[PEN-L:281] Re: German SDP

[Dennis R Redmond <dredmond@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Mon, 28 Sep 1998, Gar Lipow wrote:

> How left is Oskar Lafontaine? How big is the "left" of the SDP? For
> that matter how "left" is the left of the SDP? And how much power does
> the party have vs. the Chancellor in practice? In short, are there
> more grounds for optimism than appeared at first glance?

The answers, based on what I saw of the Soc Dems on my European tour,
are (1) "not very" (Lafontaine talks radical, but would be considered
Rightwing in the SPD of Willy Brandt), (2) "large but powerless" (the
rank and file SPD and most ordinary Germans loathe capitalism,
but don't realize their leaders are selling them out), (3) "quite
sizeable" (Greens plus PDS), and (4) the Chancellor runs the show (the
Greens are the only party who even attempt to run a collective
leadership). The Greens are our only hope, really (there's the PDS, but
Schroeder is being very careful about not inviting them in to the
coalition; he thinks he can control the Greens, that they're opportunists
like himself -- let's not disillusion him too soon, shall we?).
Germany voted against neoliberalism, but that's not -- yet -- the
same thing as reining in Eurocapitalism. For once, the tired cliche is
right: the class struggle is indeed heating up in Mitteleuropa.

-- Dennis