More class struggle!

Farewell letter from the Green Youth has it all

The spokespersons of the Green Youth: Katharina Stolla and Svenja Appuhn

(Bild: picturedesk.com/dpa)

The German Greens are currently busy cannibalizing themselves. A few hours after the party leadership, the federal executive committee of the youth association also resigned. The young Green politicians broke up with their party in a letter that is likely to cause further controversy ...

"Dear friends," reads the beginning of the letter, which resembles a reckoning. In it, the young Green Party members state that they feel betrayed by their own party. Two main points of criticism emerge from their farewell letter: firstly, their older party colleagues are kowtowing to "the rich". Secondly, the ecological party would degenerate into a uniform mash. No corners, no edges, but compromises.

The spokespersons of the Green Youth: Katharina Stolla and Svenja Appuhn

(Bild: picturedesk.com/dpa)

The decision to leave the party had been a long time in the making; the young politicians around Katharina Stolla and Svenja Appuhn had waited until the elections had gone wrong. For reasons of fairness, as they emphasize: "Because we were worried that it would have overshadowed the already difficult election campaigns."

Read the entire farewell letter: 

"Respect" alone is not enough
Even the resignation from the Green Party leadership would not have changed her decision. Although there was "respect" for this, a personnel realignment would not turn the Greens upside down in "our interests". "In the long term, it is not possible to be part of a party and promote a fundamentally different policy to that implemented by your own party at the same time," the letter states.

Ricarda Lang and Omid Nouripour are no longer party leaders of the Greens.

(Bild: AFP/Axel Heimken)

The consequence: immediate resignation from the party and a handover of the baton by October 20 at the national congress of the Green Youth. The letter also offers moral absolution. "It is important for us to emphasize that we do not consider you to be bad people." The best minds in the youth organization are to be made an offer "to do politics with us in a different place". No one should be put under pressure.

Young politicians call for class warfare
The fact that the work in the traffic light would tear the Greens apart and that there would be a tough struggle for green positions was not enough in the end. "We know that - and we're going anyway." A "strong left-wing force" is needed again. In principle, they are willing to talk, but: "We understand if you are angry with us, if you feel let down by us or no longer want to talk to us."

On Thursday, the young politicians specified exactly what they want to do on a specially created website. In a nutshell: class struggle - "rich and poor, top and bottom", as they write themselves.

The traffic light is a disappointment, "effective criticism" only comes from the right. "The rich" would lean back "while the right cheers on the poorest to fight over the crumbs." The weakest would allow themselves to be played off against each other, the young politicians claim to have realized.

Economy to be turned upside down
They now want to make life a little more difficult for energy companies, hospital groups, real estate companies and many others. They are calling for a fight against greed. The young politicians around Stoll and Appuhn have already attracted attention in the past with their nationalization fantasies. "Anyone who refuses to ask the rich to pay will end up making the general public pay. We see this particularly in climate protection."

Instead of fighting against "a system" that always produces winners and losers, the Greens are increasingly resigned to managing the status quo. With a new left-wing movement, they now want to put the economy "at the service of the people" and take care of their concerns. Supporting the tightening of asylum laws would show how much the Greens had lowered their standards. 

In their resignation statement, they say: "We want to help ensure that there can soon be a strong left-wing party in Germany. A party that is not like all the others." The final words sound like a threat: "We are not going to stop doing politics. We're just getting started now."