Meet the Liberals- well, the German liberals

The Free Democratic Party is in Germany the liberal party. A very interesting thought because if an American was to look into their liberal platforms they would be in for a huge shock. The "liberals" here pretty much conservatives to Americans- their slogans are market oriented on their posters- "Taxes down, jobs up", "More FDP, less Beaureaucrats". Whoa! And they're liberal? Hell, Bush's best friends say that everyday. I thought I got a weird reaction when I told my host family that I was "Sehr Liberal." In Germany that pretty much means you are a free-market academic (half of the candidates had the title of Doktor before their name) with lots of money so you pretty much hate taxes. Liberalism is definitely a different meaning here- and why there is a difference between America and Germany is a very worthy invesitgation. What is the difference? Germans definitely keep their meaning literal- open economy with less government. I guess also that social liberlism is implied too- but social issues in Germany are not as unsettled as in America. There is no liberal-conservative divide on abortion or gay marriage. For Germans, liberalism has its roots in the academics in German universities and middle class who were fighting for more democratic government in the 19th Century. That in a sense the very essence of liberalism. Then what is it for Americans? Sure there is civil rights and the cultural issues, but in a sense almost Americans are liberals. Our country was founded by liberals, who wanted a free and open society. So have pride you American liberals- that is why we are patriots who love the very ideals of our country.
So I have been very fortunate to be in Germany during the Bundestag Wahlkampf. I have gotten to see and experience another democracy function firsthand. I have also been fortunate now to see two of Deutscchland's leading politicians speak. From connections in the language school that I am attending in Radolfzell- I and a few others got to attend a FDP rally- I have a couple of pics of this. The man is Dr. Guido Westerwelle- the Vorsitzender of the Party- chairman and Kanzler candidate. He has no shot at being Kanzler- but the party has a chance to form a coalition with the Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social (Bavarian sister party of the CDU), to be a part of the ruling government- giving the party a much more power it previously had. A Schwarz-Gelb (Black-Yellow) coalition will be much further conservative in its reforms than the Rot-Grün (Red-Green) coaltion that currently governs with Gerhard Schröder's SPD and Joschka Fischer of the Green Party. To an extent the policies of the CDU-FDP take SPD-Grün and go further right with them. And the SPD has taken a beating for those policies- I wonder how much Germans will want what the CDU. is selling But the big issue really is not about who is further to the left or to the right in Germany (in America we can afford that luxury), unemployment is high and jobs are becoming harder and harder to find. The FDP certainly has their answer- but its base has remained rich and academic, let the rich have their money and see what happens. Good luck FDP- can American liberals have their name back?
P.S. Biggest impression from the event other than how rich everyone was how much they aboslutely hated the Greens. I think about every few sentences Joschka Fischer was mentioned and promptly derided. It was interesting to see the one minor party wear its petty rivalry with one of the other minor parties so prominently on its sleeve.