Politics

Since politics is a very important in Germany, I thought I should write about the politics I have learned since my stay in Berlin. Its is not my intention to offend anyone, and for all of you political geniuses out there: if my understanding of the subject is blurry, please correct me.

Back in the states when I heard that Germans love to talk politics, I decided  I should brush up on my more than rusty knowledge of the matter. I had researched that Germany was more of a Republican country: Berlin being a little more liberal but still a strong conservative foundation in the south. "Great", I thought, "and I go to Berkeley. This should be interesting."

When I arrived in Berlin I noticed campaign ads everywhere. The state elections for Berlin are in mid-September. So I arrived in a great time to learn about German politics.

What "Republican" means in America is not the same as in Germany. From what I have observed with interacting with my host family and from other host families: many are upper class, but they have strong support for international relations, green energy, and do not live life with strong religious beliefs. Don't get me wrong, I have seen signs that say "No tolerance for Neo-Nazis" and "Go home foreigners". Everywhere you go there is going to be some percentage of the population that is more conservative and narrow minded. (Especially because of  German history). However, the overall political attitude is different here. Christine told me that unlike America, where it is tradition to vote for a Republican or Democrat, solely because you classify yourself as as the latter, in Germany there really isn't "affiliation" because the parties change every year and sometimes you like there ideas and sometimes you don't. There are 6 parties in Germany, and it is actually common for 2 or 3 to work together. So if you vote for 1 party you may also be supporting another party's ideas.In this case voting becomes for of a strategy. You have to understand the "teams" ideology and how they work together.

Quick over view of the Parties


I am still learning more about each party, but I find it interesting. Another aspect I was confused on was weather or not Germany was a Socialist or Capitalist country. The answer: somewhere in between.
Germany, and many European countries I believe, do support free markets. At the same time they care greatly for their citizens and provide a very strong safety net to catch anyone who might fall out of the system: good health care, benefits for people that don't have a job, various subsidies for people that do not make enough money, and FREE EDUCATION. The people living in these countries are generally very proud of this support, even though they may object to it at the same time (because they feel it is being abused), and therefore would call it a socialistic society. But Germany is  a very strong economic power, both in the European Union and outside of it, and you could easily call it a capitalistic country too.

America also has it's socialist aspects:  social security, medicare, medicaid, the post office, and even the army. So if you hear some American ranting and disagreeing with Socialism (I know I have), you can argue their point.

So if I read this post years from now, I am interested to see how things may have changed. Sorry to bore any followers, but I am on a path to expand my knowledge in every direction and respect the culture that I have immersed myself in.