For the first segment, we're talking about one of the major prime-time news shows on one of Germany's two networks. To see an anchor absolutely grill the Finance Minister has to be a rarity, usually reserved for much smaller and more private settings, with the Minister setting the Frame. This was on the nightly news.
The second broadcast is one of the absolute staples of German evening television, usually reserved for actors and promis chit chat. To see a discussion reaching opinions much as we discuss here was astounding, as one sees from DoDo's bold captions. DoDo caught the important points, but imagine what it's like to hear an eminence grise (Geißler) mentioning investment in energy infrastructure, or calling capitalism dead. He's from the frickin' CDU! (The producers likely thought he would be more on Merz's side.)
When issues we discuss regularly appear on Beckmann, the frame is shifting fast. "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
I disagree on this one: not only is Geißler's ATTAC activism well-known, but when Beckmann got him and Schumann seated, he began by referring to the strong words these two like to use (B, pointing at Geißler: "The man who invented the term Turbocapitalism..." Merz: "Neoliberal Turbocapitalism!" B: "Even worse! Even sharper!")
Then again, this serves to further underline just how out of the ordinary this show was: there was no attempt to 'balance' opinions by having two neolibs face off with two critics. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
Sadly, the level of in-depth knowledge required for the viewer to understand such a discussion is just not there in the US. I fear such would just be written off as wonk-speak. Capitalism searches out the darkest corners of human potential, and mainlines them.
Indeed even the serious German media does allow itself some aggressiveness, and not just a little abrasiveness in tone. [In my opinion, it originated not in tabloid journalism but in SPIEGEL founder Rudolf Augstein's scathing style which was first emulated by his own journalists then others.] However, even by German media standards, on these subjects, you have to consider the two interviews a sea change: the German MSM, too, was mostly a guardian of established truths in recent years, more willing to use the sharp tone when someone veered off. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
