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European Salon de News, Discussion et Klatsch - 25. December | 83 comments (83 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

Oskar Lafontaine: "La izquierda ha perdido credibilidad" - Público.es		Oskar Lafontaine: "La izquierda ha perdido credibilidad" - Público.es
Creo que tengo delante al `ave fénix' de Alemania. Eso se dice en su país y también fuera.		Q: I think I'm before Germany's Phoenix [mythical bird which was reborn from its own ashes]. This is being said in your country and also abroad.
Quizá es demasiado rotundo. Pero no negaré que, en dos años, desde que se coaligaron el PDS [los poscomunistas] y la WASG [los occidentales cansados del SPD], hemos cambiado la política alemana desde la oposición. La justicia social ha vuelto a la agenda. Hemos obligado a Merkel a corregir sus medidas, en subsidios de paro, pensiones, salario mínimo... Modestamente, pero ahí están los esfuerzos para llevar la política a la izquierda.		A: Maybe that is too categorical. But I won't deny that, in two years, since the [postcommunist] PDS and the WASG [west Germans tired of the SPD], we have changed German politics from the opposition. Social justice is back on the agenda. We have foreced Merkel to correct her measures, on unemployment benefits, pensions, minimum wage... Modestly, but the efforts to take politics leftwards are there
...	...

Véndame `Die Linke'. ¿Qué ofrece de nuevo? ¿Qué tiene de viejo?		Q: Sell me Die Linke. What does it offer that's new? What's old about it?
Nuestro reto es luchar contra los grandes destrozos que el neoliberalismo ha causado en Alemania. Trabajar por las condiciones de los trabajadores, apostar por una política exterior respetuosa con el derecho internacional. ¡Logramos que se paralizase la privatización del ferrocarril! Los Verdes han tildado de erróneos sus recortes sociales con Schröder. ¡Claro! Lo dijo Jean Jaurès: "El capitalismo acarrea la guerra como las nubes la lluvia".		A: Our challenge is to fight against the great damage that neoliberalism has caused un Germany. To work for workers' conditions, to make a bet on a foreign policy respecting international law. We succeeded in stopping the privatization of the railways! The Greens have described their social cuts with Schröder as erroneous. Of course! Jean Jaurès said it: "Capitalism brings war like couds bring rain".
...	...

¿Es compatible la globalización con un Estado grueso?		Q: Does globalization only compatible with a lean State?
Por supuesto. El neoliberalismo propala una gran mentira: la sociedad actual, más rica, no puede permitirse un Estado fuerte que sí era viable en una sociedad más pobre. No tiene lógica ese razonamiento. Pero cala.		A: Absolutely not. Neoliberalism peddles a great lie: the current, wealthier society cannot afford a strong State that was viable in a poorer society. This reasoning is illogical. But it seeps in.

Público is a new left-wing newspaper in Spain. It tries to be more radical than El País and it's somewhat sensationalist. Its director is Ignacio Escolar of Escolar.net, and it belongs to the left media group MediaPro which has been competing with El País' parent company PRISA on TV (there was a "war" on football broadcasting rights) before launching Público. It is rumoured that MediaPro is close to the PSOE, which would fill the vacuum left by El País and Prisa moving rightwards. IMHO the PSOE itself has been moving rightwards towards neoliberal economics like Lafontaine accuses the SPD of doing, so there is a large hole on the left in Spain which the United Left (IU) seems unable to fill.

Kcurie should be able to fill in more details of this...

We have met the enemy, and he is us — Pogo

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Dec 25th, 2007 at 09:54:19 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Europe (none / 1)

Er.. Umm... the headline is "The Left has lost credibility".

We have met the enemy, and he is us — Pogo

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Dec 25th, 2007 at 12:28:52 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Europe (none / 1)

For Lafontaine, Spain is either pretty irrelevant and/or he seems poorly informed: the only thing he knows about the government is the Iraq pull-out in 2004.

I think the PSOE is making neoliberal moves and noises for electoral purposes, which is pretty damm depressing. I want to believe it´s not permanent, but we will see because pleasing a newly all-consuming public is an endless job.

Publico should make it even if MediaPro has acted badly as a company (neo-left?) and keeps denying it, but seems to be losing lawsuits. Not exactly the media image the left needs.

You seem sure that ElPais/Prisa is moving right, but I see it as it never being left enough and working to maintain its market. Channel Cuatro, also Prisa, is definitely left and maintains the line in the programming I see, including criticizing Zapatero at times.

kcurie...

P.S. Did the software translate it, or did you switch the sense in the last question?

Our knowledge has surpassed our wisdom. -Charu Saxena.

by metavision on Tue Dec 25th, 2007 at 01:29:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Europe (none / 1)

Yikes! It should have been "Is Globalization only compatible with a lean state?" because I found the literal translation "Is globalization compatible with a fat state" (and the answer: "absolutely") absurd. The expression "lean state" is seen, but fat state I have never seen before.

We have met the enemy, and he is us — Pogo

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Dec 25th, 2007 at 02:48:48 PM EST
[ Parent ]

European Salon de News, Discussion et Klatsch - 25. December | 83 comments (83 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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