I'm glad to see focus on the former East Germany's special weakness for the AfD (I can't think of the right words to phrase this, sorry). That has gotten ignored by many, except as a simplistic "economic anxiety" excuse. And I'm glad to see the current version of the DSA called out; we do not need that poison in the Democratic Party. Too many are excusing or waving away what they actually say they stand for (this is too familiar a pattern these days).
A slight quibble about the Biden oblivious to border chaos narrative, with link to the NYT piece I found unbalanced at the time. Republicans obstructed any effort at solutions because they wanted to use immigration as a cudgel against Democrats. Biden came in with an plan on day one, which Republicans blocked. Near the end, when a bipartisan border compromise bill seemed close to passage, Trump ordered it torpedoed and Republicans obeyed. Sure, Biden made mistakes, but he did not have good-faith partners across the aisle.
An extensive immigration reform bill under Biden negotiated by Republican Senator Lankford of Oklahoma was killed in the Senate in February 2024. Trump himself wanted it killed, allegedly so he could campaign off immigration. You can't say nothing was done on the border during the Biden presidency.
I like Gary Kasparov. He was a legendary chess player. This guy was a legend.
But he is dead wrong about comparing DSA to AFD or even MAGA.
Trump built MAGA to his image. These people blindly believe their leader with his pathological lies on a daily basis and using immigrants to scapegoat his problems.
Germany and the USA are 2 very different countries. When I was in high school in the early 80s, I was taking German language classes in my freshman year as a 14 year old. In my German class I met this German girl. She told me her father paid 50 percent of his income went to taxes. That’s half of what he made. Germany has free tuition for bachelors and masters degrees.
In the USA we have people with 100,000 dollars plus in student loans. I have a small student loan debt of 5000 dollars. In the USA at least 1 trillion dollars are in student loans.
Here is a breakdown of how the German healthcare system is structured and funded:1. Statutory Health Insurance (GKV)Around 90% of the population is covered by the public, statutory system. [1]How it is funded: It is financed via a mandatory payroll contribution, which is roughly 14.6% of your gross salary (plus a small variable top-up fee depending on the provider). Split Cost: If you are an employee, you only pay half (7.3%); your employer automatically pays the other half. The money is deducted straight from your paycheck. The Solidarity Principle: Your premium is strictly based on your income, not your health status or pre-existing conditions. A high earner pays more than a low earner, but both receive the exact same standard of care. [1] Family Extensions: Dependent children and non-working spouses can usually be covered under your public plan at no extra cost. [1] Private Health Insurance (PKV)The remaining 10% of residents choose to opt out of the public system and buy private health insurance. You can only go fully private if you are self-employed, a civil servant, or an employee earning above a specific high-income threshold (which changes annually).
How it works: Unlike the public system, private premiums are calculated based on your age, health risks, and chosen level of coverage rather than your income. Under private insurance, you usually pay the doctor out-of-pocket first and then get reimbursed by the insurer.
In the USA we have various health coverage systems. Medicare and Medicade for the elderly, disabled and the extremely poor. VA medical care for military veterans.
State and federal employees have their own healthcare depending on the state they work for. Federal employees have their own health insurance.
Vast majority of healthcare are provided through their employers. Lose that job and you lose health insurance. Your health insurance depends upon on how much your employer pays. You have deductibles and prepay.
Everytime I see a doctor it’s 50 bucks. If there is extensive medical care then I have to pay what’s not covered in the insurance plan.
Number one cause of bankruptcy is medical debt. Since I didn’t have coverage for ER and ambulance ride I have to pay at least 5000 dollars.
Many Americans have 50,000 to 100,000 dollars in medical debt and no way to pay. So the hospitals goes after them.
My father once told me back in the 80s, his company was bought by nestle. A nestle employee came to him and said he had 2 months of vacation left. He was stunned. In the US if you get vacation it’s 2 weeks. He called nestle and they told him to give this guy 2 months of vacation and 1 month of spa. In the USA we don’t have any of this.
So Kasparov calling Democratic Socialists as Socialists is a joke.
