As of: January 30, 2024, 11:47 a.m
By: Christoph Elzer
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In “Hard but Fair” the politicians are now sitting opposite citizens who talk about their problems.
A confrontation that politicians respond to with empty phrases and helplessness.
Cologne - It's almost a basic rule of political talk shows on German television: there are lively, often heated discussions, party programs and election promises are thrown around and in the end viewers are left with no insight.
Things are not fundamentally different with the new “Hart aber fair” with Louis Klamroth.
With one exception: You learn how helpless politicians react when confronted with the everyday problems of citizens.
In the broadcast on Monday (January 29th) it is the master hairdresser Zuhra Visnjic from Remscheid who demotes the line-up of the SPD, CDU and BSW to pig-feeders of phrases.
Visnjic reports emotionally about her worries: “I'm very skeptical about this year.
I'm very worried, I have existential fears, I can't sleep at night.
[…] My hair salon is my baby and I’m worried that it might no longer exist this year by the end of the year.”
Hairdresser describes problems with “Hard but Fair”: Money is enough to survive, but not to live
The reasons for their existential fears lie in the drastically increased costs – for materials, energy, food and also employees: “Everything is becoming more and more expensive.
I also have to pay the minimum wage more expensively, at some point I can no longer afford the employees.
The spiral doesn't stop, it just keeps getting worse.
[…] I always thought that if you work, if you are diligent, you will be rewarded for it.
And today I have the feeling that's no longer the case.
I'll be happy if I can pay all the bills.
Saving is not possible at all.
By the time you've paid for everything, you might have 700 to 800 euros left over.
You still have to make a living from it somehow.”
Master hairdresser Zuhra Visnjic is a guest of Louis Klamroth in “Hard but Fair”.
© WDR
Seven to eight hundred euros for a family of four – there is hardly any money left for more than simply existing, says Visnjic.
“You save everywhere.
I try to save on products, I try to save in my own personal life, I can't afford to travel anymore, I can't afford luxuries.
[…] When you work, you hope that you get something out of it, that you can treat yourself to the theater every now and then, or the cinema every now and then, or go out to dinner with the family every now and then.
But that doesn't work.
We can’t afford that.”
SPD man Schneider: “The economic situation is better than the mood”
After Visnjic's impressive descriptions of her everyday life and the resulting great worries, Klamroth turns to his guests from federal politics: Carsten Schneider from the ruling SPD party, opposition general secretary Carsten Linnemann (CDU) and Sahra Wagenknecht, who has just named her own and after herself founded the party.
When asked how the SPD would like to help Visnjic, Schneider responded with platitudes that must have sounded like mockery to the master hairdresser: “In my opinion, the economic situation in Germany is better than the current mood.
[…] I believe that in Germany work is still not only worthwhile and also meaningful.” However, Schneider does not reveal exactly what meaning is meant by work that is only sufficient to exist and not to live.
Instead, he praises Visnjic for her work as a self-employed person with pathos that doesn't pay any bills: “That not only has the great respect of me personally, but ultimately also of her children.
And that will remain so.
I'm absolutely sure with this."
Discussion at “Hard but Fair”: Wagenknecht sees high energy costs as a problem
In view of these empty answers, Klamroth finally tries his luck with Sahra Wagenknecht and wants to know explicitly: “How would you specifically ensure that Ms. Visnjic's family has more in their pockets?” The chairwoman of the Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht has a universal response to this Answer: Energy costs must fall - by purchasing energy directly from Russia again.
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“It has something to do with politics.
“It has nothing to do with the world, it has something to do with a wrong energy policy,” says Wagenknecht, referring to the sanctions on Russian oil and gas.
Even if lower energy costs would of course relieve the burden on citizens, SPD man Schneider interrupts them and points out that this was a fundamental decision to ensure that German politics are made in Berlin and not in Moscow.
This results in higher burdens, but they are necessary.
“Hard but fair”: party politics instead of concrete problem solving
Before the discussion could slide into global politics, CDU General Secretary Linnemann finally intervened and rumbled: “I understand you [Ms. Visnjic] that you are at your limit and don't want the chatter anymore, you want to take action.
[…] Now let’s make it very concrete: We want to abolish citizens’ money in this form.”
A contribution to the debate like a blood attack in the penalty area, which Klamroth immediately punished.
The master hairdresser turned his penalty into an ice-cold response: “Ms. Visnjic, will this help you if the citizen’s allowance is abolished?”: “No, I don’t get any citizen’s allowance.”
And so at the end of the new “Hard but Fair” the realization remains that citizen participation grounds the show and its questions, but unfortunately not the answers from politics.