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Buffet reminded me a lot of Angela Merkel. They stood clearly and simply for good moral judgment, fair systems and looked at the bigger picture to carry most p

by kinnth 1y ago

Buffet reminded me a lot of Angela Merkel. They stood clearly and simply for good moral judgment, fair systems and looked at the bigger picture to carry most people forward. They also based all their decision in facts, truth and science. They learn't their trades (economics & politics) over time and weren't afraid to adapt as times changed. Their slow and steady presence did more for equality and fairness than many others. We will need to find these values again after the current times have played out.

fifilura 1y ago
It is ok, I understand how you are thinking. But unfortunately I think Merkels legacy will be "Wandel durch handel". Trying to pacify Russia and Putin through increasing trade. Did not work.
- jnwatson 1y ago
  Don't forget the climate-change-decision-accelerating decision to mothball all their nuclear reactors. This was a monumentally poor strategic decision from multiple angles.
- impossiblefork 1y ago
  It doesn't have to have been totally wrong always, but it's certainly been wrong at least since the invasion of Georgia in 2008.
- Aeolun 1y ago
  Yes. But that wasn’t a rational outcome. By any measure Russia is momumentally worse off after basically anything it’s done in the past three years.
DumbForceDFDC 1y ago
[dead]
thi2 1y ago
That has to be about a different Angela Merkel, the one I know had one priority: preserving status quo.
- FirmwareBurner 1y ago
  Which recent German politician in power wasn't about preserving the status quo? The entire country and culture is all about the status quo.
  - riffraff 1y ago
    I'm. It sure of the "recent" definition but Schroeder's tenure brought a lot of changes (which one can argue against, but it was not conservative).
- DonHopkins 1y ago
  [flagged]
  - netsharc 1y ago
    Feh, Merkel created conditions for the rise of right wing fascism... IMO. She and her finance minister championed austerity uber alles, squeezing the middle and lower class across the EU, and then she said refugees were welcome. I agree with the idea of helping people fleeing bombs and bullets, but after decades of saying there's money, we need to watch our budgets, suddenly there's money? Nooo fucking wonder the populist right managed to grasp on to the disillusionment of the lower/middle class.
    - DonHopkins 1y ago
      Yeah, just like Obama created conditions for the rise of right wing MAGA fascism in the US by being black. Thanks Obama! Right wing fascist are going to try to seize power no matter how nicely you treat them.
      - 1y ago
bergheim 1y ago
> They also based all their decision in facts, truth and science What? She shut down nuclear power plants to ramp up coal and Russian dependence. Idolizing people is rarely helpful.
- JimmyBiscuit 1y ago
  She shut down nuclear power because of extreme pressure from the population. Tens of thousands protested around her office. Nuclear is complicated (and mostly fear driven) in Germany. Oddly enough the first exit was done under Schröder who is a russian asset. Makes you think.
  - codethief 1y ago
    > Oddly enough the first exit was done under Schröder who is a russian asset. Makes you think. Oddly enough? Schröder was in a coalition with the green party that had emerged from the anti-nuclear movement two decades before.
  - AdamJacobMuller 1y ago
    > Tens of thousands protested around her office Germany has a population of 84 million people. 10,000 should not be able to dictate a policy decision of this magnitude, regardless of how loud they are. > Nuclear is complicated (and mostly fear driven) The politics of nuclear are complicated, the science (more engineering) of nuclear are complicated, the imperative is clear and simple. You are correct that it's mostly fear driven, but stoked by "green" advocacy organizations and/or manipulated by people with a stake in the continued use of fossil fuels (and largely the latter funding the former). True leadership would stand up to both of these pressures, making people understand that the voice of 10,000 (or even 100,000) people can not dictate policy alone and educating people on the reality of nuclear power, while also fixing some of the real issues with nuclear power (an aging power plant fleet and an inability economically build better replacements). Merkel totally flopped on energy policy.
    - neom 1y ago
      We've been running nuclear here in Canada for over 80 years now. CANDU is very safe and not very complicated. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CANDU_reactor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CANDU_reactor
neom 1y ago
Measured governance. I feel the same, although I'm sure the Europeans and Germans not at all, but they also talked Angela out of nuclear, so one might argue the Germans are a bit too measured compared to their Chancellor.
huijzer 1y ago
> They stood clearly and simply for good moral judgment Merkel has severely underestimated Putin. She played a role in the continuous betting on Russian oil. Merkel has called the internet “neuland” and wasn’t her government also the one starting with hydrogen subsidies. I donno about you but to this day I only hear lots of talk about hydrogen but near zero results. So all the wrong bets. Also I don’t know whether you noticed but Germany is expected to be in a recession for three years in a row now. About equity and fairness okay I guess you are right. Everybody in Germany will be poor if things continue like this.
ponector 1y ago
Silent approval of Putin's invasions to Georgia and Ukraine doesn't look like "good moral judgment, fair systems"
FiniteField 1y ago
"The current times" are a direct result of decisions like that of Merkel to throw open the borders of Germany to a million unchecked foreign men. If there's one reason that the AfD is the largest party in Germany today, it's because of that decision Merkel made a whole decade ago. How was that "based in facts, truth and science", or "slow and steady"?
- Aeolun 1y ago
  The million unchecked foreign men (and women) are presumably propping up the German economy as we speak. There will always be people that dislike change, but it may ultimately be better to start integrating them earlier rather than later. If you make it through the bad times (e.g. now), at the other end is the outcome you desire.
  - FirmwareBurner 1y ago
    >The million unchecked foreign men (and women) are presumably propping up the German economy as we speak. How many of those unchecked are women? What's the point of having borders then? Or law enforcement putting criminals in jails, when they could be out there propping up the economy. As long as your illegal activities are putting money into the state coffers, you should be allowed to continue unchecked, screw the laws. Yeah sure, they might cause some trouble for the lower and middle class living amongst them, but think of the economic gains for the top 1%! Their real estate and stock portfolios have never looked so good. And if people vocally disagree with this you call them fascist and put them in jail for threatening your "democracy". How does Poland's economy manage to grow faster than Germany's without illegal immigration? Maybe they can send some researchers there to find out.
    - Aeolun 1y ago
      > How does Poland's economy manage to grow faster than Germany's without illegal immigration? They are having babies.
      - 1y ago
newbie578 1y ago
I cannot believe that there are people praising Merkel with a straight face. She is literally a laughing stock in Europe, I put her as the poster boy for immigration crisis together with the energy crisis. The only thing she did was shove problems further in the future not caring about the consequences.
- FirmwareBurner 1y ago
  [flagged]
- riehwvfbk 1y ago
  I think you have a strange definition of "laughingstock". Germany went from an economic powerhouse of Europe to factory shutdowns and a bunch of bumbling sniveling elites who are afraid of the people they are leading and want to ban them from having a say.
HeadsUpHigh 1y ago
>the bigger picture to carry most people forward The bigger picture of getting germany dependent on russian gas while screwing eu allies.
sofixa 1y ago
Buffet was "carrying most people forward" how exactly? Squeezing companies he had shares in to be as efficient as possible, leading to poorer quality and outright dangerous working conditions isn't bettering anyone other than shareholders, which aren't most people.

