INTL German Farmers Begin 8 Day Massive Protest Against Increased Government Taxation and Alarmist Climate Agenda

Plain Jane

Just Plain Jane

German Farmers Begin 8 Day Massive Protest Against Increased Government Taxation and Alarmist Climate Agenda​


January 8, 2024 | Sundance | 208 Comments
You will likely hear the term “farm subsidies” as Western media claim the German farmers are protesting the decisions by government. However, what they are protesting is not a hand-out of government funds, but rather the addition/increase of taxes for diesel fuel and farming equipment.


The planned eight-day countrywide protests by agricultural workers began today. The actions include motorway blockades and are described by the head of the farmers’ association as “the like of which the country has never experienced before.” The government is planning to increase taxes on Diesel fuel and farm equipment as part of the German “Build Back Better” climate agenda.

Additionally, you might remember the Canadian “trucker protests,” when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his left-wing government tried to deflect attention from the justified motive of the truckers by claiming they were Nazis and part of the right-wing extremist conspiracy to destroy government.

Well, that same approach is taking place in Germany with government officials claiming the German farmers are backed by right-wing Nazis.

BERLIN, Jan 8 (Reuters) – German farmers kicked off a week of nationwide protests against subsidy cuts on Monday, blocking roads with tractors and piling misery on Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition as it struggles to fix a budget mess and contain rising far-right forces.

Convoys of tractors and trucks gathered on roads in sub-zero temperatures in nearly all 16 federal states, while protesters
clashed with police and leading politicians warned that the unrest could be co-opted by extremists.



The protests have forced Scholz’s unpopular government into a tricky balancing act, trying to keep a lid on the unrest while sticking to fiscal discipline after a constitutional court ruling in November threw its spending plans into disarray.

“No beer without farmers,” read one protest banner, while another tractor had a poster from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party that read “Our farmers come first.”

Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, whose return from holiday last week was disrupted by furious farmers trying to storm the ferry he was on, warned in a video message on Monday that farmers’ right to protest could be exploited by fringe groups.

“Calls are circulating with coup fantasies, extremist groups are forming and ethnic-nationalist symbols are being openly displayed,” said Habeck. (read more)


According to the German government, the farmers are revolting…

 

Plain Jane

Just Plain Jane

German Truckers Team Up With Farmers To Raise Hell Over Disappearing Fuel Subsidies​


BY TYLER DURDEN
TUESDAY, JAN 09, 2024 - 02:45 AM
German truckers joined farmers for a week of protests over a government plan to scrap tax breaks on diesel used in agriculture in order to 'combat climate change,' after Chancellor Olaf Scholz's three-party coalition announced plans last month to nix a car tax exemption for farming vehicles as well as diesel tax breaks.

Protesters in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin parked tractors and displayed signs such as 'No farmer, no food, no future'.
Photo: Christian Charisius/dpa via AP

The government announcement is part of a plan to try and fix a 17-billion-euro (US$18.6 billion) hole in Germany's 2024 budget, AP reports.

View: https://twitter.com/EndWokeness/status/1744337878656614467?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1744337878656614467%7Ctwgr%5E5d830d45e7816631dd3c4c36d936eee07950b964%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fgeopolitical%2Fgerman-truckers-team-farmers-raise-hell-over-fuel-subsidies



On Thursday, the government walked back part of the plan, announcing that while the car tax exemption would remain, cuts in diesel tax breaks would be staggered over three years. This did not calm German farmers, whose Association demanded a full reversal, and said it would move forward with a "week of action" starting Monday, in which farmers used tractors to block entry roads to highways early in the day.

There was disruption due to convoys of tractors in and around some cities, too. Production at a Volkswagen auto plant in Emden in northwestern Germany was stopped because access roads were blocked, preventing employees from getting to work, German news agency dpa reported.
Among demonstrations across the country, several hundred tractors and other vehicles gathered in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.
The protests are under scrutiny after a group of farmers on Thursday prevented Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck from disembarking a ferry in a small North Sea port as he returned from a personal trip to an offshore island. -AP
And of course, authorities are warning that 'far-right groups and others could try and capitalize on the protests. (Maybe Russia too!?).

