In four days, a million German residents signed the farmers’ petition “Against the abolition of discounts on agricultural diesel fuel and exemption from vehicle tax.” The people support the farmers’ uprising, despite the fact that, if necessary, they threaten to paralyze the entire country.
“In the worst case scenario, cancellation means more farms will have to close due to rising price pressures. Thus, more food will be imported along long, high-emission transport routes, an ironic consequence of the “climate-damaging subsidy cuts,” says the explanatory text of the petition launched by young farmer Marie-Sophie von Schnechen.
If the government does not cancel the plans by January 8, farmers will go on a nationwide strike.
“Farmers receive support not only from millions of citizens, but also from the opposition CDU/CSU.” CDU agriculture expert Stefan Bilger confirmed to NIUS that “German farmers have every reason to protest.” He explained that the government is seeking to solve its problems at the expense of the peasants, reducing them “almost 6 times more subsidies than the rest of the economy.”
Currently, more than 250 thousand farms benefit from subsidies.
Critical support, I think. Farmers are the lifeblood of any sensible society, and in the imperial cores, you’ll find reactionary baggage even amongst some of the homeless and unions.
On the other hand, I’m less certain in regards to this. Critical support all the same, but is food security and local agriculture (overwhelmingly positive things) in the imperial cores, something that benefits the cause of socialism, or even anti-imperialism, globally- or even within Germany? I’m not an accelerationist (so critical support) but another commenter here noted, for instance, the role agricultural subsidies in the imperial cores have in the economic imperialism waged abroad. If western countries such as Germany (and the EU in general- it’s been a unending series of Ls from the bloc, really) want to undermine the very foundations of a working society in their countries, while we should work against these things, when they (usually, inevitably) pass anyways, hell if I know if it’s a great loss for the majority of humanity, rather than part of the process where the capitalists sell us the rope we’ll use to hang them with.
Good point! Edit: can you elaborate on how agricultural subsidies further imperialism?
I’m not the expert on this- someone else mentioned it in thread. But I am halfway aware of how it goes about, and it’s basically the same logic as how industrial subsidies, alongside the forcing open of developing markets, is a common tactic in neo-imperialism.
Basically- through extensive subsidies and the benefits of modern, industrial farming, developed countries can overwhelm the native industries (agriculture included) of developing nations, and do so at a lower price. Usually this also involves strongarming said nations into dismantling the necessary protectionism for maintaining their own indigenous industries. In this way, they can essentially (financially) starve out local agricultural producers and seize more and more of the market share- from there they can go several routes- like buying up local farmland, etc. on the cheap, or using these circumstances to then go on to threaten the developing nation’s food security or affordability as a means of gaining further concessions.
I’m not sure to what extent Germany can be said to be guilty of the above, though. The US is definitely the worst offender by a overwhelming margin.