'Reforms' in German usage was: Re: Germany: Tax Reforms Pass

[Johannes Schneider]

Michael Pollak wrote
>In German it's become standard to use "reform" to refer to the reduction
>of the welfare state.
Exactly! But it was not like this in the early 70ies. Than reform meant the
widening of the welfare state. At that time there was a real euphoria for
'reforms' (and thus reformism) among the German working class.
Today its the other way round: 'Reform' is one of the most hated concepts
among German workers. Thus it is quite pointless to label the SPD as
'reformist' today. Those ones pushing fowards 'reforms' most vocally are the
Liberals (FDP) and the Greens.
Johannes