"If one doesn't trust the voter to be able to judge the problems, then one might as well abolish democracy right away."
-- Dieter Nuhr, Comedian
I paused over reading his quote this AM. He's discussing and aiming his wit at Germans....but it fits as well for Americans.
Maybe if democracy were 'rocket-science'....you'd require special people to run a gov't. But if you've been this crazy....'trust' is gone.
Study done....."Jugend in Deutschland 2026"....trend study by Simon Schnetzer. So he asked 2,000 Germans aged 14-29 about 'leaving'.
41-percentt consider emigrating out of Germany....with 21-percent having absolute concrete plans to exit.
Reasons? Economic uncertainty, housing shortages, and political disillusionment.
Where to? He didn't ask.
I asked AI to assemble exit data last year....with Austria and Switzerland at the top of the list for 'all' Germans as the end-point (not just youth).
A bad sign? Well....if you had 100,000 to 200,000 a year (just in the 19-to-29 age group)...yeah, it'd be a problem within 10 years.
Oddly, the coalition of CDU-CSU-SPD....is supposed to have top priority on economic woes and the housing shortage. Merz is the top 'salesman' for this priority.
The CSU mayor Wolfgang Seifert from Wülfershausen stood up today and confessed to having manipulated postal voting documents in several local elections. Police are conducting an investigation.
So I looked up the population....1,533 total, of which...if you figure those under 18....figuring 75-percent showing up usually....figure around 800-to-900 votes typically....that he would have done some postal-vote fraud. Just guessing here...but it's probably in the 50-to-75 document range.
No one really says where the votes came from....typically, dead folks are removed within a week or so after a certificate is created.
If you go back 30-odd years....most folks always showed up to vote, and postal voting was only for military folks or those in old-folks-homes.
The GKV stands for Gesetzliche Krankenversicherung....is the public/statutory health insurance system (which covers about 90-percent of the population).
Basic isssue.....it has expenditures that are rising much faster than its revenues. This has led to repeated yearly deficits, and what you'd consider as depleted reserves.
I should add here....it's mandatory to participate in the public health insurance (the “Krankenkassen”).
How contributions work? Well....they are split between employees and employers (general rate of 14.6-percent with some type of variable additional rate).
Money flows into a central health fund (Gesundheitsfonds) and then is distributed to the individual 'policy'.
Just about every year....expenditures outpace income....figure 7-percent usually.
Projected deficit of 10-to-15 billion Euro for 2027.
As you can imagine....clinics, doctors and hospitals are under massive pressure to hold costs down.
Why this keeps happening? Simply a demographic game....retirees, fewer contributors. Add onto it...medical and technological progress (expensive new treatments)
A special commission is renovate things....bring reform....for 2026.
The Merz coalition left to clean this up? More or less. There's simply no funds left to fill the gap unless you bump taxes up in some fashion.
My final assessment....a tax-reform will occur, but probably only buy the coalition five to seven years....where this will repeat again.
As for the new tax sources? VAT going to 21-percent.....a likely sugar tax on sodas....higher-income folks taxed at a higher rate.
Between ARD/ZDF (Channel 1/2)....they probably have around 8 public forum programs per week....mostly live....sometimes taped. The sub-networks (like BR or HR)...might have two or three per month....mostly geared toward their state (not the nation).
Basic formula? You have a moderator, and a guest panel (usually four folks). The Monday night ARD forum will include 6 folks....geared mostly to 3 folks supporting X and 3 folks opposing X.
For a long while...the formats were geared toward one single 'path'....three guests slamming one single guest who supported X.
If you asked about viewing numbers? Well....most of these come on at 10 PM or later....so that hinders the viewing numbers to some degree.
For a long while....if you consider the 30-odd forums per month....roughly 20 would dwindle on one topic, and folks started to complain ('it ain't right to overly demonize things'). The national board managing public TV....told the managers....you gotta talk about other topics.
Do CDU and SPD politicians get the bulk of invites? Well....I'd say out of the 30-odd forums per month....they each probably get 50-percent of the invites. Greens and Linke might get 10-percent of the invites. AfD? Maybe five invites out of the entire year.
The stumbling points? Occasionally, they have audience participation episodes....you end up with a regular non-VIP who grasps the topic and blasts through the political BS, and narrative stuff.
I won't say much critical over the forums...other than when they put up some statistical polling graphic....it might be one-sided or offered with a odd question.
Yeah, I'm mostly pro-public forum....they put up a fair amount of argument both ways, and it might be helpful for folks to understand how screwed-up the system really is.
The odd thing I leave you with....all the gain for AfD in the past ten years? It was mostly all without them being on the public forums. Think about that for a minute....the SPD and CDU folks have had tons of time explain their 'brand', and it apparently has not helped much at all.
There was a statistical graphic put up....about age-trends for political parties in Germany.
So...first, in the 18-to-29 age group....the top party is AfD with 28-percent of the age group voting for them. Second group? Linke....far-left, with 21-percent. It would be safe to say...almost 50-percent are either far-right, or far-left.
Second, only with ages 60-to-69 or over-70....does the CDU really rise to top-level....with 30-percent of the vote....rising clearly above AfD. The SPD? In this age range....they stand at 18-to-19-percent.
Third, in the 40-and-over age group....the Linke Party never passes 10-percent. So the older voters aren't really buying into their theme/brand.
Bottom line? The CDU-CSU 'brand' only really sells well....with older Germans. Same trend with SPD.....only older Germans buy into them.
Russia apparently has started up some state-policy....if a gal doe not want to produce children....she'll get a state-note to go to some local psychological counseling.
I pondered over this.
First, it's a bad sign that the population situation is screwed-up.
Second, what exactly is the mental-health doctor going to say?
Third, wouldn't you walk out of the counseling with a negative image....seeking to leave Russia as soon as possible?
Fourth and final....if you failed three or four counseling sessions....would that lead to a month-long hospital visit....to get you 'right'?
1. VW to sign up to make missile components...on a Israeli deal? Well...that's what I read last night. Odd? They have folks who they were going to dismiss by the end of the year....so they might be staying on.
2. Berlin police raids....four folks....from the grid attack in September of 2025. Four in their 20s/30s. So far....they aren't connected to the Berlin massive grid 'down-time' from early in 2026. But I would speculate....cops are looking closely over the crew.
3. RBB piece: fake social media stays in people's minds?
I read this and kinda laughed. US PhD team proved around 2020....bulk of what people read on social media....within 2 to 4 weeks....totally forgotten.
4. Berlin's Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU guy) yesterday....admitted to "communication errors" during the major power outage at the beginning of 2026. He said he would like to "apologize to all Berliners" for this, adding that he was "sincerely sorry."
Having watched this....basically he was heavily unfocused on the job/duty. But....even had he been there/on-duty.....there's not much he could have done.....other than uttering 'it's a mess'.
5. New drug appearing in Germany....called 'Baller-liquid'. Built into vape-devices.
6. Gerhard Schroeder (Chancellor from 1990s, SPD Party)....giving advice. Party needs bold direction/agenda, and to dump the dual-leadership gimmick (having one male/one female).
7. N-TV item this AM.....German grocery stores having trouble finding manpower for the deli-meat departments.
