End of a friendship: Democracies should no longer surrender to capitalism
The political fair of the West, the summit of the G7
, begins on Sunday at Schloss Elmau
.
For this reason, there is only one topic in this situation: What state is the West in?
Represented in Elmau by its strongest economies, USA, Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy, Canada as well as Japan, which is not part of the West culturally but politically.
Let's start with what the war in Ukraine has shown so far.
The West, promoting the universality of democracy and freedom, is not ready to fight for Ukraine's democracy and freedom.
True, most states are supplying weapons, but carefully so as not to irritate Vladimir Putin for fear of nuclear war.
This is not wrong, but the West loses credibility as a result.
Everyone now knows that
their own security is far more important to Western countries than the universality of their own values.
This already had a prelude in Afghanistan.
Here, too, the West wanted to establish democracy and freedom in addition to security policy goals, but proved unable to cope with the Taliban's stubbornness.
The perpetual war became too expensive, and its meaning was difficult to convey to local societies.
So the democratic forces in Afghanistan were left in the lurch and fled head over heels.
Probably NATO, the military arm of the West, is still the strongest power in the world thanks to the power of its armies and weapons.
However, politicians and societies lack determination.
Putin knows this very well, has already observed this weakness in Syria and is taking advantage of it.
In the age of nuclear weapons, restraint is often wise, but you have to accept that a gambler like Putin is driving you around.
For decades it was thought that democracy and the market economy belong together.
The political and economic freedoms actually go well together.
But in the meantime, even authoritarian China has learned how to link the market economy with its own system.
This means that the West has lost an advantage.
Because military, technological and scientific strength grows out of economic strength.
In addition, it ensures satisfaction among the population, i.e. stability.
What was once western superiority is increasingly becoming a genuine open-ended systems competition.
The West must also register that the market economy (capitalism) is not as reliable a friend as it was thought to be.
Economically driven globalization has also damaged Western economies because industries have migrated and regions have become deserted, with political consequences especially in the USA, where Donald Trump has distinguished himself as a knight in the fight against globalization.
Even before that, the financial industry's greed had triggered a gigantic crisis, to the detriment of the governments, which promoted the feeling of injustice with their bailouts of big banks.
The fact that the democracies delegated part of their foreign policy to capitalism, first known and now infamous as "change through trade", also proves to be a mistake.
It was a mistake to think that all politicians would prioritize economic growth.
Putin doesn't do that.
What he considers national honor is more important to him.
Because politicians in Europe and especially Germany saw him primarily as a supplier of raw materials, the core of his political nature escaped them.
This non-policy, which was supposed to promote prosperity, is now affecting prosperity in the West, through energy shortages, through high inflation.
That will be the next big test: avoiding an economic crash and social upheaval.
Because the West is borne by two great promises: freedom and prosperity.
Both are having a hard time.
Freedom was severely restricted by the corona pandemic, and it's not over yet.
In addition, it is still unclear whether it will be possible to stop climate change without restricting freedoms.
Both catastrophes particularly threaten the western way of life.
In six of the G7 countries, democracy has so far proven to be largely robust.
The elections are successful, there are changes of power, for example in Germany, and the systems appear stable, even if Marine Le Pen's strength in France and the low turnout there can unsettle one.
It's not a drama though.
The drama takes place in the United States.
There it is becoming increasingly clear that Trump attempted a real coup, that he wanted to turn a lost election into a victory by encouraging manipulation, by incitement.
One might take comfort in the fact that he couldn't get away with the fact that US democracy has proven resilient.
But unfortunately he still has considerable support among the population and among the Republicans, so that re-election cannot be ruled out.
In other words, many Americans are comfortable with the fact that someone tried to undermine their system.
As a result, this democracy is slipping from the »stable« status to the »precarious« status.
If Trump is re-elected, it would be catastrophic for the West.
The leaders of the democracies would have confided in a man for whom elections are not sacred, which is a hallmark of a dictator.
That's the situation.
is she really that bad
On the one hand yes, but democracies have shown that they can adapt to difficult situations.
This is how they, along with the Soviet Union, defeated Nazi Germany.
