umverteilen! Demo

Why are we here?” was written on a street note, and in a way, it summed up my feelings during the umverteilen! demo¹ two weeks ago. I had hoped that enough people would show up to a demonstration that wasn’t organized by the far right.² However, the turnout was disappointing - whether you take the official police number of 3,000 or the activists’ number of 7,000, both are just too low given the ongoing crisis. It showed me that the mood and support for leftist politics are dwindling. It feels a bit like lying to yourself to call this demonstration a success. For me, it was a small who’s who of the left scene, but the original target group was missing. Despite widespread concerns about inflation, the rent crisis, and especially the energy price shock, I didn’t get the feeling that those most affected showed up. In my eyes, that’s really sad.

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Today marks the start of the routine annual maintenance work on the two lines of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. Experts are warning that Russia may not turn the pipelines back on after July 21st, which could leave Germany with empty gas storage tanks this winter.

Combined with the expected gas shortage, particularly high energy prices, supply chain problems, inflation, rising grain prices due to drought and war, increasing rent prices, and the insistence on compliance with the debt brake in 2023, it all feels like sitting under the sword of Damocles - just waiting for it to fall.