Virtual ghost
Complex paradigm
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2008
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This drama over the missing wind turbine that's supposedly the reason for greatly reduced Russian gas supplies to Germany via Nord Stream 1 is getting weirder and weirder.
From what I gather the turbine underwent maintenance work in Canada. The Russians said they can't deliver more gas until that turbine is back in Europe. Germany asked Canada to please violate their own sanctions and deliver the turbine back to Europe. The turbine is now in a Siemens hall in Germany. Russia says they are willing to deliver the gas as soon as the turbine is installed again, but says there are still technical issues. Ex-chancelor Schröder (a.k.a. the Putin-hugger), is telling the German media Siemens is to blame. Meanwhile current chancelor Scholz is giving a press conference literally standing in front of the turbine and saying it is in perfect working order, all papers are there and Russia is making up excuses.
My best guess is that they are simply trying to pressure Germany into opening Nord Stream 2.
But there is something kinda related to this that I wanted to ask you. Germany got the new administration not so long ago that is to the left of the previous one. However is there any actual left wing shifts in the economy for the average people ? Or the war consumed all of that and everything is on hold ? (I am simply curious)
To be fair though, the government seems to work frantically on catching up when it comes to energy supply. Habeck has been travelling to a bunch of countries trying to arrange for new sources. It is likely that nuclear power plants that were meant to be shut down will be kept running longer. Some even want to open up new ones or restart those that are already down, but that isn't something that you can switch on and off over night. The media is already making fun of the Greens no longer being pacifict eco warriors because they support sending arms to Ukraine and are suddenly okay with nuclear and fossile energy as a bridge solution.
If they had a bit more courage and vision they would push for something I have already been in favor of 20 years ago: Throw all their weight behind renewables, not just halfheartedly as the Merkel government has done, but seriously. Combustion engines are a thing of the past and the main reason the EU hasn't done more about them is because of the strong German automotive lobby. If you take a more longtrerm perspective we have to move away from being the world's car producers to being the world's producers of renewable technology. There once was a point where we could have taken that road but not enough was done, there wasn't enough political will and now the wind turbines, solar panels, etc are made in China. We've gotta get that technology and production back to Europe asap. It would be good for energy security, good for the economy and good for the environment.
Thios would be even more efficient if it is done on an EU-wide scale. The French will insist on nuclear, but other than that I think Macron might be on board so it really should happen soon before the far-right takes over and the whole continent is basically lost.
Oh, I agree. I'm just saying they are being mocked and criticized for it (and of course there is a lot of internal debate).But truth to be told the Greens have to be like this in this critical moment. Because if they aren't they will be blamed for everything that goes wrong and some things probably will to some degree. We are simply in the times that require some pragmatism. You simply can't go directly to the target since the world has become too complex for that. This winter the whole EU simply must improvise to avoid large scale social damage. What is doable but only if you you take more flexible approach.
The lyrics of the original German version tell a story: 99 balloons are mistaken for UFOs, causing a general to send pilots to investigate. Finding nothing but balloons, the pilots put on a large show of fire power. The display of force worries the nations along the borders and the war ministers on each side encourage conflict to grab power for themselves. In the end, a cataclysmic war results from the otherwise harmless flight of balloons and causes devastation on all sides without a victor, as indicated in the denouement of the song: "99 Jahre Krieg ließen keinen Platz für Sieger," which means "99 years of war have left no place for winners." The anti-war song finishes with the singer walking through the devastated ruins of the world and finding a single balloon. The description of what happens in the final line of the piece is the same in German and English: "Denk' an dich und lass' ihn fliegen," or "I think of you and let it go."[7]