Germany's budgetary changes included the controversial cuts, which was 'required' after the country's highest court annulled an earlier decision to redirect nearly US$66 billion originally meant to mitigate fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic in order to combat climate change and modernize the country.


Surely this won't lead to more rampant inflation.


View: https://twitter.com/PeterSweden7/status/1744331315141316980?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1744331315141316980%7Ctwgr%5E5d830d45e7816631dd3c4c36d936eee07950b964%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fgeopolitical%2Fgerman-truckers-team-farmers-raise-hell-over-fuel-subsidies
 

mistaken1

Has No Life - Lives on TB
This is not a left-wing protest therefore it will be ignored by the government and media same as every other non-left-wing protest anywhere in the west.

If it cannot be ignored then the government will crackdown on the protest arresting and dispersing the participants as we have seen in canada, france and the US (if need be seed the protests with violent antifa or other government quislings to justify the 'crackdown').

I wonder what the left-wing politicians would do if the farmers instead of protesting went on strike and ceased all farming operations?
 

Carl2

Pass it forward...
German government wants the voters to believe that fuel tax exemption for farming equipment is a "subsidy". . . It would be a large cost increase for farmers if removed.
 

WFK

Senior Something
This is a huge protest, yet the silence from our media is deafening….
This is indeed big, especially the blockage in Berlin's inner city by agricultural vehicles (DIESEL driven) that you would never see there. The fact that the truckers seem to join is big too.
As a note: when Reuter's News Service writes about "sub-zero temperatures"
they really mean sub-FREEZING temperatures, so below 32 deg Fahrenheit.
(Zero degrees has a different meaning in Celsius units.)
I wonder if we are going to hear anything about those "right wing extremists" on MSM.
 

Plain Jane

Just Plain Jane

MASSIVE PUSHBACK – German Railway Workers Join Farmer Protest – German and Polish Truckers Providing Additional Support​


January 10, 2024 | Sundance | 151 Comments
Keep watching this story as much as possible folks. It might be difficult to find the details because Western corporate media do not want to cover the specifics, but the pushback deep inside the EU is well organized, planned and strong.

On day one, the German farmers began their protest, and began blocking transport hubs, main arteries and government buildings around the country.

On day #2, a large number of Polish truckers crossed the border to provide additional support and block the roads and border crossings.

Today, on day #3 of the protest, the German railway workers have joined.

You might remember the “solidarity” movement from the 1980s when the general working class in Poland took to the streets and triggered mass protests – eventually forcing the collapse of the governing structure. Well, here we are 40 years later, and a multi-nation force is aligned in the effort to duplicate the outcome. This is massive pushback against the globalist and WEF system.

The railway strike forces transport companies to use trucking. The truckers are supporting the farmers. The farmers are blocking the roads. This is a multidimensional approach, well thought out and well planned. Do not disregard what is taking place and understand there are many EU politicians watching closely. Germany is by far the largest economy in the EU.



[MEANA] – […] One of the key elements of the protests involves farmers organizing blockades on motorways and participating in slow-moving convoys. The discontent within the farming community was previously demonstrated in a mass protest held in Berlin in mid-December, prompting the government to make partial concessions. In response to the outcry, Berlin agreed to retain the preferential tax treatment of agricultural vehicles and postponed the cuts to diesel tax breaks until 2026.

Despite these concessions, farmers argue that the government’s measures are insufficient, leading to the announcement of an ‘Action Week’ featuring daily protests nationwide, scheduled from January 8. The farmers, represented by Joachim Rukwied, head of the farmers association DBV, insist on a complete reversal of the proposed cuts without any conditions.

Rukwied anticipates widespread participation, with tens of thousands of tractors converging at rallies across Germany. (more)




GERMANY – Nationwide strikes brought German transport to a near standstill Wednesday, with railway workers on a three-day stoppage and farmers on tractors blocking autobahns in a bitter protest over subsidy cuts.

The ill-tempered sector disputes mark the start of what is expected to be a challenging year for Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s unwieldy three-way government as it struggles with a weak economy and sinking popularity.

The GDL train drivers union called the strike on cargo as well as passenger routes after talks with public rail operator Deutsche Bahn hit an impasse. The company said 80 percent of its long-distance trains weren’t running.

Deutsche Bahn warned of “massive” disruptions to service until Friday evening, urging travellers to “avoid any unnecessary journeys” during the strike.

