[Marxism-Thaxis] Ghosts of Germany's Communist Past Return for Election
Ghosts of Germany's Communist Past Return for Election By: Erik Kirschbaum - Erik Kirschbaum is a Reuters correspondent in Berlin. August 28th, 2009 http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate-uk/2009/08/28/ghosts-of-germanys-communist-past-return-for-election/ Will the party that traces its roots to Communist East Germany's SED party that built the Berlin Wall soon be in power in a west German state? Or is the rise of the far-left Linke (Left party) in western Germany to the brink of its first role as a coalition partner in a state government with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) simply a political fact-of-life now so many years after the Wall fell and the two Germanys were reunited? Will a red government in Saarland scare away investors and doom the state, as its conservative state premier Peter Mueller argues in a desperate fight to his job? Or will the new leftist alliance in Saarland be able to better tackle state's woes, as the SPD state premier candidate Heiko Maas insists? Depending on your Weltanschauung, that's what Sunday's election in three German states boils down to - an emotional debate about whether the ex Communists in the form of the Left party should be allowed to be part of the next Saarland government or not. It doesn't matter that the Left has already been in eastern state governments and will probably also be part of the next state government in the eastern state of Thuringia, which also elects a new state assembly on Sunday. The Cold War has flared up again in Germany ahead of Sunday's elections in three German states, a closely watched warm-up for the national election on Sept. 27 when Chancellor Angela Merkel will be seeking a second term. It's hard to explain to anyone outside Germany why the Left party has been seated in state and local governments throughout eastern Germany for the last 15 years with hardly a murmur while it was until recently an absolute taboo in western Germany. It's also not easy to explain to some Germans, especially those born after the Cold War. But here goes: Many western voters have until now had a knee-jerk reaction to the Left party - as well as its predecessor the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), which is the direct descendent of Erich Honecker's SED. Westerners remember the Wall, the shoot-to-kill orders, the barbed wire and the Iron Curtain that divided post- war Germany. It's not a big deal in Saarland anymore, Maas, the SPD candidate in Saarland, told me in an interview on the campaign trail in Saarbruecken this week. The CDU is trying to make a scandal out of it. They've been trying to whip up fears about `red-red' for months but there hasn't been any movement in the opinion polls. I think that shows people aren't interested in the parties mud-slinging about coalitions. They're tired of those games. They want political leaders to resolve their problems. Many eastern voters long ago realised the Left party is not the SED that built the Wall. In the east, the Left has become the most powerful party in many regions partly due to nostalgia for East Germany but mainly due to its fighting for leftist ideals as well as standing up for the so-called losers of unification. A `red-red' government would send Saarland down the tubes, said CDU leader Mueller. And Merkel added at a rally in Saarbruecken: This state cannot be allowed to fall into the hands of `red-red'. She does not use that line in her campaign speeches in the former Communist east, where she was raised, because she knows it would sound ridiculous to eastern ears. The SPD rules out a red-red coalition with the Left party at the national level because of deep differences over foreign and economic policy. But it now says it is ready to open the door to such alliances in western states - after some painful experiences in the last few years. And Maas in Saarland could be the first to go through. The SPD will probably drop that ban on red- red coalitions at the national level someday as well after having abandoned it for eastern Germany in 1994. So is it The Commies are at the Gate in Saarland? Or is it just part of a democratic evolution that the renamed, reborn East German Communists are about to gain a small but important foothold in western Germany? ___ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
[Marxism-Thaxis] Japan opposition takes on economy after landslide
Japan opposition takes on economy after landslide By ERIC TALMADGE, Associated Press Writer Eric Talmadge, Associated Press Writer 1 hr 53 mins ago TOKYO – Japan's likely next prime minister rushed to select Cabinet ministers Monday after his party trounced the ruling conservatives in elections and inherited a mountain of problems, including how to revive the world's second-largest economy. Yukio Hatoyama spoke only briefly with reporters before huddling with party leaders. In a victory speech late Sunday, he said he would focus on a quick and smooth transition and make a priority of choosing Japan's next finance minister. He has also said he wants to redefine Tokyo's relationship with its key ally, Washington. Prime Minister Taro Aso, conceding defeat, said he would step down as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. As head of the party, I feel strong responsibility and it is my intention to resign, Aso told a news conference Monday. His successor as party leader is expected to be named in late September. Although the nation gave the Democratic