Why Farmers Are Protesting The German Government: They Won’t Be Cash Cows

The air is getting awfully thin for Germany’s Socialist/Green government. Never in postwar history has a ruling government been so unpopular, and there’s a reason for that.

Tens of thousands of farmers and truckers have blocked major traffic arteries everywhere and paralyzed the country because of the government’s insatiable appetite for tax revenue, which it needs to pay for the massive Green New Deal to decarbonize Germany by 2040. [emphasis, links added]

Moreover, governments in Europe are attempting to liquidate agriculture and hand over all the farmland to huge, faceless corporations. Farmers are rising up and are not going to take it anymore.

What Is Angering The Farmers?

1. Higher fuel tax. The government announced it would raise the fuel tax on agricultural diesel. Farmers pay 20 cents a liter less than regular motorists. The government now says farmers have to pay the same price as everyone else. The problem, though, is that the fuel tax was initially imposed to pay for road maintenance and repair. And because tractors burn most of the fuel working the fields and not on the streets, the government gave the farmers a break. The government now wants to end this “subsidy”.
2. Vehicle registration tax. The government also wants to impose a vehicle registration tax on tractors and forestry vehicles. Up to now, these vehicles have been exempt, because again their use was mostly off-road. Here the government wants to charge a vehicle tax on tractors and foresty vehicles as well, and thus put an end to this “subsidy”.
3. Expanded highway tolls: Truckers are protesting the government’s plan to impose a highway toll on all vehicles that are 3.5 tons or heavier, beginning July 1, 2024.
4. Inflation: Higher energy prices, in large part from renewable energies, have fueled inflation and made it more difficult for farmers and truckers to earn a living.
5. New fertilizer regulation limits and restricts farmers in their use of fertilizers and aims to ensure “sustainable fertilizer practice, reliability for farmers, and clean waterways.

Other Facts:

1. 260,000 farms are operating in Germany. Many face financial hardship from the energy policies.
2. The conservative right-wing AfD and center-right CDU and CSU parties support the farmers.
3. The farmers and truckers are getting vast support from the population. Many are attending the protests.
4. Environmental groups, like Greenpeace, on the other hand, say the government’s controversial measures don’t go far enough and that agriculture is emitting too much greenhouse gases.
5. The farmers will protest for at least a week.
6. Despite the disruptions, the farmers and truckers enjoy support from a vast majority of the citizens. They know that they will end up footing the bill through higher prices.
7. Farmers from neighboring countries like Poland, Austria, Hungary, France, Holland, and Switzerland are joining the German protests.
8. The media and government first tried to ignore the protests, but now are attacking the farmers, some are even claiming Russia or Nazis are behind them.
9. In the meantime, news of German farmer’s protests is captivating the headlines. The genie is out of the bottle.
10. Germany faces even more chaos, as the train conductors of the country’s massive German railway are threatening to go on strike next week.
11. Only 17% of Germans say they are very satisfied or somewhat satisfied with the government. So there’s a real chance that the protests could even intensify and spread.

What Can Be Expected To Happen?

1. Don’t expect the government and complicit media to give in to the farmer’s demands. They are ideologically driven and are convinced they know what’s best for everyone. They don’t care what the vast majority want. Dissenters get dismissed as right-wing nutjobs.
2. The CDU/CSU center-right party, under the leadership of Angela Merkel, started the whole mess and there is no opposition (German RINOS).
3. Only the right-wing AfD party has taken on the role of opposition. Currently, they are polling at about 21-22% nationwide. over 30% in the East. There are calls to ban the party, because some claim they are “a danger to democracy.”

Tumultuous times in Germany and Europe.

Top image via YouTube screencap

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