At Berlin’s eerily deserted central station, student Philipp Kolb, 22, said the strike had complicated his travel plans. “I was supposed to take the train to Hamburg at 6 am,” he told AFP. “Now I have to push the trip back by three hours.” However passenger Piotr Bulej said he sympathised with striking drivers in the face of high inflation eating into real wages. “People work a lot more hours with less money. The prices rise every day, every week,” he said. “One has to protest, one has to say that.” ‘Continue the fight’. (more)




GERMANY – The nationwide blockade being launched by angry German farmers has received the support of Polish truckers, with some driving across the border to express their solidarity.

Farmers in Germany are taking their anger to the streets over the economic and agricultural policies announced by Olaf Scholz’s government. […] The protests, expected to last for the whole week, are being supported also by truckers coming from neighboring Poland, clips and reports emerging from social media suggest. (more)


View: https://twitter.com/mazzenilsson/status/1745190352695279767?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1745190352695279767%7Ctwgr%5Eabbbed82b80a475588a1239f9bea1575901d0d76%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftheconservativetreehouse.com%2Fblog%2F2024%2F01%2F10%2Fmassive-pushback-german-railway-workers-join-farmer-protest-german-and-polish-truckers-providing-additional-support%2F


Misplaced corrective action, regardless of motivation, is neither prudent nor wise. This approach by the blue collar and white collar middle class is EXACTLY THE RIGHT APPROACH. This is the way to bring the elite ruling class to their knees. This is what they fear:



We are the workforce.

We are the backbone of industry, the people who keep it all functioning, the farmers, truckers, builders, diggers and blue-collar workforce that keeps everything functioning.

We are the people they will never fully control. We speak in languages they do not understand, and we absorb targeted ridicule as fuel.

We are the movers of goods, the truckers, the farmers, the nameless people behind the skilled trades that keep what they call American society moving.

We are the people who grow the food, pick the food, transport the food, stock the food, cook the food and facilitate the life they live.

We are a visible, yet disregarded, insurgent force within their sphere of life that is never considered, yet we control the outcomes of every moment they value.

We pick up the trash, answer the phones, run cables to their devices, mow their lawns, solve their problems, control the flow of essential services and keep our heads below the radar.

We are the majority.

We are a self-reliant, freedom loving, normally peaceful and God-fearing assembly.

We drive them to their destination; we are comfortably out of mind until needed, and yet we are irreplaceable for the things they require.

We are armed with gloves, tractors, trucks, tools, hammers, pens, rulers, mice, pickup trucks, laptops, post-it notes, stickers and alternate forms of messaging that circumvent the control mechanisms deployed to create our silence.

We are inside every facility, every institution, every meeting, every moment of their existence – and we notice everything.

We have eyes of mice and ears of elephants. We are there when they do not expect, and we melt away before they notice our appearance.

We are smart, strategic, highly intelligent and carry a brutally obvious and pragmatic common sense that finds optimal solutions to everything.

We identify our tribe immediately and without conversation.

We see what they hide, we hear what they whisper, we decipher their codes, and we understand the complexity they create in their effort to conceal.

We control the physical world that operates around every element of society, and we value real and tangible assets.

We do not sit around pontificating eloquently about philosophic nuances; we get shit done.

We are the people who facilitate their ability to take us for granted, and we do so without issue, resentment or desire for recognition.

We are optimistic, affable, kind, generous, friendly, loyal, warm and quietly spiritual in purpose.

We are polite, considerate and slow to anger.

We prefer to be left alone. However, pushed entirely far enough, decisions are reached. Right now, we are tenuously staring with deepened gaze.

We are increasingly pissed off…. Big Time!

In every town, village and hamlet we are encountering the same conversation. On every porch, in every shop, at every event, the topic is the same.

Support every effort that begins!

