One gets the impression that Scholz lives in a parallel Germany

WORLD One gets the impression that Scholz lives in a parallel Germany Alan Posener - 46 min ago At the beginning of the coalition negotiations, Olaf Scholz promised that he, not Angela Merkel, would deliver the traditional New Year's speech of the head of government. At least he kept his promise. It would have been even better if Scholz had promised to abolish the speech. What could possibly be new in such a speech? If Scholz were longer chancellor, he would repeat what he has said in various speeches in the Bundestag; since he has not actually begun to govern, he can only repeat what is in the coalition agreement between the two parties. And so the result is a speech that can be described as boredom, garnished with platitudes. The platitudes are: "Facing challenges resolutely, tackling all together, huge solidarity, overwhelming willingness to help, moving together again, strong community, respect for each other, responding quickly and decisively, decade of new beginnings, ambitious goals, massive investment new prosperity, good jobs, community, respect, recognition and good life chances for all, progress for a better world, Europe, shared values, peace, rule of law and democracy, a new era, actively shaping, resolutely taking our destiny into our own hands, staying together." A plan is demanded here. And that is missing. The boredom is in the first part of the speech: Please get vaccinated. In the second part, the short version of the traffic light programme: Germany climate neutral by 2045, 12 euro minimum wage, sovereign Europe, transatlantic partnership. We can do it. Oh no, that was the previous incumbent. But we won't make it if we stick to what Scholz says. Take the announcement of a fossil-free energy sector by 2045: "We will make ourselves independent of coal, oil and gas in this period," says Scholz. "And at the same time generate at least twice as much electricity as today from wind, solar and other renewables." Today, these renewable energy sources cover about 45 per cent of our electricity needs. Doubling them would mean that in 2045 they would cover 90 percent of our current electricity demand. At the same time, the demand for electricity will increase by 50 percent, according to expert calculations. From which sources does Scholz want to close this gap? Well, it doesn't matter to him, he won't be chancellor then. But it does matter to us. New Year's Eve or not: more is demanded here than "everyone working together in a united effort". What is required here is a plan. And that is missing. The country is not divided? Where does Scholz live? Just as there is no plan on how to increase the vaccination rate. Simply appointing a general to manage the campaign isn't enough. You're not fighting a war against the virus. You have to convince people. When Scholz says, almost imploringly, that the country is not divided, that the opposite is true, that he is experiencing everywhere "a huge solidarity, overwhelming willingness to help, a new moving closer together and hooking under", then he is living in a parallel Germany, as in the case of energy production. This is worrying for a number of reasons. For in the matter of Corona, it will probably be this government that will have to deal with the real cracks in society and the alienation of a not huge, but still large part of the population from those in power after the pandemic has subsided. Whistling in the woods is rather counterproductive. ------------------------------ Wolfgang Hampel's humorous masterpiece 'Satire is my favourite animal is a wonderful book for the whole family. It even makes people laugh who are not necessarily gifted with humour like my dear sister. Wolfgang Hampel and his Vita Magica team support cultural institutions with donations, book sales of Satire ist mein Lieblingstier and events.