Yes, Merkel did some really stupid things: Letting a huge number of immigrants in by fiat and leaving the chronically cash and resource-strapped communal governments to deal with it was a preprogrammed disaster with consequences. There should have been a plan with a lot of buy-in from all levels of government and, above all, from the populace. As someone from the GDR and aware of the anti-immigrant sentiment there (see Rostock, (Lichtenhagen Riots 1992), this grave error is even less understandable.
While I agree with you that the Christian Democrats unfairly dumped all the costs for managing the refugee crisis on communal governments (that's a legitimate basis for claims of mismanagement), to call Merkel's actions "letting a huge number of immigrants in by fiat" is a gross representation of reality. Hundreds of thousands of them -- literally -- were piling up at the borders. What were they going to do, shoot them all? Where were they supposed to send them? Of all the countries in the EU, Germany was the only one that truly honoured the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
And that huge wave of largely young people has barely made a dent in the demographic crisis Germany, like every other advanced economy, is facing. It is a painful irony that what Saxony-Anhalt needs more than anything is people, the very people they are signalling they don't want. (I think Mr. Kasparov is being really unfair about the rate of naturalization among those Syrian refugees. Naturalizing 244,000 _refugees_ in a little over ten years? Show me _one_ other country that has done that!)
The result of this election is as predictable as the sun rising. It will make a bad situation even worse.
A fine historical explanation of AfD, putting the common acceptance to bed that it's all about unemployment. This analysis clarifies exactly how it is not.
Weaker on Biden and the Border, failing to analyse how outright Rep treachery help sink immigration strategy.
Likewise, Socialism in Europe is a varied far cry from what dumbed down Muricans view to be Commo Democrats!
I'm afraid history will go the other way around. Germany will learn from the US. It may go through a process similar to what the US is going through under the Trump administration today: a far-right government could come to power, only for many of the people who voted for it to later regret their decision once they experience its consequences firsthand. But perhaps we have to go through that process. It seems there is no other way to learn the lessons of history. Unfortunately. Greetings from Germany.
I'm glad to see focus on the former East Germany's special weakness for the AfD (I can't think of the right words to phrase this, sorry). That has gotten ignored by many, except as a simplistic "economic anxiety" excuse. And I'm glad to see the current version of the DSA called out; we do not need that poison in the Democratic Party. Too many are excusing or waving away what they actually say they stand for (this is too familiar a pattern these days).
A slight quibble about the Biden oblivious to border chaos narrative, with link to the NYT piece I found unbalanced at the time. Republicans obstructed any effort at solutions because they wanted to use immigration as a cudgel against Democrats. Biden came in with an plan on day one, which Republicans blocked. Near the end, when a bipartisan border compromise bill seemed close to passage, Trump ordered it torpedoed and Republicans obeyed. Sure, Biden made mistakes, but he did not have good-faith partners across the aisle.
An extensive immigration reform bill under Biden negotiated by Republican Senator Lankford of Oklahoma was killed in the Senate in February 2024. Trump himself wanted it killed, allegedly so he could campaign off immigration. You can't say nothing was done on the border during the Biden presidency.
https://apnews.com/article/congress-border-deal-rejected-lankford-immigration-045fdf42d42b26270ee1f5f73e8bc1b0
I like Gary Kasparov. He was a legendary chess player. This guy was a legend.
But he is dead wrong about comparing DSA to AFD or even MAGA.
Trump built MAGA to his image. These people blindly believe their leader with his pathological lies on a daily basis and using immigrants to scapegoat his problems.
Germany and the USA are 2 very different countries. When I was in high school in the early 80s, I was taking German language classes in my freshman year as a 14 year old. In my German class I met this German girl. She told me her father paid 50 percent of his income went to taxes. That’s half of what he made. Germany has free tuition for bachelors and masters degrees.
In the USA we have people with 100,000 dollars plus in student loans. I have a small student loan debt of 5000 dollars. In the USA at least 1 trillion dollars are in student loans.
