The Schwäbische Zeitung (a daily for the highly industrialized German Baden-Württemberg region) ran a long interview with economist Folker Hellmeyer, who forecast the end of democracy in Germany if the country does not change course. Germany should dump Green and pro-NATO policies and join the BRICS-led largest global revolution, Hellmeyer said.
“Germany is steering haphazardly through the biggest crisis in the West since the end of the Second World War” because of its insane energy and foreign policies.
Germany has become a leader in bureaucracy, but has neglected everything else. “The infrastructure is dilapidated, digitalization is making no progress and education policy has failed completely. In the political coordination of objectives, we have reduced incentives and expanded the entitlement society. The current growth picture is an expression of this multifaceted fundamental problem. Due to the failed policies of the CDU under Chancellor Angela Merkel and the current ‘traffic light’ coalition, we have now become a burden on the EU and the global economy.
“If we stay on the path we have chosen, then everything will be up for grabs: the welfare state, the green transformation, the prosperity we have built up over generations and, ultimately, democracy. The warning signs are increasing. We are currently experiencing the highest net capital outflows in history, and more and more companies are migrating to other countries.”
An example of the insanity of the German government is the so-called “heating law,” which bans fossil-based heating for new homes. Hellmeyer noted “It will cost citizens €1.5 trillion, or around 60% of Germany’s national debt, just to cut China’s CO2 emissions in a single day by 2030. That is utter madness. We could plant new forests worldwide for €100 billion. That would have a much more sustainable impact on the climate, and without affecting people’s prosperity.
“The world is facing the greatest upheaval since 1944 ... the Global South is now responsible for more than 70% of global economic output. At the same time, the countries of the South are growing twice as fast as the industrialized nations. Whether we like it or not, a shift in the axis of power is currently taking place, a massive upheaval that is repeatedly expressed in proxy wars—such as in Libya, Syria, Gaza or Ukraine. If the U.S.A. and Europe do not shed their arrogance, the Global South will develop its own organization chart—detached from the West.”
As a solution, Hellmeyer calls for boosting technology-based, family-owned SMEs, Germany’s famous “Mittelstand. “This structure is unique in the world and creates massive competitive advantages in terms of production efficiency. However, it requires competitive energy prices and sustainable security of supply. Then there are the familiar issues: too high taxes, too much bureaucracy and the erosion of the meritocracy.
“And finally, I call for a change of course from a morality-based to a law-based, pragmatic foreign policy. We need more tolerance and must not restrict our political relations to our own moral concepts. All values have their right, whether Christian, Islamic or Buddhist. If all this succeeds, even if I have my doubts that politicians are ready for it, then I am confident for Germany and Europe. I am confident about the world anyway.”
