Berlin - The former Caritas Secretary-General Georg Cremer criticizes the way the debate about justice in Germany is being conducted. "I find that a too consumerist understanding of politics has spread," Cremer told "Der Spiegel".
Many citizens expect politics to accommodate their own wishes, based on the motto that what benefits them personally is just, according to Cremer. "We are not customers of a Lieferando state," he criticized.
Instead, citizens are the bearers of the democratic state. This also includes "responsibility for the big picture," he said.
"We are having an incredibly hard time wrestling with priorities," Cremer criticized, referring to the tight financial resources due to the military threat situation and the deficit infrastructure. "Everything that serves a good cause is considered just and declared indispensable," he added.
However, that is not an argument to end the debate about priorities. For example, the "Mütterrente" (mother's pension) can legitimately be seen as a measure for more justice. "The real question, however, is: What else could we finance with the necessary five billion euros per year that would be more effective?"
Cremer was the Secretary-General of the German Caritas Association for a long time and most recently a member of the pension commission, which presented its recommendations in June. He is the author of the book "Alles schrecklich ungerecht? Mythen, Halbwahrheiten, Fakten zum deutschen Sozialstaat" (Everything terribly unfair? Myths, half-truths, facts about the German social state) and was appointed co-chairman of the new commission on structural reforms in health insurance this week.
