First came the farmers’ protests in the Netherlands, then the Freedom Convoy in Canada. Now the farm protests have reached Germany. The background is simple: On 15 November 2023, the Federal Constitutional Court declared the budgetary manipulations of the Scholz government unconstitutional,
I know this is an unfair comparison, because America and Germany are different countries, but it's the same demo of bougie cosmopolitan international types who hold these opinions in both countries so I'll say it anyway
> Then they – and everybody else - remembers how intimidating paramilitary vehicles like combine harvesters can be when they when they travel in convoys on the motorway or fogs up city centres with subsidised agricultural diesel …
Does anyone remember 2020 when for 3 months almost every major city in the US descended into violence every night and billions of dollars worth of property was burned down and ~35 people were murdered? Does anybody? Like, not fake pretend hypothetical threats of violence that effete urban liberals hallucinate when they see the vehicles that produce their food, but actual violence involving fire and blood? The "mostly peaceful" "protests"?
Yeah fuck this guy. I wish the farmers protesting were half as violent as he thinks they are. He deserves it
That protests are usually ineffectual is practically a proverb on the right. It's generally true, but not always. The Canadian trucker convoy effectively ended covidian policies worldwide. A large enough protest can deliver sufficient shock to the system to change things. It's just that almost none of them exceed this threshold.
"Convincing the farmer, as a traditional keeper of the tried and tested, of the need for progressive change is no easy task. … What we will see over the next few days is the escalation of a communication problem. Problems are solved in meeting rooms, not on ferry docks or in marketplaces. "
I am so fucking fed up of this attitude. All this means is that one side is better at meeting room arguments than the other. It has absolutely nothing to do with who is right. Of course these professional managers want disputes to be solved in the arena of the manager - the fucking meeting room, according to their own rules. Rules Based Order
I sit on a couple of corporate boards and have had countless "meeting room wars". In actuality, the war is won outside the meeting room, you just negotiate terms if you've done things right.
The protests show that resistance to the regime will only happen when people's pocketbooks are hurt.
Anything else, like say the total destruction of our society, is taken without much grumbling.
The farmer's protest also shows that only a well organized group with some physical power - like large machinery you can block the roads with - is able to stage any viable resistance.
Once the farmers get what they want - more money - they will disperse again. And this will happen quickly, as our political caste will give in to any demand to stop them. And they are far too weak or dare the open viciousness as Trudeau did with the truckers.
For the normal citizen remains the slim hope that his voting behavior will change anything.
The AfD, and before them the Greens, show that any real political change via voting takes about 20 years to have any effect.
I keep having a problem with people who claim the AfD is a "right-wing" party. How can a party harbor right-wing thoughts if said party is led by a German lesbian married to an African woman??? Germany has yet to hit bottom. As Russian foreign minister Lavrov recently said, "I refuse to believe European civilization has come to an end. At some point, I believe Europeans will return to normalcy. I have to believe this." I hope he is right.
“Unlike train drivers or doctors, farmers do not go on strike. They “take” their protest “to the streets” and literally spill their dung there like other people spill their hearts out. Then they – and everybody else - remembers how intimidating paramilitary vehicles like combine harvesters can be when they when they travel in convoys on the motorway or fogs up city centres...”
Lol... the farmers should broadcast this widely. It’s as stunning a gift as Hillary’s deplorables comment. Whenever the gold medal for sneering elitist contempt is awarded, this journalist will certainly be a contender.
Brillant as usual. When my eyes 1st landed on this sentence " What we will see over the next few days is the escalation of a communication problem" it 1st registered in my brain as 'What we will see over the next few days is the escalation of a communism problem'. Over here we have John Kerry saying we need to stop farming 'cause global warming you know. & to think I was upset because Kerry didn't win the 2004 USA election!
I´m not sure what exactly to make of these protests. On the one hand, the sheer scale and energy is very impressive. It appears that the farmers´ themselves are not amused at all and there is a lot of sympathy for their concerns from the man on the street. On the other hand, at least the spokesmen for the farmers´ still operate within the approved paradigm, as evinced by the quote in the article. I also noticed that the press doesn´t appear to be quite as rabidly hostile to oppositional protests as in the covid days of yore. Which raises the question for me whether the protests will be used for a containment maneuver one way or another. For example, I could see people from the "Christian" "Democrats" swooping in to lead the charge against the "traffic light". Surprisingly, that has not appeared to have happened yet.
