A growing number of groups in Germany say they are being disadvantaged or ignored, including eastern Germans, rural residents, working people in the middle of the income scale and welfare recipients. Young people have now joined that list following the latest protests. Experts have long argued that their interests receive insufficient attention in areas such as pensions, climate policy and public debt.
However, the demonstrations associated with “Gen Z regelt” did not produce a clearly defined political agenda. The organisers’ stated demands combine climate protection with broad calls for less surveillance. Opposition to military service was also prominent, even though compulsory service has not yet been approved and previous generations, including the much-criticised baby boomers, also completed military or civilian service.
The slogans and banners seen at Saturday’s demonstrations made the picture even less consistent. They included sweeping criticism of the government, anti-capitalist messages, concerns about climate change and complaints about high petrol prices. Palestinian flags were widespread, while the presence of the “Grannies against the Right” movement was also reported in some locations.
One issue was notably absent: pensions. The suspension of the demographic factor in pension calculations was extended last autumn, meaning that the working population continues to bear the full cost of demographic change. Meanwhile, the federal government’s planned pension reform, intended to limit the rise in contributions, remains caught up in a dispute within the governing coalition.
The mixture of demands resembles the diffuse dissatisfaction expressed in other protests and in electoral choices. AfD supporters, for example, cite a similarly varied set of grievances, although their concerns may include migrants, inadequate bus services and the disappearance of local butcher shops rather than conscription, schools or Palestine.
What these groups share is the sense that they are not being sufficiently recognised and are being systematically disadvantaged. The complaint that politicians should finally do something for “us” could come from an eastern German pensioner who votes for the AfD or from a young supporter of the urban left.
The analysis links this broad discontent to a society accustomed for decades to relatively steady economic growth, which has now failed to materialise for seven years. The resources available for redistribution are no longer expanding and may shrink further because of demographic and climate-related pressures. Yet Germany has not adapted to a post-growth society; many people continue to demand material improvements that the economy can no longer provide.
This presents a major challenge for politicians. They have only limited influence over the causes of economic stagnation, and other Western countries face similar problems. The protesters’ demands are also difficult to translate into policy because they remain so unspecific. Unlike the climate movement’s call for climate legislation, it is unclear what concrete political response should follow the slogan “Gen Z regelt”.
Sources: FAZ.