Democracies are seen as sluggish, but are in fact flexible.
The war in Ukraine also proves this.
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz reacted immediately with the »turning point«.
The EU is showing great willingness to take in the beleaguered country.
The quarrel that used to prevail in NATO, the EU, and the transatlantic partnership has largely ended.
The West has closed ranks.
The relative calm among the population is also encouraging.
Corona demanded a lot from people, which called lateral thinkers onto the scene, but they remained a marginal phenomenon.
The democracies are stable, with the open, unfortunately very big question of what will become of the USA.
The most important task will be that the political takes back a large part of the power that it has ceded to the economic.
The democratic institutions must rule, not the greed for growth, ie capitalism.
If this means there is less to distribute, it must be distributed more fairly.
A big task too.
However, it is not certain whether, in the long term, there will really be less to be distributed in this way than has been the case up to now.
Because the madness for growth also costs growth
, see the financial crisis, see "Change through trade", see possibly climate change.
And now I'm curious to see how the leaders of the G7 countries will react to this situation in the West.
Germany and the end of globalization: Now it's about our prosperity
You can find more news and background information on the war in Ukraine here:
That happened overnight:
According to Zelenskyy, Kiev is concentrating on the EU requirements for accession.
Moscow accuses the group of states of “extortion methods”.
And: Thousands of dolphins may have died because of the war.
The overview.
Kiev's attacks are becoming bolder:
the first effects of the West's most recent arms shipments can already be seen in the Black Sea.
Russia is getting into trouble on the long-contested Snake Island.
However, the new strength of the Ukrainians also harbors risks.
Giffey calls the wrong Klitschko:
They wanted to speak from the mayor (Berlin) to the mayor (Kiev).
But at some point Franziska Giffey became suspicious: Was the man in the video chat really Vitali Klitschko?
We gas junkies:
the Americans warned, as did the Eastern Europeans.
But Germany was buying more and more from Russia, and one minister cheered: "Gas is sexy." A SPIEGEL team has reconstructed who is responsible for the mistake of the century.
Here is the current quiz of the day
The starting question today: who was elected the new chairman of the Jusos, the youth organization of the SPD, in 2021?
The latest news from the night
Shots in the center of Oslo – at least two people killed:
There are two fatalities and several injured: Shots were fired in the Norwegian capital at night.
A suspect has been arrested, according to police.
Tens of thousands of Georgians are calling for EU membership:
they want a perspective: pro-Western demonstrators took to the streets in Tbilisi on Friday evening and demonstrated for their country's admission to the EU.
They no longer believe in their prime minister.
Zalando cuts goals - share collapses:
Corona has consequences - also for Zalando: The online fashion retailer made a lot of money at the beginning of the pandemic.
Now the high inflation, fears of recession and a gloomy mood among many consumers are causing a lull in the Dax group.
Charité distances itself from controversial corona researcher:
"Methodical weaknesses": The Charité in Berlin criticizes one of its professors.
He had claimed that there were significantly more side effects from corona vaccinations than were recorded.
The SPIEGEL + recommendations for today
Trump's judges triumph:
The decision marks a turning point: The US Supreme Court overturns the fundamental right to abortion.
The country is experiencing a new shift to the right – the political gap is widening.
Christian Lindner's desperate cry for attention:
With its adherence to exhaust and nuclear power, the FDP presents itself as a new backwards party.
But only opposition politicians can allow themselves unrealistic nonsense.
We can expect more from members of the government.
Who benefits from the 9-euro ticket - and where it flops:
Around 16 million special tickets have already been sold, people with low incomes are significantly relieved.
But the action is not good for climate protection - because a group refuses.
"We can't throw everyone out just because they're Russian":
Laurent Hilaire left Moscow shortly after the beginning of the war and is now director of the Bavarian State Ballet.
Here he talks about his departure and why he thinks the debate about racism in the dance world is »too excessive«.
The monster and I:
There are rules when camping too.
One of them is: Talk to your neighbor!
If necessary, via his license plate.
The question is also interesting: "Are you still in a negligee?"
I wish you a good start into the day.
Yours, Dirk Kurbjuweit