Did Germany Make A Deal With the Devil/s?

Will allowing Musk to build a Tesla factory prove to be a bigger loss than a gain for Germany?

The other day a German construction worker who has been working on my house and I stopped to chat for a moment. He knew I was not happy about Trump’s reelection. However, he told me that Germany is in as big trouble as the USA. I told him I did not think so, but I guess we should check back in a year when things will have played themselves out further in both countries, which will each presumably be under new government and see where we stand.

Why he might think this is because the current German government collapsed at the Federal level when the chancellor, Olaf Scholz (SPD) kicked Christian Lindner(FDP) the Treasurer out of their coalition government. Another person working on my house pointed out that Elon Musk bought Trump the White House for a smaller amount of money than he will make off of Trump in return with government contracts. So, all of his risk taking was a good gamble.

Elon Musk has also been weighing in on German elections and he wants to influence us to have a right wing government too, one that will be more amenable to his doing whatever he wants with his Tesla plant here and also that will not be looking to ban X from use in Germany, or the EU. He has supported the AfD as being the best party to run Germany even though the EU right wing party has not allowed them in because they are basically what I call The New German Nazi Party. While Nazi parties are illegal in Germany and also parties that do not support the German Basic Constitution which is a democratic one, the AfD, by naming itself differently now has to be proven to be anti-the Constitution.

For Musk it is as simple as claiming that because Alice Weidel, the AfD chancellor candidate is a lesbian woman, with a Sri-Lankan wife, that means that the party is not right wing. Think again Elon. This is the party that actually stood up against his Tesla Factory coming to Brandenburg. They picketed against it because it is not a German business, and you could say that the AfD is kind of a “Germany First” party, except when it comes to Putin, and then his illiberal flavor is tasty to them. So, the AfD found itself on the side of environmentalists and leftist groups in protesting against Tesla.

However, less wise heads prevailed and in desperation to develop former East German state economies, the region took in Musk’s factory. From an environmental point of view it is a disaster. It takes up an area of around 400 soccer pitches. That required forest to be cut down. It is also built in a protected water zone, and has effected other projects such as a residential one, because now there is not enough water guaranteed for a building to be built there. There have been protests against the Tesla expansion and from what I understand while a majority of the people in Grünheide community where it is located voted against the expansion, but the municipal council accepted the proposal for expansion. Wonder what Musk offered them, or threatened them with.

Perhaps they should have taken a look at the project that Musk has done in Las Vegas with his Boring Company. Propublica has just detailed problems with this project that seems to have little governmental oversight. There, with little regulation for an underground tunnel system that they are building, the company has apparently had incidences of dumping untreated water into storm drains and the sewer system. This goes along with Elon Musks philosophy of don’t ask first, pay the fine later. Since no level of fine seems to be prohibitive to his businesses, he can violate all sorts of laws and ignore negative consequences for people and the environment. In fact, fines of less than 100 billion will never have any effect on his wealth. Elon Musk has established that he feels within his rights to interfere with foreign governments as long as he has investments in the country. So, now Germany is going to have to reconcile with allowing Tesla to invest in Germany, which right now is looking worse than having Chinese investments. Perhaps that is the stealth effect.

What both Germany and the US have in common is that the right wing influencers from around the world are targeting elections across the planet to try to expand their control of the planet with a nefarious populist agenda that in essence is about claiming the planet and resources for the super wealthy, and basically for conservative White people. It is also about sucking up all of the resources, and exacerbating deadly climate change. Where the US differs from Germany is that it already has a right-wing government coming into power.

The German government is also different from that of the US, because it is not set up as a winner take all sort of government. In Germany a coalition rules that together has at least 50% of the vote in total. So, after an election any combination of parties can rule as long as their total percentage of the vote gets them just beyond the 50% vote total. In the last election that ended up being what was known as the Ampel (traffic light) coalition. German political parties have party colors just as US parties do. The Ample coalition was the Social Democratic Party (color is red) with the highest percentage of votes at 25.7%, the Alliance 90/The Greens (color is green) had 14.7% and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) known as The Liberals (color is yellow) had 11.4%. So together they made the Traffic light coalition with a total of 51.8% of the votes. With the SPD getting the highest percentage of votes, their candidate Olaf Scholz became chancellor. They could have made another coalition as well, but they did not. When parties are making coalitions they have to agree that they can work with each other. This was a coalition that ended up not being able to work together.

