When Something Slips Out

Helmut Kohl complains that Germany’s traditional relationship with the United States is being neglected and accuses Chancellor Merkel of fickleness. She replies that the times have changed and, indeed, Germany has become a capitalist state in competition with the United States.

And Foreign Minister Westerwelle commented that capitalism wasn’t all about old bonds and sentimental good old boy friendships but about profits instead, adding that it was necessary to take the new global power centers seriously and to strive toward building new strategic partnerships. That sort of political cliché is the same as saying “profits are made globally and our partner is the country that can do the most for us.”

The Süddeutsche Zeitung also thinks today’s challenges are different than they were in Kohl’s day. An unnamed source described as “a long time close acquaintance” of Merkel’s mentions a difficult “war with the financial markets” as though “the markets” were some anonymous, mystic force threatening us from outside. If I telephone you, can you tell me for whom I should ask if I want to talk to “the markets?” That question reveals the helplessness of the politician who is beholden to money. Tell them “the markets” are right outside your door.