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Markus Söder (left) and Armin Laschet: Doubly destructive
Photo: Political-Moments / imago images
On the one hand, most of them are grateful for a bit of distraction from the Corona issue, but on the other hand it is difficult when this distraction is organized by those who need to take care of it.
While it is actually clear that in the middle of the third wave of the pandemic every single day makes a difference and every wasted day means more sick and dead, part of the government is putting on an ego show called "the K-Question", which is about embarrassment hard to beat.
One might get the impression, according to the news of the last few days, that internal power struggles and vanities are more important to the Union than fighting the pandemic, but in fact it is not only that, but worse.
Margarete Stokowski
Photo:
Rosanna Graf
Born in 1986, was born in Poland and grew up in Berlin. She studied philosophy and social sciences and has been working as a freelance writer since 2009. Her feminist bestseller "Bottom Rum Free" was published in 2016 by Rowohlt Verlag. This was followed in 2018 by »The Last Days of Patriarchy«, a collection of columns from SPIEGEL and »taz«.
Of course, it is important who could become chancellor from autumn onwards, but the “Laschet vs. Söder” spectacle is doubly destructive. Not only has it already tied up a lot of senseless energy that could also be put into fighting the pandemic. As far as the public's attention is concerned, the Union has now also managed to skin itself completely out of its corruption scandal with the "K-Question", which is actually not over yet. There are only small additional reports that CSU politician Alfred Sauter has just collected around 1.2 million euros, which he is said to have received for a mask deal. Or that the amount of commissions that Sauter and his party colleagues are said to have received was probably much higher than expected, a total of 11.5 million euros.
Basically, the one K-question (K as in Chancellor candidate) is only the continuation of the other K-question (K as in corruption) with other means: What is more important in a pandemic that overflows the intensive care units: questions of power among politicians or that, what is abstractly called the "common good", but at the moment is simply the survival of people?
Funeral service at the wrong time
»Alienation« is a concept that has already served as an explanation for a lot, but it fits the Union's distraction show.
Except for the Union and a few capital city journalists, most people are not so interested in how exactly the CSU and CDU agree on their candidates.
Or that Markus Söder announces that he will »accept« the vote of the CDU federal executive committee.
What else?
It doesn't help if the government's policy leads to so many deaths and the Federal President then comforts a little in between.
In addition to the candidates' ego struggles, the memorial event for the dead of the pandemic also seemed a bit strange.
Not that it was wrong in itself.
I myself have written at least two texts about the fact that publicly neglecting the mourning for the dead.
But this funeral service came at a time when you still don't have the feeling that avoiding further deaths is the highest goal of German corona policy.
There are intensive care units that impose admission freezes, which is kind of a strange moment to "pause".
more on the subject
Steinmeier remembers corona victims: "The pandemic has torn gaps in a terrible way"
In his speech on Sunday, Federal President Steinmeier said: “Since the start of the disaster, we have been watching infection rates and deaths every day, following curves, comparing and evaluating.
That is understandable.
But my impression is that we as a society do not make ourselves aware often enough that behind all the numbers there are fates, people. «- Oh yes, society has become very clear about that.
The more than 80,000 corona deaths had relatives.
It doesn't help if the government's policy leads to so many deaths and the Federal President then comforts a little in between.
What drives society apart
"Let's not allow the pandemic, which forces us to distance ourselves as human beings, also drive us apart as a society!" - Another Steinmeier sentence from the funeral service. But it is not "the pandemic" that is driving society apart. It is the political situation and the associated hopelessness of many people. Those who drift apart are politicians who, contrary to common sense, negotiate rules that are too lax, and the people who have been suffering from them for over a year. Those who are also drifting apart are people who get through this crisis relatively okay or even at a profit - and those who are hit particularly hard.
A few recent reports: The number of long-term unemployed has been increasing since the beginning of the corona crisis, at the same time the chance of finding a job out of unemployment is almost 25 percent lower today than before the pandemic. In so-called "socially disadvantaged" regions, the risk of dying from Covid-19 is around 50 to 70 percent higher, according to the RKI. Many artists lose their health insurance through the artists' social security fund because they have to keep their heads above water with other jobs. Various politicians are in favor of outdoor teaching because in over a year of pandemic Germany has not managed to equip schools with air filters and / or enough funds for digital teaching. A new study suggests that people are particularly likely to become infected in areas where there is a lot of production.
It doesn't have to be like that.
Each and every one of these points highlights a group that will be hit harder than necessary by the crisis due to bad policies.
And the list is far from complete.
For example, there is no increase in so-called domestic violence, but only because it has long been known.
The role of the rent cover
For Berlin, the decision of the Federal Constitutional Court on the rent cap comes on top. That doesn't sound like a Corona issue at first, but of course it is too: Those who cannot move away from cramped living conditions are more likely to get infected with family members. If you experience violence from your partner in lockdown, it is now even more difficult to find a new apartment. Those who don't have enough space to live will get through the crisis much worse. All of this is the division that bad politics brings with it. Not the virus.
"Today's day of remembrance must mean that we as a society work harder to prevent every single death," tweeted the Greens politician Michael Kellner on Sunday. The problem is: "We as a society" have been trying to do this for a long time. It is no longer about the famous individual who "really has to do everything", as it is still often said. For many people, the private exercise options have long been completely exhausted. What has not been exhausted are the political options. "Who can be Chancellor?" Is not really interested in a rough estimate in relation to: "Who can fight a pandemic, and now?"