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Not so long ago, Robert Habeck was the most popular politician in Germany. The Greens regretted not appointing him as chancellor candidate, but Annalena Baerbock, who had been unhappy during the election campaign. Otherwise, they complained, it would not be Olaf Scholz, but their representative at the chancellery.

Nowadays you have to scroll far down the periodically surveyed popularity chart of German politicians until you come across the name Robert Habeck. The former star has become a scorned pariah, with everyone believing they can wipe their dirty boots on him.

The peasant gang strikes

Recently a horde of angry farmers did this. They prevented the Minister of Economic Affairs from leaving a ferry in the small port town of Schlüttsiel in Schleswig-Holstein. Habeck was returning from a short Christmas vacation on a nearby island. He would have liked to talk to the protesting farmers – or at least a delegation of them – but the police advised him against it. The assessment of the situation was that the peasant gang was too dangerous.

The behavior of the peasant gang was too much, even for those who usually defeated Habeck with gusto. “The farmers’ action exacerbates the climate of debate in Germany in a way reminiscent of deeply divided America or even France,” the NZZ said, noting that Habeck, as agriculture minister in Schleswig-Holstein, also “ de “We have even gained some respect from farmers who predominantly do not vote green.”

In fact, Habeck is extremely unsuitable as an example of an elitist politician who has lost touch with the common man. The Minister of Economic Affairs is not in favor with the people, as right-wing populists often do. But he never seems arrogant or aloof and usually expresses himself clearly and thoughtfully. His video on the war in the Middle East is one of the best released by a politician on this sensitive issue.

Nevertheless, protesting farmers are currently carrying straw men to the gallows, which are intended to symbolize Habeck or his party colleague, Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir. They shout the slogans against the elites and the ‘lying press’ that have been known since the We Are the People protests in Dresden or the Schwurbler demonstrations.

At the same time, the claim about the difficult fate of a peasant population enslaved by the traffic light government is being spread, even though this is, according to experts, a bad lie. The official representatives of the farmers distance themselves from the right-wing mafia, but maintain their demands and want to continue the demonstrations until they are met.

What is it about? Because the Constitutional Court prohibited the surpluses from the Corona Fund from being used for investments in the ecological restructuring of society, the government was forced to implement a strict austerity program. Farmers are also affected, albeit only marginally. The government has already withdrawn most of the originally imposed austerity measures, but wants to stick with subsidized agricultural diesel.

However, the farmers want to exploit the rampant dissatisfaction with the traffic light government to achieve all their goals. This dissatisfaction may be at least partially justified. The Minister of Economic Affairs also seemed anything but confident at times, especially with the controversial heating law, where he had to embarrassingly back down to achieve at least a partial goal.

But Germany’s problems currently do not lie primarily with an incompetent government. Rather, the crux of the matter is that this government – ​​and especially the Minister of Economic Affairs – must reconcile issues that simply cannot be reconciled.

The Germans want an ecological restructuring of the economy and society. Rightly so, because global warming has become the most important long-term challenge of this century. However, such restructuring cannot be managed with a normal state budget. That is why the US and France, for example, are willing to accept higher government spending to finance this restructuring.

In Germany, on the other hand, the Constitutional Court prevented exactly this with regard to the debt brake – although legally correct, but economically nonsensical. The necessary restructuring cannot be achieved with a ‘black zero’, especially since the German economy is not currently in crisis, but is at least in a low state. Habeck also admitted this to the ‘Economist’ last fall.

From today’s perspective, it was probably a mistake for the traffic light government to claim to combine ecological restructuring and debt brakes. Today she receives the receipt for this and Habeck has become the favorite bogeyman who beats everyone. The peasant gang goes too far and brings back bad memories of times long past.