The Tea Party movement in the United States began as a populist revolt against Big Government bailout programs in the wake of the 2008 global economic meltdown, but then devolved into a incoherent expression of White Resentment. Fortunately it appears to have run out of steam here.
Unfortunately, a German variation of the Tea Party appears to be building steam:
Horst Seehofers CSU führt sich auf wie die bayerische Variante der amerikanischen Tea-Party-Bewegung. Ihre Polemik gegen Zuwanderer ist brandgefährlich – weil gleichzeitig niemand Europas Werte verteidigt. …Diese erstaunliche Transformation ist gerade wieder zu beobachten, da CSU-Politiker gegen den – völlig regelkonformen – Zuzug von Rumänen oder Bulgaren nach Deutschland wettern, als stünden massenweise unqualifizierte Zuwanderer vor der Haustür. Horst Seehofers Partei fordert in einer Beschlussvorlage für die Klausurtagung, den "fortgesetzten Missbrauch der europäischen Freizügigkeit durch Armutszuwanderung" zu beenden. Wörtlich heißt es in dem Papier: "Wer betrügt, der fliegt."
(Horst Seehofer's CSU acts like a Bavarian variation of the American Tea Party movements. Its attack against immigrants is incendiary – because at the same time no one is standing up for European values… This astonishing transformation can be observed as CSU politicians rant against the – completely legal - influx of Romanians or Bulgarians in Germany as if hordes of unqualified immigrants were clamoring at the gates. In a draft resolution Horst Seehofer's party calls for ending the "continued abuse of free movement within Europea to emigrate from poverty," The actual wording is "whoever deceives, gets deported.")
Basically, the CSU is tapping into the populist resentment against the priniciples of the European Union – the same resentment that has led to the rise of the AfD (the right-wing Alternative for Germany party that wants to resinstate the Deutsche Mark as Germany's currency).
But the EU is not just facing enemies on the right. Germany's Left Party – die Linke – which is now the largest opposition bloc in the Bundestag, recently attacked the European Union as "eine neoliberalen, militaristischen und weithin undemokratischen Macht" (a neo-liberal, militaristic and largely undemocratic power),
Also worth reading: Braucht Deutschland die CDU? / Does Germany Need the CSU?
11 comments
The EU says every European coming to Germany must have the right to receive welfare aid from day one without ever having contributed to the welfare system. Now keep in mind that other EU nations don’t have a welfare system at all. Will Germany become Europe’s social security office? Money for nothing and checks for free? Or is this an evil neoliberal plan to force Germany to generally cut social spendings to avoid mass emigration from poverty? The EU is a good idea. Like communism?
What if we provided the same level of social security throughout the Union? An average level I mean.
Wouldnt then all foreigners seeking aid stay away from expensive nations plus we would get rid of those with no employment perspectives as well?
Building or preserving a nation through exclusion or elimination of groups does not work well in the long run. Inclusion works better than exclusion.
Where is the evidence that the US TEA party has anything particular to do with “white resentment”? From my perspective, that is a very unfair stereotype. It is a small government movement.
I’ve been to Tea Party rallies – mostly older white people yelling “keep government out of my Medicare” and carrying signs “Send the Kenyan Home!”
“Mostly older white people” is a description of the demographics of this country. Whites happen to be the considerable majority, and they are getting older, particularly those with time to attend rallies. The President’s most important policy, ObamaCare,partially defunded Medicare, upon which older people must rely. While the President’s patrilineage is irrelevant to the debate and I would disapprove of such a sign, it hardly qualifies as “Polemik gegen Zuwanderer.” Fact is that the President’s policies, not his race or person, are widely unpopular, because he wishes to import social democracy into this country. It is not part of our heritage.
It seems to me that the best immigration policy is to allow freedom of movement but not to allow access to most public services for guest workers. That would meet labor demand without burdening taxpayers by subsidizing employers who hire immigrants. Access to most services should be a question of citizenship, which should be considered separately (based, e.g., on length of stay, contribution to the fisc, mastery of the native language, etc.). The problem in the EU is that social services are quite unequal, so there is a freerider problem where someone moves only to collect better social services. Consistency would seem to require equalizing social services across the EU.
The European Union sucks.
“Whites are a considerable majority” That is no longer the case in the US – which is why the Tea Party is doomed to irrelevancy. BTW, younger “white people” reject the Tea Party and its racism.
“President’s policies are wildly unpopular” which is why he won two elections with the majority of the popular vote and an electoral vote landslide.
You are ill-informed:
1. According to the 2010 census, whites account for 72.4% of the population, and non-hispanic whites for 63.7%.
2. Racism is not part of the TEA party or its platform. Allen West is proof enough of that. Leftists in the US like to throw out the label of racism to silence expression of opposing views.
3. The President’s overall approval rating is currently 43.1 (with a 51.3 disapproval rating). The numbers are even worse when broken down by policy subject matter (foreign policy: 42.4%, ecomomy 38.8%, signature health care law: 39.9%). According to the latest Gallup Poll (Jan. 13-19), his approval rating among 18-29 year olds was 42%, even below that of 30-49 year olds (43%), so even the youth mostly disapprove.
I think you may be confusing his personal likability with approval of his policies. His election victories are attibutable to, among other things, his personal charisma, a psychological impulse among some voters to vote for a black person to prove to themselves they are not racists, the weakness of his opponents, and an economic crisis (2008) and lies about his healthcare policies (2012), e.g., “if you like your health insurance, you can keep it”.
When these factors are stripped away, as for example during the 2010 midterms, one sees what the electorate thinks of the actual policies. Indeed, compared to the historical average of job approval ratings, President Obama has been above average for only about 40 of his 1820 days in office. His overall average approval is 48%. (Compare 49.4% for G.W. Bush.)
Did I mention I actually attended a Tea Party rally? I would describe it as a Klan meeting without the white hoods.
Fortunately, the Tea Party is on the way out, as its members age into senility.