by kinnth 1y ago

fifilura 1y ago

It is ok, I understand how you are thinking. But unfortunately I think Merkels legacy will be "Wandel durch handel". Trying to pacify Russia and Putin through increasing trade. Did not work.

jnwatson 1y ago
Don't forget the climate-change-decision-accelerating decision to mothball all their nuclear reactors. This was a monumentally poor strategic decision from multiple angles.
impossiblefork 1y ago
It doesn't have to have been totally wrong always, but it's certainly been wrong at least since the invasion of Georgia in 2008.
Aeolun 1y ago
Yes. But that wasn’t a rational outcome. By any measure Russia is momumentally worse off after basically anything it’s done in the past three years.

DumbForceDFDC 1y ago

[dead]

thi2 1y ago

That has to be about a different Angela Merkel, the one I know had one priority: preserving status quo.

FirmwareBurner 1y ago
Which recent German politician in power wasn't about preserving the status quo? The entire country and culture is all about the status quo.
- riffraff 1y ago
  I'm. It sure of the "recent" definition but Schroeder's tenure brought a lot of changes (which one can argue against, but it was not conservative).
DonHopkins 1y ago
[flagged]
- netsharc 1y ago
  Feh, Merkel created conditions for the rise of right wing fascism... IMO. She and her finance minister championed austerity uber alles, squeezing the middle and lower class across the EU, and then she said refugees were welcome. I agree with the idea of helping people fleeing bombs and bullets, but after decades of saying there's money, we need to watch our budgets, suddenly there's money? Nooo fucking wonder the populist right managed to grasp on to the disillusionment of the lower/middle class.
  - DonHopkins 1y ago
    Yeah, just like Obama created conditions for the rise of right wing MAGA fascism in the US by being black. Thanks Obama! Right wing fascist are going to try to seize power no matter how nicely you treat them.
    - 1y ago

bergheim 1y ago

> They also based all their decision in facts, truth and science What? She shut down nuclear power plants to ramp up coal and Russian dependence. Idolizing people is rarely helpful.