Here is a breakdown of how the German healthcare system is structured and funded:1. Statutory Health Insurance (GKV)Around 90% of the population is covered by the public, statutory system. [1]How it is funded: It is financed via a mandatory payroll contribution, which is roughly 14.6% of your gross salary (plus a small variable top-up fee depending on the provider). Split Cost: If you are an employee, you only pay half (7.3%); your employer automatically pays the other half. The money is deducted straight from your paycheck. The Solidarity Principle: Your premium is strictly based on your income, not your health status or pre-existing conditions. A high earner pays more than a low earner, but both receive the exact same standard of care. [1] Family Extensions: Dependent children and non-working spouses can usually be covered under your public plan at no extra cost. [1] Private Health Insurance (PKV)The remaining 10% of residents choose to opt out of the public system and buy private health insurance. You can only go fully private if you are self-employed, a civil servant, or an employee earning above a specific high-income threshold (which changes annually).
How it works: Unlike the public system, private premiums are calculated based on your age, health risks, and chosen level of coverage rather than your income. Under private insurance, you usually pay the doctor out-of-pocket first and then get reimbursed by the insurer.
In the USA we have various health coverage systems. Medicare and Medicade for the elderly, disabled and the extremely poor. VA medical care for military veterans.
State and federal employees have their own healthcare depending on the state they work for. Federal employees have their own health insurance.
Vast majority of healthcare are provided through their employers. Lose that job and you lose health insurance. Your health insurance depends upon on how much your employer pays. You have deductibles and prepay.
Everytime I see a doctor it’s 50 bucks. If there is extensive medical care then I have to pay what’s not covered in the insurance plan.
Number one cause of bankruptcy is medical debt. Since I didn’t have coverage for ER and ambulance ride I have to pay at least 5000 dollars.
Many Americans have 50,000 to 100,000 dollars in medical debt and no way to pay. So the hospitals goes after them.
My father once told me back in the 80s, his company was bought by nestle. A nestle employee came to him and said he had 2 months of vacation left. He was stunned. In the US if you get vacation it’s 2 weeks. He called nestle and they told him to give this guy 2 months of vacation and 1 month of spa. In the USA we don’t have any of this.
So Kasparov calling Democratic Socialists as Socialists is a joke.
Yes, Merkel did some really stupid things: Letting a huge number of immigrants in by fiat and leaving the chronically cash and resource-strapped communal governments to deal with it was a preprogrammed disaster with consequences. There should have been a plan with a lot of buy-in from all levels of government and, above all, from the populace. As someone from the GDR and aware of the anti-immigrant sentiment there (see Rostock, (Lichtenhagen Riots 1992), this grave error is even less understandable.
While I agree with you that the Christian Democrats unfairly dumped all the costs for managing the refugee crisis on communal governments (that's a legitimate basis for claims of mismanagement), to call Merkel's actions "letting a huge number of immigrants in by fiat" is a gross representation of reality. Hundreds of thousands of them -- literally -- were piling up at the borders. What were they going to do, shoot them all? Where were they supposed to send them? Of all the countries in the EU, Germany was the only one that truly honoured the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
And that huge wave of largely young people has barely made a dent in the demographic crisis Germany, like every other advanced economy, is facing. It is a painful irony that what Saxony-Anhalt needs more than anything is people, the very people they are signalling they don't want. (I think Mr. Kasparov is being really unfair about the rate of naturalization among those Syrian refugees. Naturalizing 244,000 _refugees_ in a little over ten years? Show me _one_ other country that has done that!)
The result of this election is as predictable as the sun rising. It will make a bad situation even worse.
A fine historical explanation of AfD, putting the common acceptance to bed that it's all about unemployment. This analysis clarifies exactly how it is not.
Weaker on Biden and the Border, failing to analyse how outright Rep treachery help sink immigration strategy.
Likewise, Socialism in Europe is a varied far cry from what dumbed down Muricans view to be Commo Democrats!
I'm afraid history will go the other way around. Germany will learn from the US. It may go through a process similar to what the US is going through under the Trump administration today: a far-right government could come to power, only for many of the people who voted for it to later regret their decision once they experience its consequences firsthand. But perhaps we have to go through that process. It seems there is no other way to learn the lessons of history. Unfortunately. Greetings from Germany.