Scholz makes pitch to fix ‘deep social insecurities’

The new frontrunner to win Germany’s national vote at the end of this month says he believes he can reawaken Europe’s centre-left from its decadelong slumber with a two-fold promise: to guarantee his country’s continued economic success, while at the same time putting an end to the myth that individual success is always self-made.

Germany’s vice-chancellor and finance minister, Olaf Scholz has this summer surprisingly lifted his Social Democratic party (SPD) above Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in opinion polls, in large part due to a reputation for rational decision-making and fiscal prudence that mirrors that of the outgoing chancellor.

Scholz said he would also use the political victory within his reach to kickstart a fresh debate about how to redefine professional and social merit.

“Why did Britain vote for Brexit if it was against its own interest? Why did America vote for Trump? I believe it is because people are experiencing deep social insecurities, and lack of appreciation for what they do,” the 63-year-old said before a campaign rally in Göttingen, Lower Saxony.

“We see the same dissatisfaction and insecurity not just in the US or the UK but in the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Austria or Germany.

“Among certain professional classes, there is a meritocratic exuberance that has led people to believe their success is completely self-made. As a result, those who actually keep the show on the road don’t get the respect they deserve.”

Some of Scholz’s campaign pledges are social democratic in the oldfashioned sense: as well as the minimum wage increase to €12 ($14.20) an hour, he calls for the return of a wealth tax and the construction of 400,000 new homes a year. The SPD proposes replacing the sanction-tied Hartz IV unemployment benefit controversially introduced by the last centreleft government with a new, less “distrustful” welfare programme, called “citizens’ money”.

The SPD candidate’s project to reinvigorate the German centre-left remains a balancing act: for while his campaign at least partially reverses out of the rhetoric of the third way, it also seeks to steal the crown of economic competence from the centre-right CDU.

“Germany still has a very powerful industry,” said Scholz. “It is an industry with globally competitive companies, some of which are medium-sized companies with 300 to 2,000 employees. There are very few countries in the world where this tradition is so deeply anchored. We are still good at building cars, planes or satellites.”

Helmut Schmidt, Germany’s Social Democrat chancellor from 1974 to 1982, is an evident role model for the SPD candidate: one TV campaign ad starts with the sound of the late fellow Hamburger’s inaugural address laid over images of Scholz striding towards the Bundestag.

Schmidt is often credited with the line that “politicians who have visions should see a doctor”, a quote Scholz said was not only apocryphal but also unfair.

“After all, he is the architect of the G6 and G7: after the collapse of the financial system in his time there was a need to coordinate the economic policies of the largest industrial nations. The same is true today: we should come up with a joint response to the current challenges.”

‘We in Germany are still good at building cars, planes or satellites’ Olaf Scholz