I know this is an unfair comparison, because America and Germany are different countries, but it's the same demo of bougie cosmopolitan international types who hold these opinions in both countries so I'll say it anyway
> Then they – and everybody else - remembers how intimidating paramilitary vehicles like combine harvesters can be when they when they travel in convoys on the motorway or fogs up city centres with subsidised agricultural diesel …
Does anyone remember 2020 when for 3 months almost every major city in the US descended into violence every night and billions of dollars worth of property was burned down and ~35 people were murdered? Does anybody? Like, not fake pretend hypothetical threats of violence that effete urban liberals hallucinate when they see the vehicles that produce their food, but actual violence involving fire and blood? The "mostly peaceful" "protests"?
Yeah fuck this guy. I wish the farmers protesting were half as violent as he thinks they are. He deserves it
'Professional shithead'
Plague Chronicle: come for the thoughtful analysis, stay for the cherry-on-top brilliant put-downs.
That protests are usually ineffectual is practically a proverb on the right. It's generally true, but not always. The Canadian trucker convoy effectively ended covidian policies worldwide. A large enough protest can deliver sufficient shock to the system to change things. It's just that almost none of them exceed this threshold.
May the farmers break the climate cult Nazis into little pieces.
“Hijacked by rightwing extremists”: the state media standard go-to for non-astroturfed protests.
'Professional shithead Arno Frank'
- my days would be far more colorless and missing extra laughter without your writing.
Thanks once again for making the insane palatable
it would be so refreshing if these movements openly didnt give a shit about being labelled "extreme right".
i hope they dont capitulate
"Convincing the farmer, as a traditional keeper of the tried and tested, of the need for progressive change is no easy task. … What we will see over the next few days is the escalation of a communication problem. Problems are solved in meeting rooms, not on ferry docks or in marketplaces. "
I am so fucking fed up of this attitude. All this means is that one side is better at meeting room arguments than the other. It has absolutely nothing to do with who is right. Of course these professional managers want disputes to be solved in the arena of the manager - the fucking meeting room, according to their own rules. Rules Based Order
I sit on a couple of corporate boards and have had countless "meeting room wars". In actuality, the war is won outside the meeting room, you just negotiate terms if you've done things right.
The protests show that resistance to the regime will only happen when people's pocketbooks are hurt.
Anything else, like say the total destruction of our society, is taken without much grumbling.
The farmer's protest also shows that only a well organized group with some physical power - like large machinery you can block the roads with - is able to stage any viable resistance.
Once the farmers get what they want - more money - they will disperse again. And this will happen quickly, as our political caste will give in to any demand to stop them. And they are far too weak or dare the open viciousness as Trudeau did with the truckers.
For the normal citizen remains the slim hope that his voting behavior will change anything.
The AfD, and before them the Greens, show that any real political change via voting takes about 20 years to have any effect.
I keep having a problem with people who claim the AfD is a "right-wing" party. How can a party harbor right-wing thoughts if said party is led by a German lesbian married to an African woman??? Germany has yet to hit bottom. As Russian foreign minister Lavrov recently said, "I refuse to believe European civilization has come to an end. At some point, I believe Europeans will return to normalcy. I have to believe this." I hope he is right.
“Unlike train drivers or doctors, farmers do not go on strike. They “take” their protest “to the streets” and literally spill their dung there like other people spill their hearts out. Then they – and everybody else - remembers how intimidating paramilitary vehicles like combine harvesters can be when they when they travel in convoys on the motorway or fogs up city centres...”
Lol... the farmers should broadcast this widely. It’s as stunning a gift as Hillary’s deplorables comment. Whenever the gold medal for sneering elitist contempt is awarded, this journalist will certainly be a contender.
Great post. And I think a taste of what is to come in every western democracy immersed in deficit spending.
Brillant as usual. When my eyes 1st landed on this sentence " What we will see over the next few days is the escalation of a communication problem" it 1st registered in my brain as 'What we will see over the next few days is the escalation of a communism problem'. Over here we have John Kerry saying we need to stop farming 'cause global warming you know. & to think I was upset because Kerry didn't win the 2004 USA election!
I can't wait for the attacks on proto-Europeans who invented agriculture.
I´m not sure what exactly to make of these protests. On the one hand, the sheer scale and energy is very impressive. It appears that the farmers´ themselves are not amused at all and there is a lot of sympathy for their concerns from the man on the street. On the other hand, at least the spokesmen for the farmers´ still operate within the approved paradigm, as evinced by the quote in the article. I also noticed that the press doesn´t appear to be quite as rabidly hostile to oppositional protests as in the covid days of yore. Which raises the question for me whether the protests will be used for a containment maneuver one way or another. For example, I could see people from the "Christian" "Democrats" swooping in to lead the charge against the "traffic light". Surprisingly, that has not appeared to have happened yet.
BRAVO FARMERS!