Humble Opinions

Over the past forty-eight hours (after this EU election on Sunday)....there's been this trending discussion over 'opinions'.  Part of the blame for the poorer numbers by the CDU Party (Merkel's group, right-of-center) and the SPD Party (left-of-center)....is that an individual or two stepped out on YouTube and social media....openly criticizing both parties.  The belief is (offered by journalists) this convinced several hundred thousand Germans to flip their vote to the Green Party.  So the key discussion is over opinion and if open social media should allow opinion.

I know.....this is pretty stupid, but Germans (the political folks and the journalists) have not yet understood this 'creature' of social media.  They are still working on fake news and how to prevent the 'evil' Russians from interfering in their elections.

Over the past year or two, I've come to five observations about Germans, political opinions, and trends:

1. There's a lot of hype and 'propaganda' now geared toward young voters (even those in the 13 to 17 year group and not yet a voter).  Whether the primary parties or journalists have grasped this yet or not.....there is this shift underway.  The primary gainer of these new voters?  The Green Party.

2.  You could have gone to any pub in Germany over the past year and asked if both Merkel's CDU Party or the SPD Party is screwed-up, and the majority of regular working-class people would have smiled and agreed on the party 'mess'.  The theatrical side has made politics into a fake TV 'show'.

3.  To resolve or fix any of the top dozen problems in Germany today....you need more cash revenue (taxes).  If you combine all of the taxes together, it's a very significant amount of taxation already.....so adding onto this is not an option.  The problem is that the chief discussion now (carbon taxes)....would add significant portions of cash, and leave less money in the pockets of Germans.  So the general public is going to eventually identify politicians as 'thieves'.

4.  Social media gave everyone in Germany a chance to say something, and some of this is blunt and hard to accept.  Once you get a group bound by social media.....that can easily snowball into votes for fringe groups.

5.  Finally, at least as far as I can see.....none of the CDU or SPD 'chiefs' can maneuver well in this new environment.  They are mostly Merkel-types, and set more to the intellectual landscape than reacting to public opinion. 

Where will this lead?  That's a good question, and if the normal election cycle is observed....we've got just over two years before the next national election to find out the change.