The FDP is called the Liberals but they are fiscally conservative. I see them as also being socially conservative. However they are not as conservative as the Christian Democratic Union Party who got more votes than them in the 2021 election, but instead the FDP were more closely aligned with the Social Democrats in that they are more about controlling the market in favor of the people. Somehow FDP member Christian Lindner seems to have forgotten this. He is the FDP person who was put in charge of the budget. So, in the current coalition they could not agree on a budget because he wanted to ignore environmental, business and military concerns in favor of limiting the spending.

The German constitution has a budget deficit break, which does not allow the government to have more structural debt than a 0.35% of the annual gross domestic product. The debt brake can be suspended like it was during Covid. However, Covid is officially over, and monies that Scholz’s government had counted on spending to invest in a greener economy, were denied them by the courts. It seems like the war in Ukraine and ensuing inflation could also count as a reason to suspend it, but this has not been used. This law, while found to be crippling right now, is part of the reason that Lindner gives for wanting to make cuts to social programs since he did not want to increase the debt or raise taxes.

I am not going to analyze what needs to happen to improve the German economy, but I will say that it has the largest economy in Europe and the third or fourth largest economy in the world after the US and Japan and perhaps China. Since this post 2008 debt brake budget reform, Germany carries less debt than other larger European economies. Some say this is hurting Germany’s ability to make a green transition. I would agree in loosening it up right now to help get the economy out of its current stagnation.

I have my own experiences with the German economy, and like most people, I put up with the things I don’t like, like the high cost of German construction workers, building materials, as well as the relatively poor reliability of these people and the supply chains. For that I get to participate in a well run social safety net. That includes people being insured for many things, like everyone has health insurance for a reasonable cost, and that includes dental and long term disability insurance. We also tend to have personal liability insurance which for a low fee can cover us for millions if something happens. Then, there is insurance to cover you for work if something happens and you cannot work, and there are several kinds of home insurances, as well as legal insurance in case you need a lawyer. There is protections for renters, and university is tuition free. So, while this is not socialism, there is a belief that the government is there for the people. There are also lots of political parties for the people too.

The most well known parties right now are The Social Democrats, The Christian Democrats, The Greens, The Free Democrats, The Alternative for Germany, The Left and the newest party, Bundnis Sarah Wagenknecht, which is a break off from The Left, and combines ideology of the Left and the Right. There are many other parties. I could create my own party if I wanted to, and if I could get anyone to follow it or vote for it.

However, given all of the parties, Elon Musk is choosing the throw his hat in with the AfD. It is interesting because this party as a right wing party is not necessarily the best party to support his business initiatives. In fact there are a lot of contradictions. One reason is that the AfD supports resuming dependence on Russian fossil fuels. The assumption is that being friendly with Putin again will make energy costs go down, as we further drown our planet in their fossil fuels. It also is not a formula for supporting the purchase of E-cars, which is what Musk sells. Another thing is that the AfD is anti-immigrants. While Musk seemed to support Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant stance for the USA, he has recently weighed in on supporting the H-1B visa program of the United States. Germany has no comparable program, although it is trying to make itself more attractive to highly skilled immigrants, it is currently not making it actually easy for them to come here, just easier than before.

So, Musk is depending on the higher unemployment rate in the Former East German state of Brandenburg, and the close proximity to Berlin to attract workers, but while this is going to be a larger percentage of his workers, it is not made public what percentage of his workforce is not German, but according to Reuters at least 10 percent of the workers are foreign, mainly from Poland. I assume Musk will welcome the closing of several VW factories, because he can then attract those workers to his plant. However, he has not wanted to negotiate with the powerful autoworkers unions IG Metall. That too is a complex situation since according to Yale Insights, Musk is getting around the rules by having bought a shell company. Will the AfD get votes if they back these plans?

