Election campaign in Germany - a new low in political culture

[Skybird]

Whenever I think that I have left no illusions anymore about politicians and the deep, long fall of our political culture, they start to break up the bottom of the hole they headjumped into and start digging an even deeper hole.

Campaigning always is stupid, an offence to mind and reason, a chest full of lies and false promises, disgusting for those who cannot avoid to take note of it or get caught by it in a situation that prevents them from fleeing from it - we now enter a phase were not only absence of argument and immunity to intellect are displayed, but bad taste becomes turned into a reason why you should vote a party.

the following are election posters from the conservative CDU (likely winning the election), the Greens, and the communist and DDR-sympathising "Die Linke".

http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/7015/268151.jpg (http://img34.imageshack.us/i/268151.jpg/)
"We have more to offer."

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/6208/dpagruenebmbayer872225g.jpg (http://img229.imageshack.us/i/dpagruenebmbayer872225g.jpg/)
"The only reason to vote black." (the party said both bodies are female, so even a lesbian message is included).

http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/692/linkebmberlinber872155g.jpg (http://img35.imageshack.us/i/linkebmberlinber872155g.jpg/)

"Direct: Halynka Wawzyniak. With her azz in trowsers straight into the Bundestag"

Meine Fresse. I take offence from being assumed to be so stupid that I vote for a party over such convincing masterworks of political work. If these posters are not meant to attract voters, then one must ask why tax money gets wasted for allowing parties to commit these follies. Obviously they are meant serious. the CDU-dumbhead even confirmed that in an interview.

It is often said that not to vote denies you the right to criticise them afterwards. I see it exactly the other way around: you have to know that candidates lie and cheat during campaigning, and that they twist their words and weasel their deeds around reality - if you legitimise them and signal them by voting that you will that system to go on: then you have lost your right to criticise them afterwards. Criticisng them you are only legitimised if you have not suzppoorted them before. Because after the election they will deliver you what you should have known in advance they would deliver you. You have no excuse for criticisng them, therefore.

And if you still do not know before that they are lying and cheating - then you should not have any right to vote at all, like a retareded dumbhead should not be allowed to play around with a loaded gun.

Why has Bin Laden flown his damn airplanes into the Twin Towers? If he would have choosen to bomb the headquarter of the EU and the Chancellor's Office Building or the Reichstag, I would have said: "give the man a cigar, he did us a great favour when freeing us from these powerhungry idiotic ursupators."

Bah.

[GoldenRivet]

wow:timeout:

[Schroeder]

It is often said that not to vote denies you the right to criticise them afterwards. I see it exactly the other way around: you have to know that candidates lie and cheat during campaigning, and that they twist their words and weasel their deeds around reality - if you legitimise them and signal them by voting that you will that system to go on: then you have lost your right to criticise them afterwards. Criticisng them you are only legitimised if you have not suzppoorted them before. Because after the election they will deliver you what you should have known in advance they would deliver you. You have no excuse for criticisng them, therefore.

By not going to vote you are just supporting them.
Imagine 50% won't vote. The other 50% vote let's say:
40% CDU
25% SPD
15% Green
10% FDP
10%Left

Then the final result will read like:
40% CDU
25% SPD
15% Green
10% FDP
10%Left

No one gives a sh!t for non voters.
If people were to give an invalid vote instead it would read like this:
CDU 20%
SPD 12,5%
Green 7,5%
FDP 5%
Left 5%
invalid 50%

That would reduce their numbers dramatically because the invalids are counted as votes, yet they don't support any of the parties.

BTW don't blame everything on the politicians. It's that the people have become dumb enough to fall for such BS. If we weren't so stupid and actually interested in policy they couldn't do such nonsense.
They go they way all the private media has gone here: Dumbass entertainment 24/7.
If that's the way to catch voters they will go it.
But is this the fault of the politicians or of the people?;)

[Carotio]

I agree with Schroeder here:
only way to make the statement of revolt against the system, is to use the voting right, but misuse it like adding a new list on the paper and write Santa Claus and then make an X there....
Cause we all know Santa delivers... :yeah:

[Respenus]

Schroeder, they are both to blame for what is going on. What you mentioned, 50% of blank votes, was exactly what I suggested after the EUP election with the extremely low turnout.

