Why Friedrich Merz Is Sealing Germany’s Coffin
Recently, Gregor Gysi made an observation that deserves far more attention than it has received. According to Gysi, Friedrich Merz’s political strategy is increasingly based on finding new groups of people to blame for Germany’s socio-economic problems rather than confronting the deeper causes of the country’s decline.
First it was immigrants and refugees.
Then it was the healthcare system.
Now it is Germany’s workforce.
Whether one agrees with Gregor Gysi on everything or not, his criticism exposes a troubling pattern. Whenever Germany faces a serious challenge, Merz appears more interested in identifying a convenient target than offering either a compelling vision for the future or consistent decisions aligned with clear political and ethical values.
The Refugees Who Helped Germany
Germany welcomed around one million refugees during the migration crisis of 2015 and 2016. The decision was controversial then and remains controversial today, stoked up by the nationalism of the AfD.
Yet ten years later, many of these refugees have integrated successfully. They have learned German, entered the labour market, started businesses, paid taxes, contributed to the pension system and become part of German society.
Some arrived as highly qualified professionals: doctors, engineers, academics and lawyers. Others filled essential jobs that Germany struggles to recruit for itself.
Germany’s demographic crisis is not a future problem. It is happening now. Employers across the country face labour shortages. The pension system depends on a shrinking workforce supporting a growing retired population.
Against this background, treating refugees primarily as a burden rather than as contributors makes little economic sense.
I recently thought of a young Syrian woman I know. She now speaks fluent German, as well as English and Arabic. She is completing a doctorate in law and has every prospect of becoming a highly productive member of German society.
Yet she is planning her future elsewhere, most likely in the United States.
Germany invested in her integration. Germany benefited from her talent. Germany may now lose her altogether.
That is not a success story. It is a failure of political imagination.
Scapegoating Healthcare
The same pattern appears in healthcare.
Germany undoubtedly faces major financial pressures in its health and social insurance systems. An ageing population, rising costs and economic stagnation create genuine challenges.
But the answer cannot simply be to reduce protections that millions of people rely upon.
The principle that families should have access to healthcare regardless of income has long been one of the strengths of the German social model. Weakening that principle may save money in the short term, but it risks creating greater social and economic costs in the future.
What is particularly striking is the contrast between the urgency applied to military spending and the hesitation shown towards investments in social infrastructure.
Politicians readily describe defence spending as an investment in the future. Yet healthcare, education and social stability are investments too.
A nation is not defended only by weapons. It is defended by healthy, educated and confident citizens.
The Myth of Working Longer
The latest target appears to be Germany’s workforce.
Merz has argued that Germans need to work more hours and remain economically active for longer. On the surface, this sounds practical and responsible.
In reality, it reflects a remarkably outdated understanding of productivity.
Human beings are not machines.
Productivity depends upon motivation, trust, leadership, skills, technology and working conditions. A well-managed and valued employee working thirty-five hours per week can often contribute more than an exhausted and disengaged employee working fifty-five.
The most successful economies do not necessarily have the longest working weeks. They have the most productive working hours.
Germany’s challenge is not primarily that its people are lazy. It is that investment in digitalisation, reducing bureaucracy, promoting infrastructure and innovation has lagged behind many competitors for years.
Blaming workers is easier than fixing structural problems. But it is also less effective.
Germany Needs Leadership, Not Scapegoats
Friedrich Merz undoubtedly possesses ambition. He looks like a statesman. He speaks confidently. He projects authority.
Yet genuine leadership requires more than authority.
It requires empathy.
It requires vision.
It requires values.
The CDU once prided itself on balancing economic responsibility with social responsibility. Today, that balance often seems absent. The willingness to embrace large-scale borrowing while simultaneously questioning social protections creates the impression not of strategic thinking but of political inconsistency.
Germany faces enormous challenges: demographic decline, economic stagnation, digital backwardness, labour shortages and growing political polarisation.
None of these problems will be solved by blaming refugees, healthcare recipients or workers.
They require something much rarer.
They require a government willing to unite rather than divide.
For all his political flaws, Gregor Gysi has long understood one simple truth: a society becomes stronger when it expands the circle of belonging rather than narrowing it. He truly is the best chancellor Germany never had.
Germany’s future will depend on whether more of its leaders understand that truth as well.
“When five people own more wealth than the poorer half of an entire nation, the problem is not refugees, nurses or workers. The problem is where the wealth has gone.”
— Gregor Gysi (paraphrased from his speeches on wealth inequality)