Socialism - Germans Support Another Try

Bill at Dawson's Danube reports on the result of a survey in Germany (quoting David Harnasch):

Poll shows strong resonance for Leftist principles in Germany

Leftist political principles resonate well among German voters. In a poll conducted for Spiegel by TNS Infratest, 56% of west germans and 66% of east germans agree with this statement: "Socialism is a good idea that has so far been poorly implemented." 50% in the west and 73% in the east agree that Karl Marx's criticisms of Capitalism are still relevant today. The proposition "there must be a third way between capitalism and socialism" finds agreement among 67% of the westerners and 63% of the easterners. 

Actually, Germany already found the third way between capitalism and socialism: 10 % unemployment rate, shrinking of real disposable income, deteriorating public services, severe financing problems of the health system, etc., etc.

I suppose we won't have to wait too long for another try at socialism in Germany. After all, "socialism is a good idea that has so far been poorly implemented."

Comments

[PacRimJim]

Not "poorly implemented," "poorly implementable."

[Motorhead]

Any records of such a poll from back in the 1980s? 1990s? I'd bet a few Groschen that the results would be quite different.

Needless to say, with (at least) 5,000,000 unemployed, how else would someone respond?

[jobob]

I think these sentiments unfortunately may be in the majority world wide .I was having a lunch in California with a friend .I made the statement that free markets are good for the great majority of average people. He look at me like I was some sort of radical.He claims he a republican.

[Don]

Socialism is a beautiful, carefully-constructed theory about how the world should work. Unfortunately ist has been brutally murdered by bullions of ugly facts....

[koepfchen]

When Adam Smith wrote in 1776: "It is not by his benevolence that the butcher, the baker and the brewer supply us with lifes necessities, but by his own self interest", he wrote the single most intentionally ignored sentence in mans modern history.
I personally work hard to support myself and my family, less to help my neighbor, and care very little about the general welfare of the readers of this blog. I expect most readers of this to feel the same way.
Not that difficult to understand, to get ignored for 230 years..

[Boxing Alcibiades]

I have a friend teaching history in Korea who routinely leaves the leftists speechless by adding "well, for that matter, neither has fascism."

Point?

[Doughnut Boy Andy]

Heres an article a lot of you Medienkritiker will probably be interested in on the German election from the Times of England:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-1746807,00.html

"Why Europe needs a strong Germany
By Bronwen Maddox
IN LESS than a month, Germany will go to the polls in an election which may determine how successful it will be in the next decade — and Britain, too.

It may not seem that way to British eyes. For the past decade and more, Germany’s politics have hardly grabbed international attention.

Since those totemic images of East Berliners clambering over the Berlin Wall in 1989, and then, if less photogenic, the grating shudder of reunification, Germany has retreated into a fretful introspection. The awkwardness of the fusion of West and East has been a bitter theme of this campaign. Ger- many is all too aware that its status as the economic engine of Europe has slipped but it is unsure how to retrieve it.

Germany’s decline from powerhouse to doubtful man of Europe has been much chronicled. But this election is different. For a start, there is the chance that Angela Merkel, leader of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union, will depose the centre-left Gerhard Schröder to become the first female Chancellor of Germany. But the election also matters because Germans are clearly trying to arrive at answers. This is why Britain should care: "

It then lists a few reasons, many of which are also relevant to a US position and quite a few we can agree on here I guess, especially this one:

"Anti-Americanism In beating the anti-American drum in search of votes, Schröder seems mired in the rows of the run-up to the Iraq war. But that is no help in repairing the rift with the US — nor in knitting Central and Eastern European countries, with their pro-US instincts, into Europe."

[Doughnut Boy Andy]

oh and btw:

"Bill at Dawson's Danube reports on the result of a survey in Germany (quoting David Harnach):"

dont you mean Harnasch with an s? Or have i misunderstood?

Note from David: Thanks for making me aware of the mistake. Changed it. Apologies.

[Querdenker]

There are two opinions on socialism:

1) Socialism is a good idea. Unfortunately you can't realize it.
2) Socialism is a good idea. Unfortunately you can realize it.

[Assistant Village Idiot]

In contrast to free market systems, which have also never been perfectly implemented but work pretty well anyway.

I understand the Scandinavians have very low corruption rates, which helps keep their more socialistic systems moving (along with ethnic homogeneity and and an inherited work ethic, both of which are in danger). Can you imagine how great it would be to have Hong Kong capitalism administered by Finns? Now there's an economy that would rule the world in two decades.

[Motorhead]

Generally speaking, people who love socialism love not having to take any personal responsibility.

Let the State take care of me. Let the State decide for me. Let the State redistribute the wealth of others who may be more talented for more clever.

Hey, whatever they want. I just don't want to hear any bitching when it fails...which it will in the long run.

[Sock Puppet of Doom]

What I find interesting is how anyone can believe this propagandistic hog feces.

Germany the backlash will come. When it does it will be on your own head. You think an 11% unemployment ratio is bad? You think being the friend of the US is a bad thing? When you get on the radar as the enemy of the people of teh US it will be bad. The day the average citizen of the US becomes aware of this stuff is a day the Germans will wail moan and gnash their teeth over.

[neocon]

I tend to agree with Motorhead, even if I wouldn't have put it that way.
Whoever lived in a communist country (and I happen to know it pretty well) knows that socialism/communism cannot be well implemented.
As about Germany, in a nationwide Television poll, Karl Marx came in on the third place (something like "best german ever"). This says a lot.