The personal and political reverence of leading Left Party representatives for Schäuble, the long-serving chairman of the Christian Democrats and former finance and interior minister, is not simply a character quirk. It expresses the thoroughly pro-capitalist and right-wing essence of the Left Party.
Many artists and intellectuals who previously adopted a critical stance toward German militarism now combine their condemnation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine with a repentant disavowal of their earlier criticisms of NATO.
Airbus works council and IG-Metall demand German leadership in European rearmament
The German trade unions are playing a decisive role in the country’s return to an aggressive foreign policy and comprehensive social militarization. They act as corporate police and the extended arm of management, suppressing any independent movement on the part of workers. They openly support the rearmament of the Bundeswehr (German armed forces) and the European Union, while insisting that Germany lead and dominate the continent militarily.
This is shown by the recent statements of the works council of the Airbus Defence and Space and the IG Metall union on the development of the joint European air combat system FCAS (Future Combat Air System). The FCAS is among the largest European rearmament projects since World War II. In addition to drones, satellites and command-and-control aircraft, it will have a nuclear component and be able to integrate other weapons systems, including those of the Navy. The project is projected to consume at least €300 billion by the time it enters service in 2040. That is equivalent to about 75 percent of the current federal budget.
The crocodile tears shed by Steinmeier in his Christmas address cannot disguise the fact the ruling class is responsible for the greatest mass deaths since the end of World War II.