Strange Politics

It really is strange, isn’t it? While politicians or political parties are ruling, they never promise much, but the moment they become part of the opposition, they start promising things they sure as hell couldn’t keep. But that’s politics for you.

Five years ago the SPD was the ruling party in Germany and they created, among other things that should not have been created, Hartz IV. Hartz IV is a newly organized social aid system that was – and still is – criticized very much.

Now, after having been part of the opposition for quite a while, members of the SPD come forward and demand changes in this system. The changes sound nice, but they can’t really be made, at least not all of them.

The SPD is not the only party that is doing it. Other parties have done it before and other parties will do it in the future. Yet I can’t help grinning whenever I hear a party in the opposition promise something that sounds good, but is impossible to do. I know they’ll forget all about it the moment they are ruling the country.

And that’s the reason why I haven’t been voting the last few times I have had the chance to do so. I seriously don’t know whom to vote for. All parties make big promises during their election campaigns and forget about them right afterwards. Voting has, for me, been a point of choosing the lesser of two evils. So I decided not to choose any evil at all.

Some people will – quite rightfully – point out that you need to take a part in politics in order to change things. And that, because of this, I should vote, even if it’s just for the lesser of two evils. I don’t think so. By not voting, I’m sending a statistical message (as every person over 18 is allowed to vote in Germany, unless they’re in jail or considered mentally disabled enough not to know what they’re doing). And a lot of other people have, in the past few years, sent the same message I have sent. We’re fed up with voting for the lesser of two evils and thus don’t vote at all.

Politics are a strange business and I’m not really sure I’d like to be a part of it.