Capitalist Success Doesn't Look At Poverty.

     In capitalist Europe, Germany is seen as the shining example of capitalist success. It is meant to be what the rest of Europe should try to aspire to, prosperity for all. Of course like all the tales of capitalist success, as far as the ordinary people are concerned it is all an illusion. The German Joint Welfare Association report on poverty for 2013 shows a very definite pattern of increasing poverty for Germany as a whole. It also states that from 2006 to 2012 the growth of poverty was steady going from 14% to 15.2%. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), approximately 10% of German children live in families whose income is below the poverty line. A UNICEF study finds that 8.6% of children in Germany have long term experiences of poverty that seriously affect their entire future. It also finds that more than 1 million adolescents have spent more than one third of their childhood and youth living in poverty. 

       Officially, homelessness doesn't exist in Germany, there are no official figures held by the state. So we have to rely on estimates made by independent groups that offer social assistance to such people. One institution that offers assistance to homeless, Bundesarbeitgemeinschhaft Wohnungslosenhilfe (BAG) states that their figures suggest that there are approximately 591,000 homeless in Germany, however if you add the homeless immigrants, the total looks more like 860,000, roughly the same size as the population of one of Germany's largest cities, Cologne. This figure breaks down as, approximately one third are women, almost the same number are young people and children, men making up 39%. BAG also estimates that approximately another million are under threat of homelessness, or living in sub-standard housing. It also estimates that some homeless with families can get some temporary accommodation with friends and relatives, but approximately 35,000 single people face living on the streets. A further figure from BAG states that in the winter of 1996/97, a staggering 27 people froze to death on the streets of Germany, one of the worst figures among the world's most prosperous nations.

      That is the irony, one of the most prosperous nations on the planet and poverty, homelessness and freezing to death on the streets is accepted. It is the economist apologists for the capitalist system that can only see one side of the equation and spout German as a success story. Germany is growing rapidly in wealth, according to Manager Magazin, October issue, the assets of the richest 100 have increased during the last twelve months by 5.2% to a staggering €336.6 billion and there are 135 billionaires living in Germany and according to a recent study by Credit Suisse, there are approximately 1.7 million, “dollar millionaires” living in Germany.

       In this insane capitalist world, success means rich getting richer, and the rest can go to hell in handcart.

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THE SHINING EXAMPLE ISN'T SO SHINY.

         It is common practice for one state to play its people up against the people of another state to further its ends. Since the 2008 “crisis” most of the European states have lampooned the Greek people with comments about them being lazy, paying themselves too much, corrupt and avoid paying their taxes. Anything to try to justify the financial chaos that prevails across the continent. It is a case of being self righteous and having to bail-out others, we point fingers at each in turn. Greece, then Spain, Ireland and Italy and so it goes on. Of course Germany is held up as how the others should behave, hard working and prudent with their finances, but becoming tired at having to support those more foolhardy lesser people.

        However though we are told that Germany is doing it right and we should all try to follow its example, not all the Germany people see it that way. There is as much discontent and anger in Germany as in the rest of the capitalist Europe. People are struggling, people feel repressed, people can see through the smoke and mirrors of the system.

       All is not well in the example that is held up to the rest of Europe, poverty in Germany, like the rest of Europe, has been growing. This growing poverty for the majority of the population is matched by a staggering concentration of wealth at the top of society. The number of millionaires in Germany has risen in recent years to 830,000. In Germany in 1965, 1 in 75 children were in poverty by 2007 that had risen to 1 in 6. In Berlin 15.2% of adults receive welfare and 30.7% of children. During the period from 2005 to 2010 there was not a single city in the Ruhr area that did not experience social decline and stagnation. The pattern is the same as the rest of Europe, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, An article in a recent edition of Der Spiegel stated, “Never has the gap been so wide to the general population” and according to new statistics from the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) “For the bottom 50 percent of the population, very little has changed in terms of income for decades”.
      Under this system of capitalist exploitation, no matter how rich or how well balanced the books are of a particular country, it makes no difference to the people, they still suffer poverty and an ever widening gap between them and the small cabal of parasites that control all the wealth and power. Until we fix that problem, poverty will always be the lot of the ordinary people. 

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