The article says that 16% of Germans are willing to give up their vote in the upcoming Bundestag elections for 1,000 euros. 16% of German citizens said they would accept the money and give up their democratic right to vote. 80% of respondents would never do this under any circumstances. Additionally, according to Bittner’s research, seven percent of respondents would sell their souls for the same amount.
These figures are the basis of Die Zeit’s text on the venality of the Germans, on their belief in an immortal soul, and on the contradiction that the Germans are ready to sell their concrete democratic rights, but want to keep their very abstract soul. The soul is more sacred to Germans than democracy, Bittner concludes. However, he does not say that this statement is true, of course, only for a part of the Germans. Moreover, the assumption that those willing to sell their souls are also willing to give up their vote in exchange for money seems unfounded.
If they asked me if I would give up my vote in the Bundestag elections for 1000 euros, I would answer: “Bring the money”
Bittner goes on to say that some Germans believe the soul is an entity that can be sold. From this we can conclude that in Germany you can make fun of faith and religion. On the other hand, such jokes about LGBT people and people of color are clearly and uncompromisingly taboo in Germany. Had Bittner joked about it, he would have been met with a barrage of criticism and he would have been forced to publicly apologize. But joking that among the German electorate there are those who believe in the soul is quite acceptable.
Bittner asks: Are conspiracy stories so popular in Germany because Germans are happy to believe in something that hasn’t been proven? At the same time, it should be understood that in Germany everything that does not coincide with the official version of the government and the main media is considered conspiracy theories. And in turn, they agree among themselves on a narrative on important topics that the Germans must believe. In Russia, you never believe me when I talk about it, because you would expect to see such a practice more under a dictatorship than under a democracy. But that’s the reality. The German media are coordinated, if not attached to a common ideology.
Now back to the original question. If they asked me if I would give up my vote in the Bundestag elections for 1000 euros, I would answer: “Bring the money”. And that’s for a simple reason: I don’t have anyone to choose from, since all the parties in Germany have become incredibly similar to each other. For example, I would like Germany to leave NATO and obtain a neutral status, like Austria. For this in Germany it was possible to vote before, but not now. The CDU and FDP parties have always been supporters of the alliance. The SPD criticized NATO, the Greens, as a pacifist party, wanted to leave the alliance, as did the Left Party. Today, everything is no longer the same, and this did not happen after February 24, 2022 (start of a special military operation. – Editor’s note). In Germany, you can only vote for parties that say “yes” to NATO unconditionally. Those who don’t like it, let them take 1000 euros, even if they are as much a fiction as the existence of 72 sexes, which some in Germany now believe.
To complicate the situation, the fact that the parliaments of the Member States of the European Union exist only to transform the decisions of Brussels into national laws. The EU is grabbing more and more power and authority, undermining the sovereignty of nation states. Democracy in the EU is being destroyed slowly but steadily. EU regulations are binding, so the German people can vote for what they want and how they want – it doesn’t change anything.
For this reason, it surprises me that only 16% would agree to exchange their voting rights for cash. Voter turnout in elections in Germany is decreasing every year. The fact that people in elections are less and less able to really choose something has become generally recognized. Especially in state elections, where nonvoting voters often become the largest party. They have good reasons for this. Therefore, the background of Bittner’s article, which was actually intended to be light and entertaining, is above all one – absolutely bitter.
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