10:00 AM, Old Trade Union House, Kollegienwall 14, Osnabrück - Call to join the anti-capitalist bloc at the DGB May 1st demonstration in 2026: Break the logic of war! Against all social cutbacks! It's no secret that Germany is massively rearming. "Germany must be made fit for war again" is the unambiguously stated goal of those in power. Unfortunately, resistance to this has so far been largely absent or ineffective. ---- In 2022, after the "turning point" of the Russian Federation's attack on Ukraine, a so-called "special fund" of 100 billion euros was approved for rearmament. This additional mountain of debt could be incurred despite the "debt brake" enshrined in the Basic Law when it comes to missiles and tanks, all budgetary tricks are quickly deemed acceptable.
In 2022, following the "turning point" of the Russian Federation's attack on Ukraine, a so-called "special fund" of 100 billion euros was approved for rearmament. Soon after, in 2024, Germany reached the arbitrary NATO (and arms industry) "benchmark" stipulating that at least 2% of the gross domestic product should be spent on the military. By 2026, expenditures exceeding EUR108 billion, plus an additional special fund, are already planned.
These absurd military expenditures are not the only indication of society's systematic preparation for war. Mobilization is palpable in almost every aspect of life. This is evident in the Bundeswehr's propaganda posters, which now confront us almost everywhere in our daily lives, aimed at recruiting young people, or in the reintroduction of "voluntary military service" for those born from 2008 onward. Or even in the potential production of military equipment at the Volkswagen plant in Osnabrück.
To justify all these impositions, which run counter to the interests of wage-earning people, it is invoked throughout the country that the great enemy, Russia, is practically on our doorstep a claim that, objectively speaking, should not be taken seriously.
Russia's military spending in 2025 was estimated at $134-145 billion, while NATO's was around $1.59 trillion. NATO, therefore, spent eleven times more on its military than Russia in 2025. And that's not even mentioning the thousands of nuclear weapons held by NATO members like the US, the UK, and France, and their extreme deterrent potential.
Let's be clear Russia's brutal war of aggression against Ukraine, which has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths, must be condemned.
However, the constant refrain, trotted out for years by mainstream political parties, that there's no money for social programs, is clearly exposed as a fabricated lie by the current arms race. This arms buildup consumes enormous sums of money, which is why it inevitably goes hand in hand with a devastating dismantling of social services. This reveals, not just abstractly, the interests the state represents, but very concretely.
Care level 1 is to be abolished, the Deutschlandticket (Germany ticket) is becoming increasingly expensive (now EUR63), dental visits are to be paid for out of pocket, the 8-hour workday is being "flexibilized"... Not to mention the people who depend on basic income support. They are subjected to constant harassment from broad segments of society, serving as a projection screen for the hatred and resentment of those who still have paid work but nonetheless have a decent standard of living. The fact that elite representatives are discussing where and how much more can be cut from the subsistence level of the poorest and most powerless people is simply perfidious, but it's a deliberate strategy.
Impoverishment, homelessness, and hunger are a constant threat used to keep the working class quiet, to prevent them from demanding higher wages, striking, or resisting in the workplace.
The true nature of the state, which, as the ideal collective capitalist, serves the interests of capital, could hardly be more clearly exposed than by the "guns instead of butter" discourse of recent years. It has never been, and never will be, about the needs of the majority, the workers, the poor, and the oppressed, but rather about the self-serving accumulation of capital and its violent securing and expansion both internally and externally.
A world war against Russia is unlikely for the reasons already mentioned, but a Federal Republic of Germany that uses its new military might for worldwide wars and gunboat diplomacy à la Kaiser Wilhelm is practically guaranteed.
Massive rearmament is not solely a phenomenon of the Federal Republic of Germany, but affects all centers of the global logic of capitalism growth, competition, and the exploitation of people and the environment only function if states possess the killing machines ("power projection") to enforce the interests of their own capital against both imperialist competitors and the weaker states of the Global South.
The arsonists and gangsters of the Trump regime have exemplified this in recent months: Bombing Venezuela and kidnapping the president resulted in (temporary?) control over the country's gigantic oil reserves. The invasion of Iran, though more complex, follows a similar logic of intra-imperialist competition against China, as can be read in our text "Savages vs. Bloodhounds."
The expansion of nation-states to gain further spheres of influence, new markets, and "free trade" for their capital is an inevitable consequence of a system that relentlessly squeezes profits from both people and nature as Marx explained in "Capital": "300 percent, and there is no crime it will not risk, even at the risk of the gallows."
This makes it all the more important for us not only to moralize and call for social reforms, but also to take a clear anti-capitalist stance. A better world will only be possible when we overcome capitalism as an economic system and a form of society.
On International Workers' Day, we fight for a livable future for all! We refuse to accept these conditions because, as the wage-dependent class, we are the ones who must sacrifice our time, our health, and, in some cases, our lives for the madness of capital and the imperialist wars waged by its states.
Therefore, let us build a counter-power from below. We must fight for our interests as wage earners, against the wars of those who rule us!
Out on May Day!
Join the anti-capitalist bloc!
https://likos.noblogs.org/2026/04/02/heraus-zum-1-mai-2026/
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Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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