As of: February 25, 2024, 11:10 a.m
By: Sonja Ruf
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Split
In a survey, two thirds stated that they feared a division in society.
Four parties present their assessments and their tools against it.
Berlin - According to the results of a special survey by a larger insurance company, around two thirds of the 1,000 respondents said that they feared a growing division in society, which many people believe will lead to more conflicts.
R+V insurance surveys people in Germany annually about their fears.
This February the focus was on the political concerns of citizens.
The results of the study are alarming, but informative in their many facets.
In 2023, respondents were already asked who agreed with the statement “I am afraid that divisions in society will increase and lead to conflicts.”
Back then, 50 percent answered the statement positively; today it is 66 percent.
In a long-term comparison, only in 2016 and 2017 did more people fear a division in society (2016: 69 percent, 2017: 62 percent).
Since then, the values have fallen – until today.
66 percent of those surveyed say they are afraid that divisions in society will increase
Furthermore, 59 percent said in the survey that they were worried about the spread of political extremism.
Here you could specify his information in the survey: A total of 72 percent are worried about the spread of right-wing extremism, 61 percent about the spread of Islamist extremism and 29 percent of those surveyed about left-wing extremism.
An advisor to the study, Isabelle Borucki, has been observing a certain drifting apart in German society for a long time, “e.g. between left-right, poor-rich or urban-rural.” She sees the current high values, especially in relation to right-wing extremism, also triggered by the results of Correctiv's research into the meeting of AfD representatives and members of the new right movement in Potsdam.
The SPD federal chairwoman Saskia Esken is understanding of the citizens' concerns about division.
© Imago/Snapshot
SPD chairwoman Esken on right-wing populists and right-wing extremists: “Us-against-them” is her program”
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exclusively asked four parties how they felt about the results of the survey.
In her answer, the SPD federal chairwoman Saskia Esken makes it clear that she finds the concern of people in Germany about the cohesion of our society and the danger of a division within it to be entirely understandable.
She cites right-wing populism, right-wing extremism and, essentially, the AfD as the political embodiment of both ideologies in parliament as reasons for the growing concern.
“Right-wing populists and right-wing extremists, with the AfD as their parliamentary arm, repeatedly use outrageous topics [...] with the sole aim of causing such a division,” said Esken.
“Their ideology works primarily through isolation and exclusion.
Against everyone who thinks, feels, loves or looks different than them.” “Us-against-them” is their program.
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Esken cites last week's demonstrations against right-wing extremism and for democracy and diversity as a reason for hope: "In the past few weeks we have seen hundreds of thousands of people actively campaigning for our freedom, tolerance and cosmopolitanism," says Esken.
“In large and countless small cities, people show their faces and commit to our open society.
And that’s encouraging!”
Esken also urges us to be calm when dealing with one another: “In order to strengthen the sense of unity in our society, we must be more calm when dealing with different opinions and life plans and focus more on what unites us than on what unites us separates […].”
The Federal Managing Director of the Green Party, Emily Büning, complains that right-wing extremists are using people's fears of division to stir up hatred.
© Imago/Dts news agency
The Greens also see right-wing extremism as the cause, the FDP sees “fact-oriented politics” as the solution
The Green Party's federal manager Emily Büning also made it clear when asked that she finds many people's concerns about a growing division in society understandable in view of "wars, climate crisis and inflation".
She argues in a similar direction to her coalition partner: “But we must also clearly state that the AfD and other right-wing extremists are using these fears to stir up hatred and thus try to incite people against each other.”
The FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai sees “successful and fact-oriented politics” as the best remedy against populism and extremism.
He says: “Our society is threatened with division if citizens have the feeling that politicians are leaving them alone with their problems.” He emphasizes to
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that for him, people's concerns are at the center of the political debate and must be taken seriously.
Left chairwoman names wealth tax, climate money and an investment offensive as tools
From the ranks of the opposition, the federal chairwoman of the Left, Janine Wissler, also states that the fears of a split in society are “justified”.
She blames the social gap in Germany, which is becoming ever wider, for this.
She specifically names the tools to combat this: “A wealth tax and a wealth levy for millionaires and billionaires and noticeable relief such as climate money could ensure that the social gap closes again.”
In order to address people's concerns about a growing divide in society, Wissler is calling for an investment offensive for the future in infrastructure, schools, daycare centers, hospitals and nursing homes.
A suspension of the debt brake would inevitably be necessary and would be conceivable for Wissler.
Wissler emphasizes: “If you want to take these fears away from people, you have to invest in a functioning infrastructure and the future instead of saving money in the crisis.”
(soru)