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> There was a lot of talk if a curfew is even constitutional. This is the main reason, imho. And enforcement is a large issue. What are you going to do if Berl
by luckylion 7y ago
> There was a lot of talk if a curfew is even constitutional.
This is the main reason, imho. And enforcement is a large issue. What are you going to do if Berliners in their usual manner just ignore everything and flock to parks en masse? Roll out the riot police against unarmed, peaceful citizens? Bring in the army? Both would look terrible, and deploying the army to police citizens would arguably be unconstitutional in a major way. Doing so would cause irreparable damage in a country where the laws have been heavily bent by the administration for the last 10 years and trust is dwindling.
And if you cannot enforce a curfew, what good is decreeing it? You'll make a stand, your bluff will be called and you're left with less power.
The major issue, I believe, is that Merkel is just not a leader in any way, shape or form. She's opportunistic, calculating and typically waits until the path is cleared by others to then emerge and claim she was always on the side of the debate that won, she has no vision and despises responsibility, always blaming "the circumstances" for any and all decisions (she coined "alternativlos", literally "without alternative", it's what she considers all her decisions to be - not decisions, but the only way possible). She's the worst kind of politician to have in this situation, because she has no personal authority. And being a terrible public speaker that apparently insists on writing her own speeches doesn't help either. Unfortunately, there's no obvious alternative anywhere in sight.
- cnlevy 7y agoEasy: You just fine every one of them 5000€, and send them home cheerfully.
- luckylion 7y agoAnd then you'll need to enforce that. What are you going to do when people require assistance because of the current situation, throw 10k people in jail because they can't pay? Evict them from their apartments? I don't think you want to go full authoritarian when you essentially need to cooperation of the public, especially in Germany that has had it's run-ins with authoritarian, totalitarian governments. Sure, you can station armed soldiers on any street and tell them to shoot if somebody shows their face ... but you might find that you've done more damage to society than an overwhelmed health system during an pandemic could have done.
- fsh 7y agoThis is complete nonsence. Germany regularly uses riot police against civilains if they threaten public safety. In case of a pandemic there are several laws that would explicitly allow this. Also the current measures have overwhelming public support since people are seriously scared of becoming the next Italy. You also must have seen a different speech by Merkel than I have. There is pretty much universal agreement that it was very good. She also never said her decisions would be "without alternative". This is a deliberately misleading quotation that right-wingers love to use against her.
- qhaye 7y agoOne of the remaining 27% that vote for CDU using the usual "you are a Nazi if you disagree with bureaucrat Merkel" tactics. Soon it will be 20%, perhaps you'll then realize the damage you've done.
- luckylion 7y ago> Germany regularly uses riot police against civilains if they threaten public safety. That's about "threatening the building of a train station", not "sitting in the sun in a park". Regarding Merkel's speeches, I'm sure there is universal agreement within the main stream media, yes. > She also never said her decisions would be "without alternative". This is a deliberately misleading quotation that right-wingers love to use against her. I mean, she's literally on the Wikipedia page for Alternativlos as somebody that loves to say the word. It's so much her thing that she became the poster child.