Andreas Rasche’s Post

Various forms of electronic payment are now so common that the chancellor of Austria is suggesting an amendment to the constitution protecting the people's right to pay in cash! #cash #electronicpayments https://lnkd.in/gy7W7TjX

Yesterday, the 11th Amendment to the German Act against Restraints of #Competition passed the #Bundestag. While the bill is promulgated by government as the "largest reform since Ludwig Erhard", maybe it's a good moment to revisit the origins of our constitution of the social market economy (in German, but I trust your translation tools work): https://lnkd.in/ePUnX2PQ

Germany's liberal party (the FDP) tries to stop the CSDDD at the very last minute, according to reporting by DER SPIEGEL. The FDP pressures its coalition partners in Berlin to vote against adopting the final trilogue agreement reached in December (hoping that other EU member states join in). It is the same old story: the CSDDD reflects "disproportionate bureaucracy hurdles" and harms the competitiveness of German and European companies. Most unreal sentence in their resolution (my translation): "The objective of the EU Directive must be to make it easier for companies to comply with their human rights due diligence duties." No, FDP - the objective of this Directive must be to protect human rights. That's all. === DER SPIEGEL article (in German): https://lnkd.in/dTCJPDQd

We do have a huge problem in Germany: the right-wing AfD Party and their ideological leader Höcke. If you are not familiar with the ideoligy behind this party, that gained up to 34% in surveys in Höcke's federal home state Thuringia, please read below quotes (translated via DeepL, sources only in German). First of all, under German law, Höcke can legally be called what he is: a fascist (source: https://lnkd.in/dFR_cKf3 ) He sees himself as a "disciplinarian" who "mucks out the stables" with "well-tempered cruelty". (Source: https://lnkd.in/dx88Rf8U ) His vision of the future is clear, him stating: "Even if we will unfortunately lose a few sections of the population that are too weak or unwilling to resist the advancing Africanization, Orientalization and Islamization." And he had already outlined the path to this four years ago: "Considering joining forces or forming a coalition with parts of the political establishment presupposes their purification and fundamental readjustment. This can only be expected once the old party cartel has collapsed under the growing burden of crisis." The Covid & Ukraine crises were huge catalysts for his strategic approach, also conservative parties starting to use right-wing framing, to catch AfD voters. (Source of the last two quotes, as well as others, at https://lnkd.in/dFvjSNrG ) Of course, AfD‘s official, political messages are maximum toned down compared to Höke‘s above quotes. They mainly focus on fingerpointing against the government in law, without naming reasonable and/or financially feasible solutions. Still, in the upcoming elections, the fascist Höcke could potentially become Minister President of Thuringia. Three federal state associations of the AfD are now classified by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution as "proven right-wing extremist", others are under observation (source: https://lnkd.in/diJU_yRC ) All of them have been growing in poularity, which is also the reason why hundreds of thousands of Germans have been joning demos "against the right-wing" in the last 2.5 weeks, alone. Almost 1.7 million signatures have been collected against Höcke so far. Link to the petition: https://lnkd.in/dVTS53uh Resist the beginnings. #neveragain

China's election interference: Taiwan's election campaign against a backdrop of Chinese threats Elections will be held in Taiwan on January 13 - and Chinese threats towards the democratically governed island are already on the rise. China's leadership has described the ruling party's favorite as a "separatist". The communist government in Beijing has threatened Taiwan with further economic sanctions if the ruling Democratic Progressive Party continues to advocate "independence". If the government in Taipei stubbornly sticks to its position and refuses to reverse course, further measures will be advocated, said Chen Binhua, spokesman for the Chinese Taiwan Office. Taiwan is at a crossroads - with peace and prosperity on the one hand and war and economic downturn on the other, said the spokesman. As long as the Taiwanese government was against "independence", anything could be discussed. Last week, Taiwan accused the communist government of economic blackmail. The People's Republic had previously raised tariffs on certain chemical products and accused the government in Taipei of violating a trade agreement. The Chinese state and party leadership considers the democratically governed island to be a separate part of the country - although Taiwan has never been under the control of the People's Republic. China regularly conducts maneuvers around the island and threatens war if there is no peaceful unification. The government in Beijing describes the ruling Democratic Progressive Party in Taiwan and its presidential candidate William Lai as "separatists". Lai is currently Vice President and is leading in the polls. Just yesterday, China's head of state and party leader Xi Jinping said that a merger with Taiwan was inevitable. The "reunification" was legitimate and what the people wanted, Xi said at a memorial event for the long-term dictator and founder of the People's Republic, Mao Zedong, who was born 130 years ago. The fact that the vast majority of Taiwanese do not want to give up the freedoms they have fought for in favor of unification with the communist-ruled People's Republic is not mentioned in China. The Chinese state and party leadership considers the democratically governed island to be a separate part of the country - although Taiwan has never been under the control of the People's Republic. China regularly conducts maneuvers around the island and threatens war if there is no peaceful unification. The government in Beijing describes Taiwan's status as a separate entity as one of the biggest points of contention between China and the USA. Although the US government does not recognize Taiwan as a state, it is considered a close ally of the island and supplies it with weapons. https://lnkd.in/eNWu7p_W

A pillar of social justice are just taxes. This is what Germany is missing out on favoring basically the well-to-do. Franz Kohout, political scientist and financial expert, kicks off in his new book an in-depth reform. https://lnkd.in/e6fmHuf5

#EUelections: In the current Tagesspiegel supplement of the Freie Universität Berlin (in German), SCRIPTS director Tanja A. Börzel and her colleague Miriam Hartlapp from the Otto-Suhr-Institut für Politikwissenschaft comment on the danger of a new shift to the right in the upcoming EU Parliament elections. "The center-right in the European Parliament is shrinking. This is precisely why it is so important that political groups like the [conservative] EPP defend this center and continue to hold the firewall to the right." Based on their research into the voting behavior of Eurosceptic MEPs they state that even though the extreme right rarely manages to reach a cross-national consensus beyond the issues of migration, climate protection and gender, there are an increasing number of conservative MEPs who vote alongside right-wing populists, contrary to the group line. https://lnkd.in/dtGT3VTX

🚩 The traffic light german government is planning a bill that would ban dissenters from leaving the country. 📝 On June 7, the SPD, Green and FDP parliamentary groups submitted a motion for a Bundestag resolution. 🤔 The law is intended to prevent people from participating in foreign events that conflict with the free democratic basic order. ❓ It is questionable how an authority can determine a person's attitude in order to decide whether to leave the country. 💰 An example is given in which departure to Afghanistan could be prohibited to avoid ransom demands. 🌐 The proposed law raises concerns about freedom of expression and censorship. https://lnkd.in/e9gKmUjq

Keen on having a double surname for your kid or for yourself? Up until now it was not possible in Germany to use a double surname as a joint married surname and children can’t have a double surname if their parents are not married (don‘t ask me why🙄🤦🏻♀️). 👉🏼In a long-awaited move, the German Bundestag has just passed a groundbreaking amendment to the country's naming laws. Finally! The new legislation, set to take effect on May 1, 2025, introduces a range of reforms, including the introduction of true double surnames and the facilitation of one-time surname changes. 👉🏼This decision marks a significant step towards modernizing Germany's naming laws, which have long been considered among the most restrictive in the world. By granting individuals greater flexibility in choosing their surnames, the new law aligns with evolving societal norms and promotes a more inclusive and diverse society. https://lnkd.in/eTfUMiDW