Angela Merkel discovers young people. She recently started the podcast series “Merkel Unplugged” with Deutschlandfunk Kultur, in which the former Chancellor answers questions from students. Now she appeared in the “Coffee and Cursing” format of Studopolis, a voluntary student initiative that sees itself as a “political, non-partisan forum for young people”.
“Do you think you handed over the country to our generation in good condition?” asked Albert Preußen, one of the two podcast hosts, at the beginning of the conversation. “In principle yes,” replied Merkel. “Anyway, I think I handed it over in better condition than when I received it.”
When she took office, there were five million unemployed people and high levels of debt in this country. Their governments have countered the latter with the debt brake and very strict budget management. In contrast to France or Italy, German debt is now below 65 percent. “That is sometimes underestimated.”
In general, Merkel gave her 16 years in power a lot of praise. Parental allowance was introduced, as was the legal right to a daycare place. The young generation in particular was helped by the university pact. "Today, of course, what stands out is what is not so perfect. The infrastructure needs to be modernized," said the CDU politician, although she tended to ignore her contribution. “I find it – one has to say – scandalous that some of the schools are in such a bad condition and people really don’t like going there.”
Could she understand that the youth were angry and demonstrating in the streets? “I understand that young people want to have their voice heard,” Merkel replied. The standards for thermal and sound insulation have been increased over the years. This has made building more expensive, which is now putting affordability under pressure. “That’s why I think we have to step up our game at this point,” explained the former Chancellor. “I don’t think the methods that are sometimes suggested are effective – like socialization.”
With regard to “long-term issues” such as climate protection, she admitted that she had “not done justice to the precautionary principle”. And unlike in 2017, she would also vote in favor of the law today for the law introducing the right to marriage for people of the same sex, the so-called marriage for all. “I had a variety of worries at the time,” she said. "It's not all that easy. But overall it was important to me at the time that it could be freely coordinated. I also knew a lot of people who were homosexual and who had this real desire."
Co-host Louise Velsen-Zerweck asked the former Chancellor where young people's susceptibility to populism comes from. “I have reasonable doubts that Article 1 of our Basic Law is covered by the AfD’s program,” said Merkel. She considers it a legitimate question as to whether the promise of prosperity in the spirit of Ludwig Erhard still applies to the younger generation. "The AfD answers them by excluding them. They say that it could be enough for a certain group that they are currently focusing on if the others from whom they differentiate themselves didn't get so much." That is “seductive”.
She believes that the promise of prosperity still applies “in principle”. “But things have also changed,” she objected. Prosperity should not only be understood in terms of gross domestic product per capita. The questions of security, climate protection and biodiversity were also included. “What world do I live in?” Regardless, it is the responsibility of the centrist parties to discuss visions for the promise of prosperity. “People need a positive message to vote for a party or political group.”
That would now be in the hands of her successor, to whom Velsen-Zerweck was obliged to speak. “There is no interview in which you are not asked about your relationship with Friedrich Merz,” she moderated. “You don’t want to be different,” Merkel interjected sarcastically but still friendly. Thanks to his “unconditional will to power,” Merz has the decisive quality to become Chancellor. “He stuck with it, he wanted this and he is that,” she emphasized. The question of whether his poor poll numbers are justified is for people to judge. She never asked herself the question.
Merkel listed a few other character traits that politicians should have, without adding whether she would attribute them to the current Chancellor. "You have to have the desire to fight for what you believe in. You have to enjoy speaking," she explained. “You have to be able to take it.” But perhaps the “most important thing” is to be a “friend of different types of people”.
“You have to be happy that the republic is diverse,” said the former CDU chairwoman. "If you don't enjoy meeting people, then you risk becoming cynical, sarcastic, and I think that's the worst thing about politicians. I don't think that happened to me, and I'm very grateful for that over the years."