The situation is complex. Musk wants more control of his business in Germany and seems to think that buying the AfD will help that. However, a German friend is selling his Tesla since Musk has supported the Trump win in the USA. Even though he does not get his money back, he does not want to be seen driving such a car. It may become too controversial for business here. Currently it is claimed that the AfD has 20% of the vote, and Musk is going to try to help them get a larger share. Still, it is unlikely that in the remaining month and a half he is going to get them another 30% of the vote, and put Alice Weidel into the chancellor position. She herself expects this in 2029, the next round of Federal elections. In the meantime, FDPs Christian Lindner wants some of Musk’s money for his party, and is extolling the virtues of a libertarian economy to him. Since the FDP belongs to the Center Right, who has said they will never form a coalition with the Far Right AfD, Musk is having none of it. Makes me wonder what Musk and Putin have discussed about each country in their tet-a-tet’s that we have heard they have been having. Two multi-billionaires discussing world dominance together, and the German politicians being naive in their dealings with each.

Now we are waiting for Musk to interview AfD lead candidate Alice Weidel on X. I for one will not be listening, but will read other people’s responses to it. Dealing with Musk, Trump and Putin all doubling down on destroying NATO, the EU alliance, and democratic governments, is like dealing with several devils at once. The EU countries better wake up quickly to their new reality now the the right wing has had their way in the US, aided by lazy, selfish eligible non-voters. As Trump, who is not yet president threatens a NATO ally, Greenland with military take over, Germany should be hastening its plans to prepare for war.

Currently Robert Habeck, Vice-Chancellor and Green Party member is the one who has asked to up the German military budget from around 2% of GDP, to 3.5%. Trump has now suggested that although the US is spending around 3.5% that NATO allies should have to spend 5%, or what? He has threatened that the US will pull out of NATO, and Musk has threatened the EU that the US will pull out of NATO if penalize or ban X. Right now, the EU should let go of having the US in Europe and prepare to defend itself.

What does Elon Musk want in Germany? Apparently that the AfD runs the country, and then deports non-White immigrants, making up for the loss in South Africa of Apartheid. Musk clearly wants to live in a White’s Only country, so the more White Supremacist Countries he can make that way the better. Better yet, they want to pull Germany out of the EU, making it no longer a formidable trading partner, but many weak ones. He also wants to support their agenda to stop Germany from supporting Ukraine, and help out his buddy Putin. But he most wants that he can do business in Germany without union or regulatory interference, and feels that an illiberal party is most likely to go along with his corrupt agenda. He also wants to make sure that he can run his media platform without regulations as well, so that he can platform the right-wing nasties that X has become a haven for, himself included without anyone interfering in the horrid things they say.

In addition to militarily preparation the EU should ban X and perhaps other US Tech platforms, which wise Americans will abandon in droves. Of course, people are addicted to tech like they are to Crystal Meth, and Heroin. Addicts make excuses for not giving up things that stimulate the pleasure center of their brains. It will be hard for the EU and the US to abandon these platforms, but I suggest that Germany and other EU countries start developing their own alternatives, and marketing them as alternatives to supporting right wing policies.

Musk is an enemy that one will want to nip in the Bud as soon as possible. His companies are like Putin’s oil, supporting them funds faster destruction of one’s own nation. What is difficult about this situation is that Musk is wielding too much power as he bought Donald Trump, who is his US proxy president. The earlier one starts to resist the more effective it will be. Right now Musk may have a legitimate conduit to funding the AfD since he has a German business, which has just been allowed to expand. He wants a more compliant Germany. At this point I think Germany should shut his factory down, but probably the fear of worker’s voting in anger against anyone they perceive responsible is not the way to go. Right now we would need to know how many work for Tesla versus how many are against the factory being there adding stress to the environment and destroying the water supply?