View: https://twitter.com/VigilantFox/status/1745145650826608940?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1745145650826608940%7Ctwgr%5Eabbbed82b80a475588a1239f9bea1575901d0d76%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftheconservativetreehouse.com%2Fblog%2F2024%2F01%2F10%2Fmassive-pushback-german-railway-workers-join-farmer-protest-german-and-polish-truckers-providing-additional-support%2F


View: https://twitter.com/JamesMelville/status/1745035334759403609?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1745035334759403609%7Ctwgr%5Eabbbed82b80a475588a1239f9bea1575901d0d76%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftheconservativetreehouse.com%2Fblog%2F2024%2F01%2F10%2Fmassive-pushback-german-railway-workers-join-farmer-protest-german-and-polish-truckers-providing-additional-support%2F



(More tweets at the link.)
 

night driver

ESFP adrift in INTJ sea
1) I am INCREDIBLY GLAD that I am NOT downstream of the German Farmer's supply chain.
2) Should this devolve to OTHER much more LOCAL supply chains things will go Pear-shaped very fast.
3) I wish them luck in their efforts.
 

zeker

Has No Life - Lives on TB

German Truckers Team Up With Farmers To Raise Hell Over Disappearing Fuel Subsidies​


BY TYLER DURDEN
TUESDAY, JAN 09, 2024 - 02:45 AM
German truckers joined farmers for a week of protests over a government plan to scrap tax breaks on diesel used in agriculture in order to 'combat climate change,' after Chancellor Olaf Scholz's three-party coalition announced plans last month to nix a car tax exemption for farming vehicles as well as diesel tax breaks.

Protesters in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin parked tractors and displayed signs such as 'No farmer, no food, no future'.
Photo: Christian Charisius/dpa via AP

The government announcement is part of a plan to try and fix a 17-billion-euro (US$18.6 billion) hole in Germany's 2024 budget, AP reports.

View: https://twitter.com/EndWokeness/status/1744337878656614467?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1744337878656614467%7Ctwgr%5E5d830d45e7816631dd3c4c36d936eee07950b964%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fgeopolitical%2Fgerman-truckers-team-farmers-raise-hell-over-fuel-subsidies



On Thursday, the government walked back part of the plan, announcing that while the car tax exemption would remain, cuts in diesel tax breaks would be staggered over three years. This did not calm German farmers, whose Association demanded a full reversal, and said it would move forward with a "week of action" starting Monday, in which farmers used tractors to block entry roads to highways early in the day.


And of course, authorities are warning that 'far-right groups and others could try and capitalize on the protests. (Maybe Russia too!?).

Germany's budgetary changes included the controversial cuts, which was 'required' after the country's highest court annulled an earlier decision to redirect nearly US$66 billion originally meant to mitigate fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic in order to combat climate change and modernize the country.


Surely this won't lead to more rampant inflation.


View: https://twitter.com/PeterSweden7/status/1744331315141316980?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1744331315141316980%7Ctwgr%5E5d830d45e7816631dd3c4c36d936eee07950b964%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fgeopolitical%2Fgerman-truckers-team-farmers-raise-hell-over-fuel-subsidies
did I just hear a horn honk?

they better not tell trudeau

honk honk :whistle:
 

Plain Jane

Just Plain Jane

Germany’s Scholz warns of extremists stoking rage as farmers protest and discontent is high​

FILE - Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz makes a government statement in the Bundestag, Berlin, Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is calling for calm and a readiness to accept compromises as the country faces protests by farmers angry about a plan to cut their fuel subsidies. He warned Saturday of a danger from extremists stoking rage against a backdrop of wider discontent. (Kay Nietfeld/dpa via AP, File)

FILE - Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz makes a government statement in the Bundestag, Berlin, Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is calling for calm and a readiness to accept compromises as the country faces protests by farmers angry about a plan to cut their fuel subsidies. He warned Saturday of a danger from extremists stoking rage against a backdrop of wider discontent. (Kay Nietfeld/dpa via AP, File)
Read More
BY GEIR MOULSON
Updated 6:12 AM EST, January 13, 2024
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BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for calm and a readiness to accept compromises on Saturday as the country faces protests by farmers angry about a plan to cut their fuel subsidies. He warned of extremists stoking rage against a backdrop of wider discontent.

Farmers have blocked major roads and snarled traffic across the country with their tractors as part of a week of protests against the plan to scrap tax breaks on diesel used in agriculture. They went ahead with the demonstrations although the government watered down its original plan, saying that a car tax exemption for farming vehicles would be retained and the cuts in the diesel tax breaks would be staggered over three years.