Party of Japan a landslide win, most voters were seen as venting dissatisfaction with the LDP and the status quo. The staunchly pro-U.S. LDP — teaming up with big business, conservative interests and the powerful national bureaucracy — governed Japan for virtually all of the past 54 years. Their election loss has been attributed primarily to frustration with the economy, which is in its worst slump since World War II. Official results were still being counted, but exit polls by all major media said Hatoyama's party had won more than 300 of the 480 seats in the lower house of parliament. That would easily be enough to ensure that he is installed as prime minister in a special session of parliament that is expected in mid-September. The Democrats controlled the less powerful upper house of parliament with two smaller allies since 2007, but if they fail to quickly deliver on their promises, the LDP could resurge in elections for that house next year. The task ahead for the Democrats is daunting. Japan managed to climb out of a yearlong recession in the second quarter, but its economy remains weak. Unemployment and anxiety over falling wages threaten to undermine any recovery. The jobless rate has risen to a record 5.7 percent. After a rapid succession of three administrations in three years, Japan is facing its worst crisis of confidence in decades. It must also figure out how to cope with a rapidly aging and shrinking population — meaning fewer people paying taxes and more collecting pensions. Government estimates predict the population will drop to 115 million in 2030 and fall below 100 million by the middle of the century. The Democrats' solution is to move Japan away from a corporate-centric economic model to one that focuses on helping people. They have proposed an expensive array of initiatives: cash handouts to families and farmers, toll-free highways, a higher minimum wage and tax cuts. The estimated bill comes to 16.8 trillion yen ($179 billion) when fully implemented starting in the 2013 fiscal year. The party has said it plans to cut waste and rely on untapped financial reserves to fund their programs. But with Japan's public debt heading toward 200 percent of gross domestic product, the Democrats' plan has been criticized as a financial fantasy that would worsen Japan's precarious fiscal health. Japan's stock market surged early Monday on the news of the election, but then fell back — indicating uncertainty among investors about what the Democrats will bring. The key difference is the Liberal Democrats' spending on public projects and infrastructure, but the Democrats spend on family and education, said Martin Schulz, a senior economist at the Fujitsu Research Institute. The Democrats have a year to show results, he added, noting next year's elections are looming. The Democrats are also under scrutiny for their positions on national security and foreign policy. Hatoyama has been vocal about distancing Japan from Washington and forging closer ties with its Asian neighbors. He has said he will end a refueling mission in the Indian Ocean in support of U.S.-led coalition forces in Afghanistan, and wants to review the role of the 50,000 U.S. troops stationed across Japan under a post-World War II mutual security treaty. He is not expected to make any radical departures that would harm relations with Washington, however, and the new U.S. ambassador to Japan said President Barack Obama is looking forward to working with the administration in Tokyo. The challenges we face are many, but through our partnership our two great democracies will meet them in a spirit of cooperation and friendship, Ambassador John V. Roos said in a statement Monday. The Democrats' first task will be to convince a skeptical public that they can actually lead. The party is made up of an inexperienced group of left-wing activists and LDP defectors. It is
Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Ghosts of Germany's Communist Past Return forElection
This is a partly at least misleading report not taking into account the changes that one of the constituent elements of Die Linke - ie the former PDS which arose from the eastern Communist Party, SED - went through nor does it take into account what the West German element, originally called WASG, represented. In spite of the differences the union of these two former parties may stiil have inside the united one a question if former (!) East German party could take power in a West German region (Land) sounds like an American anti-communist slander. Neither does the correspondent consider the conditions prevailing both on German political stage and in the economic conditions of present-day Germany. If a non-European wants to really understand what is going on he (she) has to read a countervailing reports by ot er journalists (in differenr media). Stephen Steiger, Praue, Czech Republic __ Od: c b Komu: Forum for the discussion of theoretical issues raised by Karl Marx and thethinkers he inspired ,a-l...