Thursday, August 17, 2023

Q-and-A: 17 August 2023

 1.  Odds of the AfD Party ever taking over the German gov't?  

Well....pretty much zero-zero-zero.

I say this because they'd have to 'win' an election (even by 1-point over the 2nd place holder), then invite other parties to form a coalition (50-percent minimum).  None of the other parties would do so.

By German law, the 2nd place winner would then (after say 2 months of attempts) would be given the right to form, and you'd see a coalition formed.

Present trending?  AfD stands at generally 20-to-24 percent depending on the survey.  Nationally, there might be another 10-percent of folks who are angry, and could potentially vote AfD, but it doesn't get beyond 35-percent on real potential votes.

I do admit....a lot of this AfD support....comes from a negativity about the present SPD-coalition government, and a fair amount of stumbling around on policies making sense. 

2.  Linke Party falling apart?

Bartsch (the Parliamentary 'boss') resigned yesterday.  Based on polls in Hessen and Bavaria (state elections shortly)....Linke will slip badly.  

I would suggest that from established hard-core Linke voters....most have walked over to the Greens or SPD. By 2025's national election....they probably won't exist.

3.  How difficult is this legalization of Cannabis in Germany?

Well....the draft law is now up to 184 pages.  Even if you started to read it on a Friday evening...it'd take all weekend to consume the law.

One note that I've noticed....an individual will be limited 50 grams of weed per month (for people over 21).  If you are 18-to-21....30 grams is max.

It can only be sold via a 'club'.....to which one club per 6,000 residents of a town is the generally worded understanding.  So in my town of Wiesbaden....if you do the numbers.....there might be 48 'clubs' around town.  It's hard for me to imagine this, and I would guess a number of these will be mandated to only exist in some industrial-work area.

4.  This town-hall stuff with Chancellor Scholz going well?

The Erfurt episode was a bit awkward.....Scholz did talk a bit, but if you were looking for answers to questions....he tip-toed around about half of the questions.  But if you were measuring against Merkel's town-hall episodes....it was equivalent.  

5.  Survey of non-Germans working in Germany....dismal?

It's a bit funny, but comes from RBB (public TV in Berlin).

So the study says from non-Germans....things are too complicated.....Germans are unfriendly....it's too bureaucratic....and the language business is demanding.

About one out of three 'guests' responded in the survey that they weren't fitting into society.

Now, what was left out?  They didn't really tell you the nationality of the 'guests' interviewed, and if any particular societies were more left-out than  other societies.  

First, on the language (having taken enough of these), it is science-driven....over decades.  Just on the 'the' business (die, der or das)....if you sit and quiz authentic Germans.....probably 10-percent will simply be guessing on the die, der or das business.  

Second, if you said some new 'thing' has to occur and make things different....the German preoccupation is to mandate a regulation.  An American or Aussie mindset might say 'fine', and just write three pages of rules.  Germans?  They might spend six months thinking over it and writing forty pages of rules (that's just for the first year).

Third, I'm not really convinced on the unfriendly nature concept of Germans.  If you did ask....most Germans would suggest that in three or four layers of 'friends'...there's only two that are in the inner-most circle.  Germans do have a sense of humor....although it's probably not the Benny Hill-type of the UK, or the Dave Chappelle-type from the US.  

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