JimmyBiscuit 1y ago
She shut down nuclear power because of extreme pressure from the population. Tens of thousands protested around her office. Nuclear is complicated (and mostly fear driven) in Germany. Oddly enough the first exit was done under Schröder who is a russian asset. Makes you think.
- codethief 1y ago
  > Oddly enough the first exit was done under Schröder who is a russian asset. Makes you think. Oddly enough? Schröder was in a coalition with the green party that had emerged from the anti-nuclear movement two decades before.
- AdamJacobMuller 1y ago
  > Tens of thousands protested around her office Germany has a population of 84 million people. 10,000 should not be able to dictate a policy decision of this magnitude, regardless of how loud they are. > Nuclear is complicated (and mostly fear driven) The politics of nuclear are complicated, the science (more engineering) of nuclear are complicated, the imperative is clear and simple. You are correct that it's mostly fear driven, but stoked by "green" advocacy organizations and/or manipulated by people with a stake in the continued use of fossil fuels (and largely the latter funding the former). True leadership would stand up to both of these pressures, making people understand that the voice of 10,000 (or even 100,000) people can not dictate policy alone and educating people on the reality of nuclear power, while also fixing some of the real issues with nuclear power (an aging power plant fleet and an inability economically build better replacements). Merkel totally flopped on energy policy.
  - neom 1y ago
    We've been running nuclear here in Canada for over 80 years now. CANDU is very safe and not very complicated. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CANDU_reactor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CANDU_reactor

neom 1y ago

Measured governance. I feel the same, although I'm sure the Europeans and Germans not at all, but they also talked Angela out of nuclear, so one might argue the Germans are a bit too measured compared to their Chancellor.

huijzer 1y ago

> They stood clearly and simply for good moral judgment Merkel has severely underestimated Putin. She played a role in the continuous betting on Russian oil. Merkel has called the internet “neuland” and wasn’t her government also the one starting with hydrogen subsidies. I donno about you but to this day I only hear lots of talk about hydrogen but near zero results. So all the wrong bets. Also I don’t know whether you noticed but Germany is expected to be in a recession for three years in a row now. About equity and fairness okay I guess you are right. Everybody in Germany will be poor if things continue like this.

ponector 1y ago

Silent approval of Putin's invasions to Georgia and Ukraine doesn't look like "good moral judgment, fair systems"

FiniteField 1y ago

"The current times" are a direct result of decisions like that of Merkel to throw open the borders of Germany to a million unchecked foreign men. If there's one reason that the AfD is the largest party in Germany today, it's because of that decision Merkel made a whole decade ago. How was that "based in facts, truth and science", or "slow and steady"?

Aeolun 1y ago
The million unchecked foreign men (and women) are presumably propping up the German economy as we speak. There will always be people that dislike change, but it may ultimately be better to start integrating them earlier rather than later. If you make it through the bad times (e.g. now), at the other end is the outcome you desire.
- FirmwareBurner 1y ago
  >The million unchecked foreign men (and women) are presumably propping up the German economy as we speak. How many of those unchecked are women? What's the point of having borders then? Or law enforcement putting criminals in jails, when they could be out there propping up the economy. As long as your illegal activities are putting money into the state coffers, you should be allowed to continue unchecked, screw the laws. Yeah sure, they might cause some trouble for the lower and middle class living amongst them, but think of the economic gains for the top 1%! Their real estate and stock portfolios have never looked so good. And if people vocally disagree with this you call them fascist and put them in jail for threatening your "democracy". How does Poland's economy manage to grow faster than Germany's without illegal immigration? Maybe they can send some researchers there to find out.
  - Aeolun 1y ago
    > How does Poland's economy manage to grow faster than Germany's without illegal immigration? They are having babies.
    - 1y ago

newbie578 1y ago

I cannot believe that there are people praising Merkel with a straight face. She is literally a laughing stock in Europe, I put her as the poster boy for immigration crisis together with the energy crisis. The only thing she did was shove problems further in the future not caring about the consequences.

FirmwareBurner 1y ago
[flagged]
riehwvfbk 1y ago
I think you have a strange definition of "laughingstock". Germany went from an economic powerhouse of Europe to factory shutdowns and a bunch of bumbling sniveling elites who are afraid of the people they are leading and want to ban them from having a say.

HeadsUpHigh 1y ago

>the bigger picture to carry most people forward The bigger picture of getting germany dependent on russian gas while screwing eu allies.

sofixa 1y ago

Buffet was "carrying most people forward" how exactly? Squeezing companies he had shares in to be as efficient as possible, leading to poorer quality and outright dangerous working conditions isn't bettering anyone other than shareholders, which aren't most people.