The German chancellor said in a video message that “we took the farmers’ arguments to heart” and insisted the government came up with “a good compromise,” though farmers continue to insist on fully reversing the subsidy cuts. He also said officials will discuss “what else we can do so that agriculture has a good future.”


The plan to scrap the tax breaks resulted from the need to fill a large hole in the 2024 budget. The farmers’ protests come at a time of deep general discontent with the center-left Scholz’s three-party government, which has become notorious for frequent public squabbles. Scholz acknowledged concerns that go well beyond farming subsidies, saying that crises, conflicts and worries about the future are unsettling people.

“Arguments belong to democracy,” Scholz said. “But I know, including from personal experience of recent months, that arguments can wear people down and stoke uncertainty. We must improve this year.”


Scholz added that compromises are also an essential part of democracy. But now, he said, “rage is being stoked deliberately; with a gigantic reach, extremists are decrying every compromise, including on social media, and poisoning every democratic debate.”
“This is a toxic mixture that must concern us, which very much preoccupies me too,” he said.

The far-right Alternative for Germany party has gained strength over the past year and is currently in second place in national polls, with support of over 20% — behind the mainstream center-right opposition bloc but ahead of the parties in Scholz’s coalition. Germany faces European Parliament elections in June and three state elections in September in the formerly communist east, where Alternative for Germany is particularly strong.

Authorities have warned that far-right groups and others could try to capitalize on the farmers’ protests, and the demonstrations faced scrutiny after a much-criticized earlier incident in which a group of farmers prevented Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck from disembarking a ferry in a small North Sea port as he returned from a personal trip to an offshore island.

Scholz thanked the head of the German Farmers’ Association for distancing himself clearly from “extremists and some copycats who call for an ‘uprising’ and waffle about ‘overthrowing the system.’”

“If protests that are legitimate in themselves tip over into sweeping rage or contempt for democratic processes and institutions, then we all lose,” he said. “Only those who despise our democracy will benefit.”




imp
 

Plain Jane

Just Plain Jane
Interesting context from France.


French farmers’ union backs country-wide protests in Germany​

By Hugo Struna | Euractiv France | translated by Daniel Eck

Est. 4min
Jan 11, 2024
shutterstock_2124042032-800x450.jpg

"Our compensation measures are quite good for our farmers [...] We will lose 35% of our tax benefits in 2030, while the Germans will lose 100% in 2026! Germany's 'green' agriculture minister has led our colleagues towards blocking systems", added FNSEA General Secretary Hervé Lapie on the sidelines of the conference. [Leitenberger Photography / Shutterstock]
Euractiv is part of the Trust Project >>>
Languages: Français | Deutsch
The director of French farming union FNSEA backed the ongoing farmer protests across the border in Germany, adding that while the root causes of the protests are the same, the particulars of the disputes differ across the countries’ borders.
Read the original French story here.

The large-scale protests by German farmers, which have been raging across the country since Monday (8 January) and have caused serious traffic disruption, are an echo of a movement that took place in France in November, FNSEA director Arnaud Rousseau said on Wednesday.

“These movements all have the same root cause: the growing gap between the reality of farmers’ practices on the ground and the administrative decisions centralised in Brussels, which are creating a revolt,” said Rousseau.

In the “On marche sur la tête” (“We are walking on our heads”) movement that took place in November, around 10,000 signs were turned around so that cars entering towns and cities would see the signs facing down.

Though Berlin cutting the tax exemption on diesel fuel for non-road use appears to have been the final straw for German farmers to agitate, they are also increasingly wary of EU regulations, such as increasing environmental standards, more bureaucracy and EU free trade agreements, which threaten to undermine farmers’ competitiveness.

“What brings us closer together is the questioning of this European vision, not the Green Deal, which raises questions about the necessary transition, but the ‘degrowth’ part of the vision of production,” stressed Rousseau, who says he is in regular contact with his German counterparts from the main German farmers’ union and organiser of the protests, the DBV.

Rousseau also believes these events have a European dimension.

In the Netherlands, for instance, they started against the backdrop of the nitrogen crisis, while in Poland and Romania, protests erupted because of the influx of cheaper Ukrainian products onto national markets – issues that are also common to France, as Rousseau notes: “55% of the chicken consumed in France is now imported [partly from Ukraine], so we are worried about French poultry production.”

