My first ever bilingual poem, set to music by Sherlock.
Sahra Wagenknecht is a politician from Die Linke, a left wing party in Germany I have always identified with, created originally from the old East German Socialist Unity Party. It has always been far stronger in the East than the West but has recently been haemorrhaging support to Allianz Fur Deutschland, originally a 'free market' bosses party now cloaking itself in far right rhetoric.
Wagenknecht has accused Die Linke of neglecting its (principally East German) working class supporter base in favour of 'new left' policies more concerned with identity politics, and thus handing swathes of its former supporters to the AFD. She seems to be intending to form a new 'populist' left wing party to reclaim them. She speaks out in favour of a socialism which is directly concerned with working-class economic issues and has gathered a lot of support for doing so - but has attracted criticism for her stance on immigration, green issues and opposition to Russia.
In this poem I analyse the intensely complex issues involved in opposing right wing populism at the ballot box from a left wing perspective.
I did loads of gigs in the GDR before the Wall came down, perfected my German there and witnessed and participated in the left wing 'perestroika' movement (Vereingte Linke/United Left and others) inspired by Gorbachev which demanded more political democracy while keeping an independent socialist GDR and the economic democracy they already had - a society where basic requirements were provided to all. After the fall of the Wall they were annexed by extreme Western capitalism and, while they had more political freedoms, their economic security was completely destroyed in the most brutal fashion. Many people there have felt angry and betrayed ever since.
It has always been my contention that it is possible to combine a socialist economic structure with freedom of speech and that 'actually existing socialism' should have been reformed - not destroyed, its assets handed to oligarchs to spend on footballers and yachts. Given that we are currently living in a country where people are freezing, starving and unnecessarily dying in hospital while others wallow in wealth, we had/have a lot to learn from a country where the basic human needs of all were catered for: 'a minimal level of service' indeed.
lyrics
WAGENKNECHT
Sie haben euch vergessen
Sie haben euch verraten
Vierunddreissig Jahre spater
Habt ihr endlich was zu sagen
Ihr sucht eine Bewegung
Klar, sozial, direkt
Auferstanden aus Ruinen -
Aber Vorsicht, Wagenknecht
So long you’ve been forgotten
So long you’ve been betrayed
Now thirty four years later
There’s a statement to be made
You seek a brand new movement
Clear, social and direct
A rising from the ruins -
But be careful, Wagenknecht
Sie haben nie verstanden
Das war euer eigenes Land
Arbeit und Brot und Obdach
Das Leben fest geplannt
Zusammenhalt, Gemeinschaft
So lange schon vorbei
Ihr habt das nie vergessen
Und bleibt doch fest dabei
They never understood you
That this had been your land
You had work and food and shelter
Human needs so carefully planned
A community, a society
Now for so long in the past
Memories still not forgotten
You hold on to them so fast
Ihre Treuhandanstalt-Diebstahl
Hat eure Geschichte vernichtet
Ihre Ellbogengesellschaft
Hat euer Leben vergiftet
Ihr denkt immer noch so anders
Und wollt jetzt etwas Neues
Eine eigene Bewegung
Die sozial, gerecht und true ist
Their thief privatisations
Turned your history to dust
And their hard, me-first society
Wrecked your lifelong sense of trust
You still think in a different way
And you want something new
A grass roots social movement
That’s yours, and fair, and true
Identitat ist wichtig
Aber Armut ist es auch
Und Politik geht pleite
Wenn man nichts hat im Bauch
Also haltet jetzt zusammen
Auf zum nächsten Gefecht
Vierunddreissig Jahre spater -
Aber Vorsicht, Wagenknecht
Identity’s important
But poverty is too
And politics is bankrupt
When you’re in a food bank queue
It’s time to stand together
For the battle coming next
After thirty four years waiting
But be careful, Wagenknecht
AFD, Partei der Bonzen
Sie fuhren euch hinters Licht
Wie Kohl, nur Quatsch und Lüge
Solche Leute braucht ihr nicht
Ihr sucht ja etwas Neues
Inklusiv, voller Respekt
Also baut euch jetzt die Zukunft -
Aber vorsicht, Wagenknecht
AFD’s a bosses’ party
Profit vultures on the make
Just like Kohl, all lies and nonsense
You don’t need them, they’re just fake
You’re seeking a new movement
Inclusive and with respect
So go on and build the future -
But be careful, Wagenknecht
Einheitspartei zu bauen
Meint alles gut verstanden
Kein Kompromiss mit Rechten
Fremdenhass fur niemanden
Volker hor die Signale
Ich sag es ganz direkt
Kein Platz fur Nationalismus
Und vorsicht, Wagenknecht
To forge a brand new party
It must be understood
No deals done with the right wing
A common brotherhood
Then comrades come rally -
My words are quite direct
No place for nationalism
Be careful, Wagenknecht
Attila the Stockbroker. 40 years of hard hitting social surrealist spoken word and punk rock tinged with early music. 8
books of poetry, autobiography, 40 CDs/LPs, 3500 gigs in 24 countries...a long life earning his living doing what he loves. 'Heart on my Sleeve', a 40th anniversary LP is just out, and his Collected Works will be published by Cherry Red Books later this year....more
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