>So there is really no excuse to neglect critical infrastructure for an ideology of austerity.
They neglect infrastructure to focus on social security.
If they wanted to find the money, they trivially could.
They neglect infrastructure to focus on social security.
If they wanted to find the money, they trivially could.
And again, German debt levels are way lower than any other G7 country's. So there is no excuse.
Indeed. I think you figured out the issue. Politicians aren't elected to fix infrastructure, but to distribute taxes through the social security system.
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the majority discovers it can vote itself largess out of the public treasury."
-Elmer T. Peterson misquoting Alexander Tytler.
The reason the government can't go below the Existenzminimum is that this would be a violation of the constitution's guarantee of human dignity according to the federal constitutional court of Germany, not because it would annoy the poors.
Also there is documented corruption in almost all political parties in federal politics. Most of that corruption is legal though but the beneficiaries are decidedly not the recipients of the "social security system" but rather of public-private partnerships and subsidies.
If you think the poor are leeching off society then the same goes for the fossil fuel industry, the agricultural industry, car manufacturing and other industries that are heavily subsidised and benefiting for extremely specific tax exemptions and funding programmes. One of the biggest beneficiaries of the COVID relief programs in Germany unlike the US was not ordinary taxpayers but airlines and large manufacturing companies.
Any evidence that BMW, Mercedes and VW aren't massive net tax payers?
I had this conversation before, where someone claimed that e.g. the automotive industry was heavily subsidized. But when I looked into it I found absolutely no evidence.
The German government is directly supported by the massively successful German industry. It is the sole reason Germany can even afford it's welfare state. On it's face it is absurd to claim that that industry is tax payer supported, completely ridiculous.
>If you think the poor are leeching off society then the same goes for the fossil fuel industry, the agricultural industry, car manufacturing and other industries
Social security is the top expenditure point in the budget.
It would indeed be trivial to "find the money" but the neo-liberal FDP is acting as an internal opposition demanding both strict adherence to the self-imposed debt brake (which was put in place to allow for investment during economic downturns by avoiding unnecessary debt when things are going well -- except everyone promptly forgot about that justification) as well as neither enacting new taxes (e.g. additional tax brackets), raising existing taxes nor resuming the very moderate wealth tax we suspended (not abolished!) years ago for no good reason.
No? Even on the budget they are distinct items.
>And Germany still has an appalling amount of childhood poverty nevertheless.
Don't forget the homelessness, which is far worse than in the US. Not only is the social security expensive, it also quite ineffective.
>It would indeed be trivial to "find the money" but the neo-liberal FDP is acting as an internal opposition
Exactly. Even they are refusing to cut social spending.
> No? Even on the budget they are distinct items.
That's not a refutation, that's a technicality.
What is the function of social security? What would happen without it?
To reduce social conflict by subsiding people who, for one reason or another, are unwilling or unable to successfully participate in the labor market.
>What would happen without it?
I don't want to speculate, but at some point we are going to find out.