Franco-German differences​

However, Rousseau was keen to point out that the situation, particularly concerning non-road diesel, is not comparable to that of France, saying he was pleased to have avoided the German “pitfall” that had sparked the uproar.

In Germany, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government announced that it would abolish the tax break for agricultural diesel in 2024 to help plug the budget deficit, although farmers’ anger forced him to concede a more gradual deadline of 2026, which was not enough to end the protests.

While France launched the same measure to decarbonise the economy, the French Finance Ministry granted a six-year delay – instead of three in Germany – following negotiations with stakeholders (including the FNSEA).

French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire also announced in September that taxes on diesel would remain limited, and that tax compensation measures would be implemented.

“Our compensation measures are quite good for our farmers […] We will lose 35% of our tax benefits in 2030, while the Germans will lose 100% in 2026! Germany’s ‘green’ agriculture minister has led our colleagues towards blocking systems,” added FNSEA General Secretary Hervé Lapie on the sidelines of the conference.

While some departmental sections of the FNSEA took part in the German protests on Monday (8 January), as France 3 Grand Est reported, with around 20 tractors, the FNSEA has no plans to join the movement, Lapie confirmed.

The German farmers and other professional groups, such as rail workers, will demonstrate throughout the weekend before the mass rally on 15 January.

“We’re in full support,” Rosseau said.

German transport to be hit by mass strikes as train drivers to protest too

Germany’s train drivers’ union announced the start of nationwide strikes on Wednesday, adding to the traffic chaos as the showdown between farmers and the government over farm subsidies continues.


[Edited by Nathalie Weatherald]
 

SageRock

Veteran Member
Fair use cited.


The German farmers are greatly angry and there are a lot of them: An early report from the gathering great farmers' rally in Berlin

The German farmers are greatly angry and there are a lot of them: An early report from the gathering great farmers' rally in Berlin​


EUGYPPIUS
JAN 14, 2024

We are now a week into the great German farmers’ protest, and the main event is set for tomorrow in Berlin. 10,000 demonstrators are expected; the rally will begin at 11:30am. Speakers will include Johann Rukwied, President of the German Farmers’ Association, and also Finance Minister Christian Lindner. I doubt he will be well received.

I’ve traveled to the capital to report on these events in person. The tractors are slowly collecting on the Street of 17 June, between the Siegessäule and the Brandenburger Tor. As of about 11am this morning, hundreds had already arrived:

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A great many more are expected. Some farmers are concerned that police, who have established a marked presence on all the main arteries entering the city, may try to limit arrivals, but I can’t find any confirmation that that’s happening yet. Police continued to escort newcomers into the barricaded boulevard throughout the afternoon.

There’s a heavy police presence …

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…but the mood is not threatening. There’s a clear sympathy between at least some of the officers and the demonstrators, and a great many ordinary Germans were on hand too. Some were just mothers with young boys eager to inspect the farm equipment, but also hundreds of people came by to chat with the farmers and show their solidarity.

The media, on the other hand, were conspicuous by their absence. I expect there will be much more press tomorrow, but today is a great opportunity to interview the participants in a relaxed environment. I guess it’s no surprise that our journalists aren’t very interested in doing that. I did see one camera crew from CNN Turkey. I stalked them for a few of their interviews, and all their questions seemed openly supportive. I also saw a few live-streamers with their cellphones on selfie sticks, one of them providing hostile commentary I guess to a leftist audience. Otherwise, there were no direct counter-demonstrators, although the Greens did show up on Pariser Platz this afternoon to demand yet again that Alternative für Deutschland be banned.

It’s very clear, both from the signs and the few brief conversations I had, that the protest has grown much, much bigger than the tax-hike on agricultural diesel that set it off. It has become a broader anti-tax protest and a statement of profound displeasure with the government in general. In contrast to most leftist protestors, the farmers are eager to explain their grievances, they welcome photos and are otherwise highly conscious of public relations. One of them had even set up a stand to hand out free sausages to passersby, as an excuse to engage ordinary people in conversation. Politically – and for better or worse – they’re very vocally centrist; talking about the AfD makes them nervous, though they’re eager to cite growing support for the party as evidence of dissatisfaction with the traffic light coalition. Given their high levels of organisation, this is probably due at least in part to simple messaging discipline. Rukwied has made many tedious statements distancing the protests from the “right” and the protestors on scene this afternoon seemed to support this line.

