Save, save, save: This has been the agenda of the traffic lightgovernment since the end of last year. With the budget ruling of theFederal Constitutional Court last November, the severity with which thisproject is being pursued has once again increased dramatically. Heatingour apartments is becoming more expensive because the energy price brakeis expiring earlier than initially planned; The sanctions regime, whichalready harasses those receiving civil benefit every month, will befurther tightened. It was already clear that the 49 euro ticket wouldsoon have to be called the more than 49 euro ticket and that the minimumwage would only be increased by a few cents. At the same time, spendingon the Bundeswehr will not be affected. Billions upon billions continueto flow into the armament of German imperialism, which wants to assertitself in times of increasing contradictions between the imperialist blocs.Those who suffer most from this austerity agenda are, above all, us wageearners. We are supposed to accept more and more deteriorations in ourliving standards and are forced to accept more and more lousy jobs withmore and more harassment. So that we can swallow this, the governmenthas declared for weeks that it does not want to affect social spending.Let's be realistic: It is only a matter of time before further parts ofthe welfare state are dismantled in order to make us as a class and thusthe German capital that exploits our labor more internationally competitive.But the government's austerity agenda is not only aimed at wage earners.The removal of two subsidies in agriculture - the agricultural dieselrefund and the vehicle tax exemption - is hitting farmers hard. Exactlyhow hard depends primarily on the size of the farm. While large farmscan still make up for a few missing thousands of euros, small farmswhere farmers work alone or with a few employees are sometimes in acutedanger of their existence. The everyday life of bosses of smallagricultural businesses and their wage workers has been characterizedfor decades (to varying degrees) by existential fears, overwork andprecarious living and working conditions.Contrary to what the government claims, the removal of subsidies is inno way a contribution to climate protection. This portrayal obscures theview of the austerity agenda as the true motive, drives a wedge betweenenvironmental activists, small farmers and agricultural wage earners andthus plays directly into the hands of the government. There are simplyno alternatives for most of the expenses that no longer need to beoffset. Removing the subsidies will not reduce emissions, but willincrease the economic burden on small farmers. The result is the furtherprecarization of small farmers and, as a result, the precarization andthe possibility of large waves of layoffs among their wage workers.An ecological restructuring of the (agricultural) economy is urgentlyneeded. But it will only really be possible in a society that basesproduction and distribution on needs and ecological compatibility ratherthan on profit maximization. The ecological transformation must becarried out from below; grassroots democracy through the small farmersand workers who collectivize the companies and federate regionally withother companies, sectors and municipalities.We are under no illusions: this perspective is not shared by most of thefarmers now affected. They are currently mobilizing locally, regionallyand nationally to defend their direct economic interests - against theremoval of subsidies. Because these measures are directed against allfarmers, the mobilizations include owners of both smaller and largerfarms. At the same time, non-farming forces are also showing solidaritywith the protests. In addition to right-wing bourgeois sectors from theCDU to the Free Voters, it is particularly openly reactionary politicalforces from the AfD to neo-Nazi forces that are going on the offensiveto exploit the farmers' anger at the traffic light government for theirown political advantage. In parts of the farming community they canbuild on existing reactionary attitudes. What is particularly perfidiousis the superficial linking of the economic demands with the incitementby extreme right-wing forces against migrants, who themselves make up aconsiderable part of the (seasonal) wage workers in the agriculturalindustry. The fact that reactionary actors can make their way into theprotest movement comparatively successfully is also due to theirlong-standing ingratiation with farmers and their ability to coordinatewithin a short period of time.The fact that progressive forces are comparatively weak is also due tothe fact that the radical left in the Federal Republic of Germany haslargely withdrawn from the entire field of agriculture in recent yearsand decades. But the most promising way to change this is to showsolidarity with the farmers' protest, to actively join it and tostrengthen progressive positions and push out reactionary ones. Becausethe protest against the removal of subsidies is legitimate and worthsupporting. However, it is clear to us that the farmers are not auniform mass. Our solidarity goes above all to small farmers who are indanger of losing their livelihoods and, of course, always to wageworkers in the affected sectors. Now and throughout the year as theseworkers fight for better conditions.We very much welcome the fact that the agricultural workers are calling,in the form of their industry union initiative, the Green TradesInitiative of the Free Workers' Union (FAU), to support the comingprotests and are already doing so in some places. Such actions will takeplace in many regions of Germany until January 15th. Let us be presentthere as members and supporters of the FAU, environmental activists orsimply as solidarity workers, spread our anti-capitalist and ecologicalperspective and push back reactionary appropriation as well as bourgeoispositions! Be sure to keep up to date with the Green Trades Initiativeabout current developments and disseminate their analyzes and positioning.Support the farmers' protests!For a common fight against the government's impoverishment policy!https://www.dieplattform.org/2024/01/12/zusammen-gegen-die-verarmungspolitik-der-ampel-regierung-solidaritaet-mit-den-baeuerinnenprotesten/#more-2820_________________________________________A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C EBy, For, and About AnarchistsSend news reports to A-infos-en mailing listA-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten