What with Rudolf Bahro, ex-of the Greens, saying good things about the Bhagwan Rajineesh, North Korean juche, Hitler's "environmentalism", Joschka Fischer, ex-Street Fighting Man from the '68 generation now NATO cheerleader, the tragedy of the death of Petra Kelly, and now this! Whatta bizarre ideological transformation. Makes our neo-cons look reasonable. Hippies unite and become Libertarian fools. If Birkenstocks are manufactured in Germany and Greens are in whatever union represents them, I'd be girding for a battle over the next contract negotation.
Michael Pugliese ----- Original Message ----- From: J. Hughes <jhughes at changesurfer.com> To: <dsanet at quantum.sdsu.edu> Sent: Tuesday, March 21, 2000 6:06 AM Subject: dsanet: German Greens go Libertarian
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> http://www.afr.com.au/content/000318/world/world3.html
>
> Greens go from wet to dry on free market policy
>
> By Andrew McCathie, Berlin
>
> Twenty years after Germany's Greens emerged as a major political force
they
> are transforming themselves into leading advocates of free-market
economics.
>
> The party, whose members rocked the stuffy German political establishment
> in the early 1980s when they took their seats in parliament dressed in
> jeans and surrounded by pot plants, are now drawing up a new political
> agenda aimed at deregulation and smaller government.
>
> Only months after the Greens marked the 20th anniversary of their
founding,
> members are gathering in the west German city of Karlsruhe this weekend
for
> the party's conference to try to set it on its new political course.
>
> The debate over Germany's withdrawal from nuclear energy and streamlining
> the party's leadership are still likely to dominate the congress.
>
> But the party's economics team has been piecing together a radical policy
> blueprint calling for rigorous liberalisation of the German economy.
>
> In particular, according to the Greens parliamentary economic spokeswoman,
> Ms Margareta Wolf, steps towards structural economic reforms are needed to
> tackle Germany's high unemployment rate, which continues to hover around10
> per cent.
>
> Once the Government's current budget and taxation reforms areout of the
> way, Ms Wolf arguesin a paper, the coalition shouldturn its attention to
> policies for "dismantling bureaucracy and deregulation".
>
> Ms Wolf's paper points to the high cost of labour in Germany as a prime
> cause of unemployment and singles it out as one of the most important
areas
> for reform in a country which is struggling to face up to the need for
> economic change.
>
> Her party has already forced on its partner in the Government a
> controversial move aimed at raising energy taxes and using the proceeds to
> offset social security contributions, which are seen as a major non-wage
> cost adding to Germany's labour bill.
>
> Once primarily seen as the champions of the environmental cause, the
> Greens' growing interest in free-market economic principles should also
> help to prop up the modernising instincts of the Federal Chancellor, Mr
> Gerhard Schroeder.
>
> The Greens, however, have found themselves at odds with their senior
Social
> Democratic partners in Mr Schroeder's ruling coalition on how to tackle
> Germany's lumbering pension system.
>
> But then to an extent the Green Party's roots are essentially in a deep
> suspicion of government.
>
> Indeed, the party was formed as a way of expressing opposition to the
views
> held by the government of the day and mainstream political parties on the
> nuclear industry, defence and the environment.
>
> Part of the problem now facing the Greens is that in environmentally
> conscious Germany, a large chunk of their environment agenda has already
> been introduced and partly adopted by other major German political
parties.
>
> The current big environmental issue in Germany is withdrawal from nuclear
> energy. There is already widespread support for this, but sections of the
> Greens are angry at Government proposals for a slow withdrawal.
>
> Certainly the last 18 months as a member of Mr Schroeder's so-called
> red-green coalition have been a very testing time for the Greens.
>
> Divisions over the Government's approach to atomic energy are only one
> source of political trouble for the party.
>
>
>