Eat less, heat less? “Anne Will” discusses whether Germany is well prepared. It is already clear: those who have little will have to starve. But the middle class will also slip. CDU politician Jens Spahn complains that the government has no plan.
Have you received your gas bill for 2022 yet? Me, yes. Mine was a whole 1,300 euros higher than last year. And 2023 should really strike. What to do? I’m already taking a five-minute shower. For those who want to know: Four minutes warm, one minute cold – for the circulation, but that’s just by the way.
In winter, only two radiators run in my apartment – in the living room and one in the bathroom. In winter I am basically very well equipped with a sweater and woolen blanket for the evening on the sofa. Will that be enough in the future? Probably not.
We get into the discussion at “Anne Will”. The topic is: “Fear of a lack of gas – how hard is the crisis hitting Germany?” It’s actually a rhetorical question, because the crisis will certainly hit our country hard. It sounds creepy from what we hear in the discussion. Even if Employer President Rainer Dulger raves about optimism and says: “Germany was always good in the crisis.”
Opposition politician and ex-minister Jens Spahn sees it very, very differently. The CDU man complains persistently in the ARD Sunday talk about the traffic light. He denounces the government’s crisis management. “How will Russian gas be replaced? There is no plan!” And: “Every day there are new suggestions – but nothing is decided!” In a nutshell: “Every day we only hear: Everything that doesn’t work.”
Now of course it’s always stupid to be in the opposition. Because the others decide. On the other hand, you can criticize a lot and don’t have to come up with solutions right away. Marcel Fratzscher is President of the German Institute for Economic Research. He has a clear opinion on the question from moderator Anne Will: “Is it better to freeze or eat less?” He says: “The German welfare state is failing.” Savings.”
The higher prices would remain, so politicians had to pay more attention to who had to be relieved. “We have to reach the people in the middle. People need the money now!” He proposes higher wages.
Rainer Dulger, President of Employers, evokes optimism, but also says in the talk: “It’s the biggest crisis the country has ever had.” The traffic light government has just decided on a 30 billion euro package. Ricarda Lang, head of the Greens, first classifies. “If everyone pushes forward – then something like the tank discount will come out in the end.” That is a clean slap in the face to the coalition partner FDP. Lang also demands that gas and electricity should not be switched off for those in need in the event of a crisis. Even apartments should not be terminated in an emergency.
She has also recognized: “If we have to shut down industry, it will hit everyone massively.” Mass unemployment is already being talked about everywhere. And at the same time in the middle of a shortage of skilled workers? The Green Party leader Lang also says what everyone says: “I suffer from the fact that we have made ourselves so dependent on Putin.” So only heat for the wealthy in this country. And: Shivering for the poor in Germany. Because heating is becoming too expensive? Ricarda Lang is pragmatic: “It’s true, that won’t be enough for autumn and winter.”