Germany's first-ever three-way coalition — comprising the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), Greens and neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP) — has collapsed, signalling the end of what the polls say is the most unpopular government of all time. In September, only 3% of respondents to a survey carried out by the pollster Allensbach Institute for Public Opinion Research said they believed this government was still good for Germany.
Yet studies such as the Happiness Atlas 2024, the German government's Equality Report and a new survey by the German Institute for Economic Research have found that, with inflation improving and the pandemic restrictions long past, people in Germany say they are increasingly satisfied with life.
John Kampfner, the Reuters news agency's former correspondent in Germany, has observed that the mood is always much worse than the actual situation in the country. He argues that Germans have a basic tendency to complain.
"This tendency to complain always gives people an excuse to exempt themselves from responsibility — it's a kind of paralysis," he said. Kampfner believes "Germans have become too comfortable. They have always had it very good — there was stability, and everything was solid. But there is no culture of innovation; of taking a risk; of starting something new. When it comes to digitalization, for example, they're stuck in the Middle Ages."
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Ivan Krastev, a Bulgarian........