As for what is going on, I think, although not positive, I have an answer, for this is a difficult question, not likely to be resolved in few sentences for both groups are interconnected and the failure of one is the failure of another as politicians cannot be considered a special class of their own in the political system, (even though it appears more and more to be just that) and at the same time the peoples for politicians are elected by them and are/were them and at the same time they have forgone any action in the world of politics which touches us all in all our daily activities.

Now, unto more specific answers. Let us first look at this "class" of "politicians" which should be no more than of the people, making decisions already made by the people to the common good of all the people. Yet I see a specific trend developing in Europe (I am young, so it might have started long before my birth, so I apologise for any comment which might seem something quite ordinary). This trend is seeing people and the political parties more away from each other, while it should just be the other way around. It is seen in the extremes in such a "Bolshevik" state as Slovenia. If you are not a member of some party or another, you don't get certain information which might be of extreme importance for your survival as a citizen, or just something to make your day. Due to the disinterest by the people, we have in Slovenia (I do not know about Europe in general) a "democratic totalitarism" which seems inclusive and democratic on the surface, yet underneath, it is merely the ugly belly of the beast. With the loosing interest of the people, the politicians believe they can do anything, lie about it, "apologise" and return to normal. In the old structures of Bolshevism here in Slovenia, such tactics are working, as the mentality of Slovenes is at best of a questioning servant and at worst of a serf (I'm not the first person to write of this, Ivan Cankar did in the early 20th century, when we are more of a nation then we are today). There is no solution for this problem, no cure for this disease, it needs to be re-created by the people, so politics will once again serve the greater good.

Now, unto the question of people. What I see happening here in Slovenia (once again, I do not know of this situation in Europe) is the growing ignorance (both not knowing and not wanting to know) of the people and the lack of a work ethic from students. Most of them just want to cruise along, no matter the grades, no matter the academia, not matter the advancement of science. Coming back to the politicians, I am afraid and a mere percent of the populace will be in control of everything, achieving this by ruthlessness, cunning or maybe even merit and that the rest, with their limited knowledge will just allow themselves to be lead thirsty over water. That is why I support life-long learning and the education of the general population. This is one of the reasons we want out population to be educated, so that it might escape the traps of tyranny and oppression and create an environment which will lead to a creation of a republic system in which the voice of all will be heard and not like now as Kant put it: " "all," who are not quite all, decide, and this is a contradiction of the general will with itself and with freedom".

What the people has gained with the French Revolution, it has lost with its own ignorance and while I still believe we live in a more democratic (republican) world due to modern media and the idea of common humanity which has spread with the advent of universal human rights has made the world for the better and made it more egalitarian, at least in the West, I am afraid we shall soon need another revolution, or we shall once again become slaves not to others yet to our own human nature and this time there shall be no enlightenment ideal to pull as through.

[Skybird]

Unfortunately I cannot reply in detail here. My answers would be considered to be too radical as if the forum rules would tolerate them.

Like Respenus i think that without a revolution and overthrow of current orders, we are lost. The current order is to deeply rotten to the very core. I have no hope left that reforms and small repairs could help there. Cut that sick tree which is foul and stinks of death anyway, burn the roots and dig them out, then plant a new tree. All this on at least a civilisation-wide if not global scale. Cheers.

And finally learn from mistakes of the past. Without that a new try simply is not worth it. There is no point in repeating old mistakes.

Becasue as I see it, we are behaving and are followung the same track like the people on the Easter Island. and this was a people that effectively killed itself, and when they finally revolted against their superiors, it already was too late.