One man I talked to assured me that a core group of protestors plan to stay where they are well after tomorrow. He said a lot of them are veterans of earlier actions, including the Dutch farmers’ protest that culminated in 2022, and they’ve brought supplies for many weeks. I can confirm that they seem very well prepared.

Below I provide some pictures of their signs and placards, with English translations, to give you a flavour of the protest. I’ve cropped all number plates out of the photos, because some leftists are reporting these to police, in hopes that their owners will be fined for operating them on public roadways. (This is a pretty dumb campaign and unlikely to succeed, but better safe than sorry). You’ll have to take my word for it that they’re from all over Germany; I looked for the promised Dutch contingent but couldn’t find them, I suspect they have yet to arrive. If you’re reading this on email, you may need to click over to my website to access all the photos, as there’s too many of them for gmail and other email services.

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“Want to save energy? Turn off the traffic light.”


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“Without us, Ricarda would never be full.” The reference is to the obese Green co-chief Ricarda Lang.


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“Political shit is not fertiliser!”


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“Beware of storm and wind, and enraged farmers!!!”


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“Break the Green wave, stop the traffic light.”


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“There is no lord so high in the land, that he does not live from the farmer’s hand.”

[There are a lot more photos at the original site]
 

Dash

Veteran Member
Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear and Clarkson’s Farm (on Amazon Prime) used his column in The Sunday Times this week to highlight this. We need more people like him. He has a huge platform and he is not afraid to use it.

Apparently it’s far-right to grow food. Bring on das tractor revolt​

Every government in the civilised world knows that food must not be too expensive. If people can’t afford to eat, it’s a known fact that within days, or maybe even hours, everything will go full zombie apocalypse. This is why a standard-sized tin of Heinz baked beans is just £1.40.

That’s great of course. Except, if you think for a moment, it’s not great at all because how in the name of all that’s holy can a supermarket sell you 415g of food for so little? You’ve got all the tomatoes needed to make the sauce, and the herb extracts and the salt and the cornflour and the vinegar. And then you need the tin and the labelling. And all of the trucks needed to get the ingredients to the Heinz factory in Wigan, and the distribution centres, and the profit that the retailers are going to need. So how much of the £1.40 do you suppose is left over to pay the farmer who grew the 465 beans that you find in each tin?

Yes, you’re absolutely right. It’s bugger all. And it’s not just beans either. McDonald’s has got staff bills and heating and lighting and a logistical empire bigger than the US navy’s. So how much of the £4 they charge for a Big Mac goes to the farmers who grew the cows and the potatoes and the flour and the tomatoes and whatever it is they put in that delicious sauce?

Answer? Not much. Which is why, historically, governments in the civilised world have given farmers subsidies and cut-price fuel and so on. It was compensation for the fact that people simply would not pay what it had cost to grow the food.

Now though, the green movement has come along and announced that it’s bad for the upper atmosphere to grow food and we must all stop. And because modern politicians have all become enslaved by idiotic left-leaning pressure groups, they’ve nodded, said OK and decided to cut farming subsidies to the bone. Which means Europe’s farmers are screwed. They can’t make anything approximating to a living wage without government help and they can’t put up prices because the supermarket system doesn’t allow it.
You’d have expected the French to be first out of the blocks with some kind of protest. They’re excellent at making a point with muck spreaders and burning sheep. But no. It was the Belgians. Sadly, however, they weren’t very good at chanting, so no one really noticed, and the baton passed to the Dutch. Who, it turned out, were.

After some mad new laws about nitrogen were imposed, they took to the streets in their tractors and caused absolute mayhem. And it seems they had the public on their side. because in last year’s elections a hastily convened pro-farmer party won a bigger slice of the voting cake than the prime minister.
Today, the protest movement has spread over the border into Germany and boy, are they on form. Angered by government proposals to make them pay the same for their diesel as anyone else, they’ve climbed into their Fendts and brought the country to its knees. Waving banners which read “No beer without farmers” — snappy as ever — they’ve blockaded Berlin even more effectively than the Russians did, and in the rural northern states every single autobahn on-and-off ramp was blocked by tractors. Thousands of tonnes of manure are being liberally dumped into city centres from Wank in the south to the Danish border.

