Vaccination campaign: not just pressure, also dialogue
In the past few weeks, people with poor memories could have missed the fact that Angela Merkel is still officiating as Federal Chancellor, so little was heard or seen from her.
But anyone who turned on the television yesterday or opened the newspaper today could suddenly be attacked by the memory of the lady in the blazer.
She met with the Prime Ministers yesterday, and she even presented the results to the press in person.
She appealed to everyone who has already been vaccinated, friends, families and sports clubs
to advertise for a corona vaccination
.
The heads of government themselves, however, rely less on advertising measures than on pressure: Unvaccinated people, for example
,
have to
pay for tests from October 11th
.
Pressure is okay. Anyone who still refuses the vaccination can definitely be described as showing lack of solidarity. But if you take a closer look, the reasons for refusal are so diverse
that pressure alone will not be enough
. It is true that the proportion of those who simply cannot get themselves to make an appointment for a vaccination is still astonishingly high. Not to be neglected, however, is the proportion of those who have their arguments that they do not want to be vaccinated. As incomprehensible as these may be: It does not help to simply dismiss them. An example: Germany has two-tier medicine, it is quite possible that some people who refused to vaccinate have had such bad experiences with medical staff that their mistrust is justified here.
In addition to pressure, there is also a need for real dialogue
.
And then the Chancellor herself would really have the best options.
Where is there a speech to the people that takes the new conditions into account?
How about a so-called town hall meeting, a well-established format in which citizens ask and the Chancellor answers?
The vaccination campaign cannot suffer from the fact that the election campaign is taking place and the Chancellor may think in her last days that it would be more elegant to hold back.
A chancellor in particular before she leaves is likely to enjoy more trust than one who has yet to win elections.
We advertise on a small scale, the head of government on a large scale.
Deal, Chancellor?
Corona summit in election campaign times: "We can roll the incidence"
What should follow the frustration with the chancellor candidates
The green candidate for Chancellor Annalena Baerbock will appear today in Oldenburg and Bremen.
On Monday, the two leaders of the Green Party could still be seen together in Hildesheim, now they are moving on separately from each other.
Robert Habeck is expected in Schwerin today at 1 p.m.
The name "Baerbock" has meanwhile become the first element of a new combination of words: "Baerbock-Laschet-Scholz".
The combination of words is often associated with displeasure.
My colleague Melanie Amann writes in the SPIEGEL editorial: "We don't deserve these weak candidates."
But resentment can be overcome more easily if lessons are learned from the causes. There are some arguments in favor of
selecting candidates for chancellor differently than in back rooms
in the future
. It needs broad
support
that is
understandable for the public
so that, in addition to the public's uncertainty as to whether the right candidate has really been selected, there is also the question of whether the respective party agrees with its top power at all.
For this reason, journalist Gabor Steingart refers to the model of the US primary campaign in a guest commentary in »Focus«: »All questions that are asked in advance in American primary elections - Who are you? How authentic is your résumé? What cellar are your corpses in? - are now answered to the horror of the audience in the final sprint of a federal election. "
It is questionable whether an American-style primary campaign fits into the local political culture.
At least one objection to the process itself is that it produced Donald Trump, who was unsuitable for the office.
But there is also a positive example that is comforting for German voters: incumbent US President Joe Biden, who appeared so weak during the election campaign that his own party could not calm down from worry, is currently proving to be impressive and strong.
SPIEGEL editorial: Baerbock, Laschet, Scholz - we don't deserve these weak candidates
Burnt sausage, ketchup, mustard
My colleague Markus Feldenkirchen wrote the “Situation in the Morning” yesterday and legitimately complained about the term
“German
coalition
”
for the alliance of CDU, SPD and FDP that is now being prepared in Saxony-Anhalt.
The argument that convinced me most in its symbolism: The color of the FDP is really not gold.
He asked you for
suggestions for a new term
.
Some came, for which I would like to thank my colleague most sincerely.
Markus Feldenkirchen forwarded a selection to me - it's great:
Lena Buth is looking for suggestions from the bird world for us: "Black-necked Grebe Coalition", "Wandering Thrush Coalition" or "Red-fronted Girlitz Coalition".
However, she finds better seasonal terms: "Wasp fighting" or "Wasp sting coalition", "burnt sausage with ketchup and mustard".
Benedict Knab suggests the term Mickey Mouse Coalition (black body, red trousers with yellow buttons).
Hugo Busse expects coalition inertia above all in Saxony-Anhalt and promotes the term »empty coalition«.
He also has a positive ("Inno-Ampel") and a negative term ("Ampel-Pampel") for the traffic light, depending on the current balance.
Saxony-Anhalt: "Worst contract in decades" - or an exciting model for the federal government?
Planet in danger
So now
California
is on
fire
. While there were still TV pictures of weeping Greeks who have lost everything in their country due to fires, now it is weeping Americans. At the beginning of the week the devastating forecasts of the world climate report were added, so the week was screwed up before it even started.
Since climate change itself will reach the famous mousehole in which one would most like to hide in the face of its consequences, it is probably better to face the facts.
I would like to recommend the current SPIEGEL cover story and the
new podcast episode »Climate Report«
.
The podcast is about the question of why we prefer to downplay the real dangers of climate change instead of taking action.
This time our guest is the cognitive psychologist and SPIEGEL columnist Christian Stöcker.
»Climate report« podcast: Why we don't want to admit global warming
Loser of the day ...
... are the
hippies
.
According to AfD top candidate Alice Weidel, who launched the AfD's election campaign yesterday, Germany has degenerated into a "hippie state".
The hippie really didn't deserve that in its original form.
Its rejection of bourgeois norms led in a dialectical process in the late 1960s and 1970s to a modernization and refinement of these norms.
So the original hippie has merits.
And besides - are there not also corona deniers among the currently vagabond descendants of the original hippie, whose positions partly agree with those of the AfD?
Poor old hippie.
The latest news from the night
Amnesty sees evidence of mass rape in Tigray:
The conflict in northern Ethiopia has traumatized an entire region.
According to the human rights organization Amnesty International, even more women were victims of sexual violence than medical statistics show
+++ Corona-News +++: 4996 new infections, seven-day incidence at 25.1.
The RKI registered 14 new coronavirus-related deaths within 24 hours.
Federal President Steinmeier promotes vaccination.
And: The Emmy Awards are given outdoors.
The overview
PSG confirm: Messi deal is perfect.
The French capital city club and the world footballer have come to an agreement - after 21 years at FC Barcelona, Lionel Messi will play for Paris Saint-Germain in the future
The SPIEGEL + recommendations for today
Myopia: Why children see worse since Corona
Confused election posters: Deporting climate change.
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I wish you a good start to the day.
Your Susanne Beyer