Following the conclusion of the PSG’s (Partei für Soziale Gleichheit, Socialist Equality Party) final election meeting at the Ufa-Fabrik in Berlin, Tempelhof, attendees took time in front of the meeting hall to discuss the speeches, the perspectives of the Fourth International and the PSG’s programme. Many purchased literature from the bookstand to deepen their understanding of these issues.
Among the attendees at the meeting were Fabian and Ronja, two young Berliners. They were made aware of the PSG by election placards in Berlin Lichtenberg and were taking part for the first time in a PSG meeting. “That was very informative, certainly not a typical party meeting,” said Fabian. “The difficult topics cannot of course be examined in a few hours, but it is good that the PSG raises war as the main issue.”
Ronja, who is studying in Berlin, agreed with this assessment and added, “Our awareness of the war developments and the suffering of people elsewhere is deadened by the media. The media presents it as entirely normal that people elsewhere are dying. I find it terrible how they sometimes report about the suffering of the people.”
Fabian added that it was hard to imagine war taking place again here, but, “Year after year there are always new wars. If one looks into it a bit, it becomes clear that the wars of the past 15 years were always about economic interests. And that is obviously the case with Ukraine. It has the largest black earth deposits in the world. If we now learn of the merger between Bayer and Monsanto, and that the largest future profits will come from feeding the world’s population, then one can conclude from that how in Ukraine it is about economic and geopolitical interests.”
The German public was now being attuned to the need for a corresponding foreign policy. “Even if commemorations are held for the victims of the war, the speeches have not necessarily become more peaceful,” said Fabian. “They quickly commemorate the past dead, and at the same time it is taken for granted that Germany has to be stronger once again.”
Ronja added, “One can become extremely anxious. When I heard that families should once again prepare for civil defence, I had the impression that now it was getting serious. Later it was downplayed, but the impression remains.”
Fabian commented on the Left Party that they had already cooperated with the SPD in Berlin, and raised the question, “How will the political issues be addressed at all? With an SPD/Left Party state coalition, with the Left Party in the minority, one wonders how much they would be able to resist the decisions of the SPD, if they actually wanted to.”