It exists, the engine room of this country, even if many no longer want to see it. And consequently there are also the people who work in it. They do it as it is in engine rooms, reliably and inconspicuously. Bus and truck drivers, for example, fitters and factory workers, cashiers in supermarkets and journeymen, or employees in offices. Their number runs into the millions and, to put it succinctly, they keep the business going. They are indispensable for the business location and guarantors of the affluent society. In the past they were disrespectfully called “the little people” in common parlance.
In Germany, however, it is actually like being on a cruise ship with regard to these people. Those who enjoy their affluence in luxurious cabins and elegant on-board restaurants or stand on the neatly polished navigating bridge forget those who make sure that the ship’s turbines run at all. This narrowed perception is a growing problem. In the face of louder debates about climate protection and gender language, corona and diversity, politics and parts of society are losing sight of millions of people.
They are plagued by growing existential problems. For example, the fact that they can barely make a living from their wages and salaries despite their full-time jobs. Because rents in metropolitan areas are rising exorbitantly and faster than incomes. Because real estate prices and energy costs are exploding. Because car journeys, but also public transport, are becoming more and more expensive, while real incomes are falling at the same time. Last year, the average monthly wage in this country was 2084 euros net. In the ten largest cities, an apartment with 100 square meters, suitable for a family of four, cost an average of 1240 euros in rent. Cold, with no additional costs. There is no longer any room for maneuver.
Those affected are becoming increasingly frustrated and feel neglected by politics and society. Rightly. The overarching climate protection debate reveals this dilemma in particular. It is indisputable that it is more climate-friendly to eat (er) meat-free and, ideally, also to eat organically. Making heating oil, gasoline and flight tickets more expensive and thus less attractive is a tried and tested means of combating global warming. But what does it do to the families when parents work hard in the engine rooms to be able to afford a two-week holiday with the children at least once a year in the all-inclusive three-star hotel on Mallorca? What does it mean for them – and above all: How is it received by them – when politicians and, yes, journalists, too, keep teaching them that a plane ticket to the Balearic Islands has to cost 100 euros more, and that it would be even better, not at all to fly more on vacation?
For the well-off, it is not a problem if the plane ticket becomes more expensive
Especially since the teachers are not infrequently affluent urban citizens who argue from well-off academic quarters. Which also explains why the Greens, which have long since mutated into the Schickeria party, are enjoying disproportionate popularity there. Only: Those who have earned or inherited very well themselves can easily request from their comfort zone to buy in the organic market instead of the discounter. For the well-off, it is also not a problem if the plane ticket becomes more expensive or a liter of fuel suddenly costs 16 cents more. But for those who leave the factory with 1,500 euros net a month, or as hairdressers and parcel deliverers, earn just above the minimum wage. Not even to talk about pensioners.
But politicians and editorialists are now going over the heads of these people with casual generosity. In the election manifestos of the parties there are simple slogans and general phrases, but hardly any concrete approaches to tackling the dilemma. Even a mere redistribution from top to bottom is not a solution. It takes a change of perspective. For far too long, socio-political debates have narrowed to the subject of Hartz IV. The people in the engine rooms need broad political and social support. Otherwise they turn away in frustration – and in the worst case to political pied piper.