Why Liz Truss’s Fall Is Scary Too Why Liz Truss’s Fall Is Scary Too

The phrase “Weimar Republic” is a symbol of political chaos and street violence. After the loss of the First World War and the absurd conditions imposed by the victorious powers in the Treaty of Versailles, Germany experienced political chaos and street violence. The heads of government surrendered to each other, while the Nazis and Communists beat their heads until they bled.

Because at the same time unemployment skyrocketed and people lost faith in the economy, first through hyperinflation and then through deflation, the desperate Germans finally chose Adolf Hitler.

Western democracies are on their way to Weimar again. Please note that this is not scaremongering or clickbait. Anyone denying this does so at their own risk.

The current chaos in London is a clear indication of this development. Four prime ministers were killed in a short time. Parliament is like a madhouse where the prisoners have seized power. There seems to be no end to the madness. Boris Johnson, the man who caused the chaos, has a real chance of returning to 10 Downing Street.

Lockdowns, the energy crisis and ongoing inflation have meant that economic conditions are also starting to resemble those of the 1930s. Food, energy and rent prices are skyrocketing and wages are no longer keeping up. Social unrest is probably only a matter of time. The railway workers have already gone on strike, others will follow.

Brexit and a rotten Conservative party have made things particularly dramatic in the UK right now. However, this should not hide the fact that developments towards Weimar can also be seen in all other Western democracies.

In Italy, post-fascists just won the elections. While the victory was clear, the new strong woman, Giorgia Meloni, struggles to form a government. She lacks suitable staff and her right-wing extremist buddies, the two super machos Matteo Salvini and Silvio Berlusconi, are already cutting her government seat before she can sit on it.

Like the British, the Italians suffer from inflation and economic stagnation. Because Putin has cut off the gas supply to Western Europe, they are also afraid that they will soon have to freeze. Until now, Italy was mainly dependent on Russian gas. In the Bel Paese, the willingness to support Ukraine is declining. For example, former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte wants to participate in a planned mass demonstration for peace in Ukraine on November 5.

The situation in France is similar, where the intensity of the strike is noticeably increasing. Tens of thousands demonstrated last Tuesday for wage increases. President Emmanuel Macron does not have a majority in parliament and is coming under increasing pressure.

Discontent is growing in Germany, especially in the east, because the government is said to do more for Ukraine than for the local population. In the Czech Republic, 70,000 people took to the streets weeks ago for the same reason.

But most worrying is the situation on the other side of the Atlantic. The US is not only the mother of modern democracy, it is also its protective power. They helped liberate Europe from the Nazis and, whatever one thinks of NATO, without them Stalin would have marched all the way to Lisbon after World War II.

American democracy is currently in grave danger. The November 8 midterm elections are on the cusp of a Republican victory, at least in the House of Representatives. Changing majorities are part of the game of democracy. However, it becomes problematic when the victor wants to abolish democracy.

This is exactly the goal of the new generation of the Grand Old Party. Republicans are no longer preoccupied with their core issues of tax cuts and law and order. Many of the newly elected MPs are defending Trump’s Big Lie while also unleashing a culture war against gays and transgenders. Some openly say they don’t care about democracy, that the US is just a republic.

The new Republicans very deliberately want to create Weimar-esque conditions. They want to wreak havoc, for example by preventing the debt ceiling from being raised, making the government incapacitated for work.

A typical and dangerous example of this new generation of Republicans is Kari Lake. The former TV host is about to become governor of the state of Arizona. Lake is not a crazy conspiracy theorist like Marjorie Taylor Greene. Rather, she’s a shrewd PR professional and adept at linking the big lie to inflation and crime. Lake has no problem throwing democracy overboard. If she wins, she wants to annul the 2020 election results.

Until recently, Republican extremists like Kari Lake seemed hopeless. That has changed. The latest polls point to a Republican victory. “Will the price of gas bring down democracy?” asks Paul Krugman in the New York Times, giving himself the disturbing answer: “The price of gas could indeed decide such an important election. It’s ridiculous – and very terrifying at the same time.”