The EU is supposed to fine X for flagrant violations of its content rules. I believe that fine is supposed to be 6% of global revenue. If the EU does not stick to its standards with Musk then there is no point in having standards, because every other US tech company, which seem all to be on their way to capitulation to Trump (in my opinion a wasted effort), because they will all do the same, and then it will be like there are no standards at all. There is a concern that Musk would pull Starlink, and then the EU replacement is very small in comparison, with Musk having 7,000 satellites, while the EU has 290 which they plan to launch. Bigger is not always better. It might offer more power, but perhaps the price is just too high. The more deeply the EU gets involved with Musk the more clout he will wield. For Germans a question will be will giving Musk the heave-ho lead to Donald Trump starting war on Germany through Putin or directly? Another question is how dependent the EU is as an economic block on trade with the USA? A wise Germany will do what the US did during Covid which is look for other trading partners. I also think the auto industry could be retooled to also make weapons and their workers retrained. If Germany is to regain dominance in the auto industry it will have to be with E-cars and right now China and Musk seem to have that locked up. I see Germany as needing to shift their goals and invest in other areas of growth. The EU could abandon purchasing Teslas. They can also cut off X. They have to find other markets for their products. I would be looking at the wealthy UAE, Brunei, Qatar, Singapore, Macao as well as their own European neighbors.

Trump has said that Germany and other EU countries should be paying 5% of GDP for military. It is time for the other NATO countries to decide whether they want to do this, and if not, they should set their own amount that they think they will need to fork out if they are to replace the US military spending for the safety of the NATO countries. The EU should also be determining what is needed to protect the EU from Putin and Trump.

Germany should be forewarned, do not make a deal with the devils. Stand up to Musk, and by doing so stand up to Trump, and by doing so stand up to Putin. While Musk tried to bully Brazil for putting limitations on X, they ignored him and he ended up capitulating to them because he did not want to be kicked out of their market. The Mexican President has also stood up to Trump and other than trying to rename the Gulf of Mexico, he had not talked about annexing her country. He can rename it in the US text books, but since no one seems to be teaching geography, most people won’t know that it is now called The Gulf of America (and frankly Mexico is America too). Also, they don’t need to acknowledge it, and neither does anyone else. Who wants to pay for new geography texts for their students on a whim like this.

So, we see people stand up to the bullies like Zelenski has to Putin, and Ukraine, at a great cost, is holding off Putin from the rest of Europe and is staying independent from Russia. These are the people Germany can learn from and the Center and Left politicians should be aligning with each other in an effort to stave off Trump and Musk taking over the country and the EU. Shame on Lindner for trying to suck up to Musk. Even Scholz, normally a groveler before power has spoken out against Musk in public. Germany, France and Poland foreign ministers plan a trip to visit Trump shortly after he takes over. That seems like a suck up mission to me. The less time spent in Trump’s presence the better. The less negotiating with Musk the better. China has placed limits on X and other Social media that have been adhered to. The EU could do the same, or say they cannot exist there. That would be a way to limit Musk’s EU influence. Perhaps Tesla, like Walmart can be made to leave by putting enough restrictions on it, that it is not worth it for Musk to stay. If Trump starts any sort of war with the EU, the Tesla factory should be appropriated by the government as a matter of national security. All energy should be spent to stand up to and get rid of Musk, and the dangers he brings to Germany and the European Continent.

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3. Elon Musk's Boring Company Is Building the Vegas Loop With Little Oversight Rothberg and Figler https://www.propublica.org/article/elon-musk-boring-company-las-vegas-loop-oversight

4. How Tesla's Arrival in Germany Could Set Off a Labor Showdown https://insights.som.yale.edu/insights/how-teslas-arrival-in-germany-could-set-off-labor-showdown

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7. Trump fordert fünf Prozent für Nato Burchard https://www.politico.eu/newsletter/berlin-playbook/trump-fordert-funf-prozent-fur-nato/