He has 22% approval in current polls I wonder how it is so high.
this post was submitted on 27 Jan 2026
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I guess mostly bitter people who don’t want other people to live comfortable
Sorry guys, but if you have to answer retorical questions at least do it right. The right answer is: rich people
It's always the fault of the workers and not the leeches at the top taking every gain for themselves.
You can’t fix stupid.
I think working time is the wrong place for politicians to regulate.
Sure, there's a huge imbalance. Some people work a lot and some very little.
The key is that the the people who do work more than mandatory minimum hours, are also the people who enjoy working. Self employed or not, doesn't matter. If people like working, they'll work more. It's really that simple.
Politicians ought to focus on regulation of how enjoyable work is. Then the working time would increase by itself, if that's the ultimate goal for whatever reason.
I don't think it is though. Productivity ought to be the end goal.
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Merz seems to genuinely believe no one works except for him. Yeah, right.
He does not even für one second consider utilising technology for efficiency and growth. There is so much potential in not sending people to work. Yes, even AI can automate processes very well if done right. At some point countries will send machines to war and Merz will still send meat to the grinder.
Makes me want to grab and shake this old man in hopes there is still some problem solving capacity left in his >70 year old brain.
Because technology is already utilised to constantly increase productivity and growth. Then that growth/productivity flows directly into the pocket of the sub 1%, barely taxed at all. But that's not something they would ever talk about.
What they want to talk about instead is how workes with their stagnating wages, who also have to finance everything as wages is basically the only thing taxed properly, need to do more to keep the system they intentionally broke to enrich themselves alive.
You’re correct. It’s kind of obvious and really depressing. All this efficiency gained through technology has never been used directly for quality of life of the people.
Someone should really write a book about it, ideally in German
In principle not incorrect, Europe has rough times ahead and a lot to do to catch up in defense and digital infrastructure, among others.
That said, it should be carefully investigated what leads to actual productivity increase. Just more hours may or may not do that. And compensation should increase accordingly.