You're also right about the Linke's ability to keep voters from the extreme right. However, I would venture to say that a part of that is because one of their two top leaders, Oskar Lafontaine, happens to be at least as xenophobic and thinly-veiled racist as Koch.
Wrt to xenophobia - well that's not part of the official program as far as I know. However, Lafontaine has called for stripping citizenship of non-whites who are insufficiently assimilated. He has railed against 'immigrants' taking jobs from good Germans (as a result of the old, now reformed citizenship laws many 'foreigners' are people born and raised in the country, net immigration of Turks and Turkish Kurds has been negligible for a good decade now). He has called the immigration of the Turks a conspiracy of the capitalist elites against average Germans. He has pointed to the courting of minority voters and the ongoing shift to a non- white majority in America as exemplifying the dangers of immigration.
I'd probably agree with LaFontaine on both the substantive disagreements with Schroeder that you mention, but that immigration stuff is pretty scary!
He has pointed to the courting of minority voters and the ongoing shift to a non- white majority in America as exemplifying the dangers of immigration.
As an American living in Germany, I don't enjoy seeing politicians rise to power on anti-immigrant platforms, even if the immigrants they're talking about are a few shades darker than me. Who's next to be slammed when treating Turks badly doesn't solve the problem?
Well, I view Lafontaine more as a catalyst for the WASG-PDS allienace than a leader (hence the paragraph in the original post's "The Left" section I'll soon add), and here is certainly a strong antifa (pdf!) tradition in the PDS, the WASG side had Turkish candidates that entered the Bundestag (3 of 54: a higher ratio than any other party), and the Left Party does support Turkey's EU membership. (BTW, Saturday promised us a diary on the Left Party and neonazis, I originally wanted to wait for that until commenting myself.)
On the other hand, while I consider the 'Fremdarbeiter' issue a fake scandal (and in the quotes I read it more seemed he blames capitalists and views immigrants as victims too), a number of the quotes or paraphrases I saw from his book are indeed borderline racist and Koch-like or worse (except for calling for a German-French union). These lines are in stark contrast with what Lafontaine advocated a few years ago, that is a departure from the old sense of "German-ness", for which he was for some time the Antichrist of the German far right. Then again, the Zeit article (which I read earlier) seems a hatchet job, I wonder if the context in the book worsens or mitigates these words. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
Furthermore, the way I saw it, while he was blaming the 'capitalists', his view is that while it is understandable that 'foreigners' from poor countries should choose to work in Germany, they should not be allowed to. Then there was the utterly bizarre argument a couple weeks later that the Nazis weren't actually xenophobic?!
If there were only that one time, I might be willing to give Lafontaine the benefit of the doubt, but if you take everything together it seems absolutely certain to me that Lafontaine is now a full blown racist and every single one of his utterances from now on has to be judged in that context.
And yes, the Die Zeit article is a hatchet job. But I read a lot on the subject at the time and it doesn't seem that unfair. THere is a certain element of double standards - Koch doesn't get quite the same level of hostility. But what does Lafontaine expect - right wing journalists certainly aren't going to soft pedal anything he says, and left wing ones will jump on this sort of stuff regardless of who says it. Anyways, I want anybody who uses this sort of rhetoric to get raked over the coals; pour encourager les autres if you will...
PS I agree with what you said in other comments that the Linke is a hard left, not an extreme left one in terms of its policies - these are not the French Trotskyists. The reason that I believe they shouldn't be salonfaehig is because of their SED past and Lafontaine's racism. If a party without those two ugly facets but with the same program existed, I'd have no problem with them being in government.
If I am not mistaken, that was a criticism of the USA, a criticism that I view as not just on-point, but historically connected to the other meaning (i.e. the myth of the USA as a New Israel, God's Own Country, Manifest Destiny, City On A Shining Hill, originating with the Pilgrims etc. and kept alive ever since).
his view is that while it is understandable that 'foreigners' from poor countries should choose to work in Germany, they should not be allowed to.
That, however, was indeed how I read him too, and I strongly disagree on this (I think immigrants don't really change joblessness either way, as they represent both new workers and new consumers: merely increasing the economy - but won't reduce pensions problems either). The only angle of economic migration/guest workers I think is left-relevant is a potential hollowing-out of workers' rights and pay reductions, both of which can be addressed by laws extending to these migrants rather than limiting immigration. However, this disagreement doesn't make this particular speech nicht salonfähig to me (I think this is just as wrong as arguing that immigrants or more children would reduce pensions fund deficits). I also note that Lafontaine advocated raising foreign aid in connection with restrictive immigration policy - that's decidedly more progressive than what all mainstream parties except Greens (and Prodi!) do across Europe now, which is restrictive immigration policy alone. (It's a bit hypocritical from the SPD to criticise Lafontaine as extremist after having enforced a 7-year limit on free movement between new and old EU members and Schily supporting Italy's policies.)
Then there was the utterly bizarre argument a couple weeks later that the Nazis weren't actually xenophobic?!
Now that is truly out of context! He said they were racist not xenophobic, bringing in foreigners for slave labour, and insinuated that this is repeated now in a different form, which indeed is evidence that he views economic migrants as victims of evil capitalists. On the other hand, I mostly disagree with this too - economic migrants may be exploited, but often escape worse at home, so it's an abuse they accept on their own rational decision rather than being fooled.
And yes, the Die Zeit article is a hatchet job... But what does Lafontaine expect - right wing journalists certainly aren't going to soft pedal anything he says, and left wing ones will jump on this sort of stuff regardless of who says it. Anyways, I want anybody who uses this sort of rhetoric to get raked over the coals; pour encourager les autres if you will...
Well, I'm no Lafontaine, so I'd like something more objective than a hatchet job to form my opinion of him :-) But, as for what Lafontaine should expect (based on what he writes in his book, or even if he just talked loosely), I agree with you 100%: he deserves to be raked, just like Mölleman deserved it even if Sharon is a war criminal.
If a party without those two ugly facets but with the same program existed, I'd have no problem with them being in government.
Let's end this with a hope that a generation change will take care of both your problems (which to emphasize, even if with a different weight, are my problems too). Altough the Left Party having the highest voter share in the pre-pensioneer generation was thematised, their 8% share (just 0.7% below the overall) among first-time voters shows re-supply isn't truly critical. (I think we should continue this debate when Saturday posts his thread.) *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
The diary about the Left Party and the Right is in the making. But it takes some time because I have to draw a bow from some 6-7 years ago until today; otherwise, the whole issue can not be properly displayed. Currently searching for some 5-6 years old press articles which are very important in order to understand the whole Left-Right thing that is going on today.
Expect it before weekend.
(BTW, I regard the "Fremdarbeiter" issue as a fake scandal, too)
