[lbo-talk] New German Left Party Overtakes Greens

[Dennis Redmond]

> This is interesting. Any one have a feel for what this coalition
> represents? Are they just using radical  rhetoric to sell a variation
> on the same-old, or are  they "left" in a meaningful way compared to
> the social dems?

No, no, this is for real -- it emerged out of the independent Left in the
western part of Germany, lots of union organizers, and the PDS in the
eastern parts of Germany, and a very rich local culture of Left civic
activism, which has taken root everywhere in Germany, plus dissatisfaction
with the neolib SPD. And the Greens themselves have to take their share of
blame, because they didn't resist Schroeder's welfare cuts like they
should have. I know this was a tactical decision, in order to get the
SPD's support for other issues, but still... The Left Party is talking
openly about taxing the rich, controlling capital, re-regulating markets,
etc. in a way which the other parties aren't.

-- DRR