@lists.econ.utah.edu Datum: 31.08.2009 14:17 Předmět: [Marxism-Thaxis] Ghosts of Germany's Communist Past Return forElection Ghosts of Germany's Communist Past Return for Election By: Erik Kirschbaum - Erik Kirschbaum is a Reuters correspondent in Berlin. August 28th, 2009 http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate-uk/2009/08/28/ghosts-of-germanys-communist-past-return-for-election/ Will the party that traces its roots to Communist East Germany's SED party that built the Berlin Wall soon be in power in a west German state? Or is the rise of the far-left Linke (Left party) in western Germany to the brink of its first role as a coalition partner in a state government with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) simply a political fact-of-life now so many years after the Wall fell and the two Germanys were reunited? Will a red government in Saarland scare away investors and doom the state, as its conservative state premier Peter Mueller argues in a desperate fight to his job? Or will the new leftist alliance in Saarland be able to better tackle state's woes, as the SPD state premier candidate Heiko Maas insists? Depending on your Weltanschauung, that's what Sunday's election in three German states boils down to - an emotional debate about whether the ex Communists in the form of the Left party should be allowed to be part of the next Saarland government or not. It doesn't matter that the Left has already been in eastern state governments and will probably also be part of the next state government in the eastern state of Thuringia, which also elects a new state assembly on Sunday. The Cold War has flared up again in Germany ahead of Sunday's elections in three German states, a closely watched warm-up for the national election on Sept. 27 when Chancellor Angela Merkel will be seeking a second term. It's hard to explain to anyone outside Germany why the Left party has been seated in state and local governments throughout eastern Germany for the last 15 years with hardly a murmur while it was until recently an absolute taboo in western Germany. It's also not easy to explain to some Germans, especially those born after the Cold War. But here goes: Many western voters have until now had a knee-jerk reaction to the Left party - as well as its predecessor the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), which is the direct descendent of Erich Honecker's SED. Westerners remember the Wall, the shoot-to-kill orders, the barbed wire and the Iron Curtain that divided post- war Germany. It's not a big deal in Saarland anymore, Maas, the SPD candidate in Saarland, told me in an interview on the campaign trail in Saarbruecken this week. The CDU is trying to make a scandal out of it. They've been trying to whip up fears about `red-red' for months but there hasn't been any movement in the opinion polls. I think that shows people aren't interested in the parties mud-slinging about coalitions. They're tired of those games. They want political leaders to resolve their problems. Many eastern voters long ago realised the Left party is not the SED that built the Wall. In the east, the Left has become the most powerful party in many regions partly due to nostalgia for East Germany but mainly due to its fighting for leftist ideals as well as standing up for the so-called losers of unification. A `red-red' government would send Saarland down the tubes, said CDU leader Mueller. And Merkel added at a rally in Saarbruecken: This state cannot be allowed to fall into the hands of `red-red'. She does not use that line in her campaign speeches in the former Communist east, where she was raised, because she knows it would sound ridiculous to eastern ears. The SPD rules out a red-red coalition with the Left party at the national level because of deep differences over foreign and economic policy. But it now says it is ready to open the door to such alliances in western
Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Ghosts of Germany's Communist Past Return forElection
If a non-European wants to really understand what is going on he (she) has to read a countervailing reports by ot er journalists (in differenr media). Stephen Steiger, Praue, Czech Republic ^^^ CB Got any countervailing reports ? ___ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
[Marxism-Thaxis] Japan Votes for Multipolarity
Japan Votes for Multipolarity dredmond Voters roundly reject the LDP's watered-down variant of a US-subservient neoliberalism: http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200908300210.html Japan, it should be noted, is the second-largest foreign creditor of the US (slightly behind China). Hint, hint! -- DRR ___ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Japan opposition takes on economy after landslide
The thing to remember is this: the NEW RULING party is simply a set of factions that emerged from the OLD RULING party over 10 years ago. They ran as opposition on MORE FREE MARKETS, DEREGULATION, LIBERALIZATION and appeasement of big business interests that seek to co-habit with American big business interests and the US military. It's true that they said they were going to re-think the postal privatization (now that everyone realizes it's about the only thing in the country that appeasing American interests hasn't yet ruined), but it's also important to remember that, at the time the simpleton Koizumi of the old ruling party (LDP) was arguing for privatization and running on this issue, the DPJ was vaguely arguing the privatization didn't go far or deep enough. One would expect the usual interests of the American national security state empire to argue that Japan started its reforms too late or did too little--except the collapse of the US bubbles leaves them so thoroughly repudiated by their own stupid free market rhetoric (which was more about making Japan pay for more of the US's military spending while securing insider deals and monopolized markets with US-Japan trade anyway). The LDP truly sucked, the DPJ promises to suck even harder. CJ ___ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
