7 ms·

What's saddening is that topics that really affect people's daily lives like rising income inequality got completely sidelined in upcoming elections.

• dx034 9y ago
  Social inequality was one of the biggest topics in the election. It still didn't help to break Merkel's popularity but the whole election campaign of the SPD was centered around that topic. It appears to me that Germans are very aware of social inequality. Minimum wages and restrictions around contract work were attempts to slow down the trend of growing social inequality. It hasn't stopped it but I think no country has yet found a way to stop/reverse the inequality brought by technology.
  • Joe-Z 9y ago
    >It appears to me that Germans are very aware of social inequality Maybe, but I don't think they are in the sense that really matters. First, I think a lot of people just see social inequality as a global problem, like all the refugees coming there from poorer countries. Second, the impression that I often get from Germans is that they are all for helping people in dire straits but at the same time thinking that they are somehow excluded from ever getting into such a situation and that for people that do it's their own fault and they are somehow worth less for it.
    • rbehrends 9y ago
      According to the most recent Ipsos MORI poll [1], "What worries the world", social inequality and poverty is the single biggest concern of Germans, with 46% putting it in first place. [1] https://www.ipsos.com/sites/default/files/2017-08/what-worries-the-world-great-britain.pdf https://www.ipsos.com/sites/default/files/2017-08/what-worri...
      • Joe-Z 9y ago
        Thanks for actually coming up with some numbers. The linked study also shows that the 2nd biggest worry is Terrorism at 38%. Now, I'm a believer that people are way too worried about terrorism because they get bombarded with terrorism in the news all the time. Similarly with social inequality: The social inequality people in Germany experience via the news is mainly concerning refugees, economic migrants and other international topics, no? However if you show people what social inequality actually looks like in their own country they will dismiss it because that's not social inequality, that's just talking about 'Assis' (i.e. the people in dire straits who are themselves to blame for their situation, as I mentioned in my previous comment).
  • cyborgx7 9y ago
    >It still didn't help to break Merkel's popularity but the whole election campaign of the SPD was centered around that topic. It did help to break Merkel's popularity when Martin Schulz was first elected as a candidate of the SPD and a lot of people thought social inequality and social justice would be a big topic of the election. The SPD lost all that support again when it turned out their strategy for making social inequality a topic in the election was just saying the words "social justice" a lot with no substance to follow up with.
• defkev 9y ago
  It's almost like German politician don't care about the problems of "Germans" or as some prefer to call them "People who have lived here for a longer time"
  • literallycancer 9y ago
    Funny, the politicians just listen to the people (businesses) with money. I'd wager that the vast majority of them are (run by) white Europeans of German heritage. You seem to think that you have more in common with them, than with people who haven't been in Germany as long, but to the rich you are all just "the plebs".
    • defkev 9y ago
      >German politicians are pandering to German big corps, who are "coincidentally" mostly run by Germans, for egomaniacal reasons once their term ends. How fascinating, please tell me more...
      • lovich 9y ago
        Did 'literallycancer edit his post or are you paraphrasing him?
  • cJ0th 9y ago
    They do care about the problems of average Germans. Unfortunately, the list of corner cases is lengthy as most people are not average.