in Europe seems more likely all the time.

https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/01/04/the-austrian-chancelor-karl-nehammer-resignes-after-talks-on-forming-a-government-collapse

RE