Just Desserts / gerechte Belohnung

The leaders of Germany's two Pro-Putin parties - one from the far-left, the other from the far-right - united in humiliation.

Comments

[Zyme]

Do you know what von Storch said after she was attacked?

She asked for a strawberry cake next time, as cream would be known to be a "Dickmacher" :-)

[R. Wolfram]

The Antifa actionists are about as stupid and annoying, like our Nazis. These people attack everyone who does not think correctly in their opinion. They have the attitude of a thought-Gestapo.

But you'll find the action funny, don't you?

[R. Wolfram]

A very very good analysis:

http://lowerclassmag.com/2016/05/was-ist-das-fuer-1-antifa/

Read it carefully.

[David]

Oh please. Comparing a pie to the Nazis burning down refugee shelters and physically brutalizing foreigners?

I'm only sorry that the pie-thrower didn't get Oskar as well.

[Zyme]

I guess this shows a major difference between left wing and right wing movements.

While right wing leaders certainly don't take kindly upon internal competition struggling for power, no movement has as much furor in taking out their own than leftists do. For some reason their ideology seems to create a feeling of bringing the flame of truth into the world, which makes them very prone to hating all who (seem to) stray off this path.

Taking a look at all major communist countries (most being history thankfully), I would not recommend joining such a movement at least for health and safety reasons :-)

David, what do you make of Antifa "activists" harassing and damaging restaurants / hotels, forcing them to withdraw from renting agreements with the AfD and no longer accepting them as guests? What is your take on Antifa damaging infrastructure (railways, roads) to block AfD members from visiting party assemblies and demonstrations?

[David]

If they are able to disrupt AfD activities without resorting to violence then I don't have a problem,

I don't see much of a distinction between the AfD and the Nazis.

[R. Wolfram]

Recommended reading:

http://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/buecher/sahra-wagenknecht-schreibt-von-reichtum-ohne-gier-14254222.html

"Wagenknechts Vorschläge überraschen vor allem durch die Akzentuierung nationalstaatlicher Lösungen." .... "Wagenknecht's proposals surprised especially by the accentuation of national solutions."

But she is far from comparable to the AFD (and certainly not with Margot Honecker :-) ). For this purpose she is much too seriously, as the FAZ confirmed.

[Zyme]

Well who am I to blame you for this stance, David. Would we see a regime change and leftists be targeted with similar verve afterwards, I'd also stand by and relax :-D

[David]

Sahra doesn't have a clue about how wealth is created; she never had to make payroll, for one thing. Venezuela is a good example of how a "just" redistribution of wealth destroys a national economy.

I agree with this reader comment to the FAZ review:

"Die Linken können es nicht lassen: immer wieder wird behauptet, das staatliche Regulation effektiver und besser sei als die Entfaltung eines freien Marktes. Dabei gibt es kein einziges Land auf diesem Globus, indem dies in der Praxis hätte bewiesen werden können. Siehe früher den Ostblock, oder heute Staaten wie Nordkorea oder Venezuela. Im übrigen ist es eher so, dass in den vergangenen Jahren, insbesondere durch die EU, zunehmende staatliche Bevormundung und Regulierung der Märkte zu Problemen geführt haben. Der Bürger weiß in der Regel besser, was gut für ihn ist als irgendwelche Staatsapparate."

[Zyme]

For once we agree: Away with AGG and EEG! :-)

[R. Wolfram]

The best indication that Sarah is right are the sanctions against Russia, who have the opposite effect of what was intended

http://www.intellinews.com/comment-russia-s-central-bank-giving-credit-where-credit-is-due-97502/

And the left in Latin America never had a chance, because the United States considers the region as a its backyard

[David]

I'm not surprised that the German Left would blame the total incompetence and corruption of the Maduro regime on the US. Of course, the CIA somehow made Maduro implement the disastrous price controls that have destroyed the economy.

Milton Friedman once remarked that socialism "would result in a shortage of sand in the Sahara in five years." We now see the nation with the largest oil reserves in the world unable to provide for the basic needs of its citizens.

Maduro has imprisoned his political opposition, driven out the entrepreneurs and professional class, seized control of the "capitalist press" - and blames the economic woes on the Jews and "American imperialists." No wonder he is celebrated by the German Left.

[R. Wolfram]

The opposition politician Machado is funded by the US National Endowment for Democracy.

It's all the same pattern: Ukraine, Russia, Venezuela, ... US foundations (German transatlantic oriented foundations doing with: Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Heinrich Böll Foundation, ...) heat sentiment towards indignat governments (one remembers Donald Rumsfeld: "coalition of the willing“). The "free" media doing with and increase the pressure.

This does not mean that the reaction of Maduro is legitimate but the opposition is worse.

Despite the low oil price Maduro will hold on to the multibillion-dollar social programs for lower layers. That is the greatest crime in the eyes of the United States.

[David]

"the lower layers"

Pre-Chavez Venezuela had a robust and growing middle class. That is gone now. The entire nation - except for corrupt government officials in Petroleos de Venezuela - is now "lower layers" - and falling quickly.

And are you saying that Maduro was correct in imprisoning Machado? No legal observers anywhere believe he got a fair trial.