Liberal FDP’s Creative (Self-) Destruction

Germany's Free Democrats (FDP) have much in common with Mitt Romney's Republican Pary in the US. Both parties worship the "free market" and represent the interest of Private Equity.  Both parties abhor government bailouts of failing enterprises:  Romney opposed the rescue of the US automakers and the FDP blocked the bailout of Opel.  Nothing must stand in the way of the "creative destruction" of pure capitalism. "Freedom" means the unfettered freedom of the "job creators" to lay off thousands of workers and transfer production to China.  Now, led by Philipp Rösler, the FDP has once again prevailed and blocked a government plan to save 11,000 jobs that are being eliminated by the insolvency of the Schlecker drug store chain:

Authorities hoped that, with the help of €70 million ($93 million) in loan guarantees from state governments, some 11,000 redundant employees could be moved into an interim rescue vehicle to get training and help finding new jobs — avoiding outright layoffs.

But the plan failed Thursday after state government officials from the Free Democrats — who oppose government intervention in business — rejected it.

And the FDP shares one additional aspect with its American GOP counterpart: both parties are waging a war on women.  In the case of the GOP, it is an assault on women's control of their own bodies and access to health care; for the FDP is an attack on women's ability to earn a living wage to support their families: 

Als heute Abend klar wurde, dass es für die Beschäftigten von Schlecker keine Transfergesellschaft geben wird, sondern nur die Arbeitsagenturen, die dann Tausende von schlecht ausgebildeten Frauen zu irgendwelchen staatlich subventionierten Maßnahmen verdonnern dürfen, als klar wurde, dass sich eine winzige Partei (hallo FDP, vier Prozent bundesweit) durchsetzen konnte gegen alles, was gerecht oder wenigstens menschlich wäre, eine Partei, die sich ehrlich gesagt sonst kaum noch durchsetzen kann, ist eines klar geworden: Frauen sind in diesem Land immer noch weniger wert, und je ärmer sie sind, je sozial prekärer ihre Lage, desto egaler sind sie der regierenden Koalition. Und Frauenleben müssen in diesem Land offenbar dafür herhalten, dass Politiker ihre Prinzipientreue demonstrieren dürfen. […]Die FDP hat sich weder in der Eurofrage durchsetzen können, noch in sonst irgendwelchen kostenspieligen Rettungsmaßnahmen, die in den letzten drei Jahren von der Bundesregierung ausgegangen sind. Wenn aber ein paar tausend Frauen gerettet werden sollen, die ohnehin von ihrem Arbeitgeber systematisch ausgebeutet wurden, dann darf sich diese kleine Scheißegalpartei auf einmal durchsetzen.

("When it became obvious that a tiny party (the FDP, with a four-percent share of the vote nationwide) would get its way, torpedoing everything that is just or at least humane … one thing was clear: Women are still worth less in this country, and the poorer they are and the more socially precarious their situation is, the less they matter to the governing coalition. So women apparently have to pay for politicians being able to demonstrate their loyalty to their own principles. … The FDP was unable to prevail on the euro or any other expensive rescue measures undertaken in the past three years by the federal government. But when it comes to rescuing a few thousand women who have already been systematically exploited by their employer, all of a sudden this tiny, insignificant party is allowed to get its way.")

And this points to the principal difference between the FDP and Republican Party: in the US, the interests of big capital control Congress, the Supreme Court and the Media, while in the Germany the FDP is maneuvering itself into political irrelevance; it is unlikely to achieve the 5% hurdle for representation in the state or federal government.  In the recent elections in the Saarland the FDP was only able to muster 1.2% of the vote – the same as tne neo-Nazi NPD.