Not a day goes by without some politician - regardless of party affiliation - warning us to save energy, not to bathe, not to eat meat and exotic fruits, not to buy ourselves boring new clothes, not to travel by car or plane, let's go on vacation, move to a smaller apartment - to name just a few examples of the incessant agitation of the last few weeks.
The purpose of the propaganda is clear: Let's become poor voluntarily and singing for the noble cause, because that's the only way we can save our planet from climate death, and that's how we can show the Russians that we won't give up, that we're happy to get cold and even starve for Ukrainian freedom.
But there is a world to which these appeals clearly do not apply. On July 9, a fairy-tale wedding took place on the island of Sylt, well-known as a meeting place for the beautiful and the rich: Free Democrat Finance Minister Christian Lindner led his future spouse, one of Springer's leading journalists, to the altar (although neither of them is a member of any church, but you can buy a priest). The spectacular lagzin was attended by 140 guests, the color of politics and the media was there, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz, all the Free Democratic dignitaries, and the leader of the CDU opposition, Friedrich Merz. The latter arrived on his private jet, which he drove and whose price is estimated by those in the know at 1.1 million. After three days of eating and drinking and various programs, the young couple stormed off on their honeymoon in a Porsche.
Police cars and crowds of security specialists are also clearly visible on the images of the reverentially reporting magazines, as well as ministerial and state top-class service cars, Audis and Mercedes, with drivers, of course.
It is clear that in this private lagzin the taxpayer ensured the safety and comfort of the invited prominence.
In the parliament, a representative of Die Linke asked how much all this cost the taxpayers, to which the meaningless answer was that it goes to high-ranking politicians, and therefore the responding state secretary of the Ministry of Finance refused to name a specific amount.
But it was not only the finance minister who allowed himself a little luxury. From July 1, representatives and members of the political leadership allowed themselves a salary increase.
The representatives added another 300 euros to their monthly salary of 10,000 euros, all on the same day that it was decided in the parliament that the social assistance of 446 euros would be increased by three euros to 449 from January 1.
On this occasion, the public found out which basic salary the eminent servants of the public receive. The chancellor receives 30,000 euros per month, the economy and climate minister Robert Habeck, who saves energy from morning to night - no more than 5 minutes in the shower! – and he is on the road as an apostle of the supposedly inevitable restrictions, living on 25,000 euros a month. When asked about her salary on a talk show, she said:
"I'm making a lot of money at the moment. Whether this is legitimate or not, I won't go into that right now, but I can't even release this right now, because they are taking me somewhere by car all day."
he said to TV viewers who just don't know how to pay their utility bills.
In another show, he openly showed his disdain for the needy. When a viewer asked if those affected by the inflationary increase in energy prices would receive any compensation, he first explained that the effect of the price increase could be said to be a blessing, because it encourages energy conservation, and then directly in the direction of the questioner:
“Do you want fifty euros? No, old man, nothing will come of it!” My old man? And what do we do to the people more recently?
Or take, for example, Joachim Gauck, the former state president, who liked to call himself a "citizen president" who "came from below." His annual "salary", i.e. his annual pension, is more than 200,000 euros, plus 385,000 euros for staff and office costs. In an interview, this man in an indignant voice ordered those who ensure his sublime living conditions to stop whining: "We can calmly cry for freedom one day, and we can calmly endure a few years when there will be less happiness and joy in our lives."
Who is this "we" here, on behalf of which this man who abounds in money and possessions speaks?
All of this is, of course, legal, even if it's distasteful. But in the meantime, for the sake of personal gain, the political elite is already unabashedly crossing the limits set by the laws. In the past, this behavior was hardly or not at all present in German politics, it appeared for the first time when, with the start of the Greens' rise, the army of the uneducated and untrained took over the political parties and started to pursue politics as a money-making occupation.
Now that they have finally achieved their goal and the state has become their prey, they know no bounds in profiteering and self-indulgent puffing.
Here, for example, is the social democrat Christine Lambrecht, who is a complete disaster as Minister of National Defense, but is notorious for leading her subordinates with a "strong hand". On March 13 of this year, against the backdrop of the election campaign in Schleswig-Holstein, the minister visited the electronic warfare battalion in Stadum, where she arrived in a Bundeswehr helicopter from Berlin, and from where she then drove on to Sylt in her official car - again - for a few days of relaxation. The official cars from Berlin drove parallel to the helicopter to Stadum, so that they would then be at the minister's disposal. Energy saving? Come on, who cares! A few days later, Lambrecht's son posted some photos on Instagram in which he proudly shows off a selfie taken in a Bundeswehr helicopter.
This is how it turned out that Lambrecht regularly took his twenty-something year old son with him on official trips, without ever paying for the child's travel expenses. Moreover, in the meantime, it also came to light that he himself was happy to use the Bundeswehr's flight readiness equipment for private trips, even those that he did not have, and of course also for free. Consequences for violations: zero.
One last example of many that shows that profiteering at the expense of taxpayers extends to all levels of politics. In 2011, the Hamburg Senate signed a grotesque “climate partnership” agreement with the Tanzanian city of Dar es Salaam. As part of this partnership, an existing composting facility was expanded with the financial contribution of Hamburg, which is now ready for 2022. To inaugurate the equipment, the Hamburg Senate, made up of practically all social workers and greens, traveled to Dar es Salaam, even those who have not even heard of composting, who knows why, even the state secretary responsible for museums was a member of the delegation. The ladies and gentlemen traveled in business class, of course, at a price between 3,000 and 5,500 euros per person. The Hamburg Greens are among the biggest fanatics of the party, especially when it comes to others, ordinary citizens, among other things, in the name of the climate fight, they banned the construction of single-family houses in Hamburg. Green Secretary of State Michael Pollmann, whose name is associated with several similar climate protection measures, gave the following programs as the purpose of his trip to Tanzania: events, celebrations, visiting the botanical garden. For all this, he flew from Hamburg to Amsterdam, from there to Dar es Salaam and back, then for 3,600 euros.
This is how climate protection works today, if the people involved belong to the elite.
In Germany, it is no longer just a question of the politicians of the green elite consciously leading the country's people into an era of deprivation, but also of the fact that they are applying a double standard at the same time:
The deprivations do not apply to their own class and their huge army of servants who are parasites on the state, to journalists who lick their heels, to NGOs who act as spies and terrorize the population, and to ideological activists.
The members of the new ruling class consider themselves the owners of the only true worldview, so they are convinced that they have it all going well. This is called a class society, or loosely based on Orwell's design: Everyone is equal here, but some are much, much more equal.
Featured image source: Neokohn