Fearful that they will suffer the same humiliation as the Dutch, the government has backed down on its proposals slightly, but the farmers are having none of it. And for the first time ever, I’m cheering for Germany. Go Fritz Go.

I fear, however, that sinister forces and the dark arts are being mustered to make sure they lose. Which is why, if you can actually find a report about the dispute, there’s no sympathy for poor old Farmer Giles. Because he’s being labelled as Hitler in a tractor.

Everyone from the BBC to The Guardian is saying that the farmer protests in Germany have nothing to do with fuel prices and are, in fact, a smokescreen for a resurgence of the far right. They imply that if you peer over the steaming piles of manure being left at the Brandenburg Gate, you can see lots of weird rural boys in brown shirts with daggers and suspiciously neat hair.

We saw the same response during the Dutch uprising, but no one paid much attention because it’s hard to see Mr Van Der Valk as a Schmeisser-toting Nazi. It’s a different story with the Germans though. Because if the world gets even so much as the whiff of an idea that these beer and bratwurst farmers are actually SS stormtroopers, the game is over.

They’re doing the same thing in Italy as well. That melon woman who became prime minister recently talked about the need to limit immigration and suddenly they’re out there on the streets with their pink hair saying she’s the new Mussolini. And in America, of course, we have Mr Trump. I’d describe him as a bit weird but to those on the left, he’s definitely got a model of Auschwitz in his man cave.

Closer to home, Suella Braverman — remember her? — tried to stop a pro-Hamas march in London and was accused of far rightery. And in all of the world’s elections this year, we’re told it’s a battle between the centrist left and the “far right”. This is the new racism and misogyny catch-all badge of disgrace, handed out by the left whenever they think they might lose a debate. “You’re far-right,” they scream.

We need to pay attention to this kind of thing in Germany though. They no longer have access to cheap Russian oil and gas. Their car industry is being wiped out by the Chinese. They’ve lost Merkel and now, it seems, they have communist informers running around claiming that the man with a turnip field on the edge of the village is actually Josef Mengele. It’s all a bit of a worry.

https://archive.is/PDDam
 

Plain Jane

Just Plain Jane



German Farmers Enter Week #2 Steadfast: “Take back the proposed tax increases, then we’ll pull back”

January 15, 2024 | Sundance | 112 Comments
The German farmers are not negotiating with a government who is supposed to represent their interests. No, the farmers are telling their elected officials what they will accept, and what they will not accept. And this approach has the German government in fits of apoplexy…. The farmers are revolting.

[Background Here] The second week of massive protests in the streets of Germany has the overwhelming majority of the people in support of the farmers. However, to show just how large the gap between the people and their government has become, the German officials think a process of negotiating terms is possible. The farmers are having none of that.

Really, this is awesome to see. The Dutch farmers are in full support and truckers from around the EU are aligned with the German farmers. The simple message is “enough is enough” and there are more EU interests that just the German government paying attention. Keep in mind, the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos began today.

[Background Here] The second week of massive protests in the streets of Germany has the overwhelming majority of the people in support of the farmers. However, to show just how large the gap between the people and their government has become, the German officials think a process of negotiating terms is possible. The farmers are having none of that.

Really, this is awesome to see. The Dutch farmers are in full support and truckers from around the EU are aligned with the German farmers. The simple message is “enough is enough” and there are more EU interests that just the German government paying attention. Keep in mind, the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos began today.

GERMANY – Farmers clogged Berlin streets with their tractors on Monday, honking their horns in protest at a plan to scrap tax breaks on the diesel they use, the climax of a week of protests that has tapped into wider discontent with Germany’s government.

Columns of tractors rolled into the capital ahead of the demonstration at the landmark Brandenburg Gate. Over the past week, farmers have blocked highway entrances and slowed traffic across Germany with their protests, intent on pushing Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government to abandon the planned cuts entirely.



“Take back the proposed tax increases, then we’ll pull back,” said the chairman of the German Farmers’ Association, Joachim Rukwied. He said the demonstration sent a message to politicians that “too much is too much.”

“We are an important part of Germany — please don’t forget that,” he said.

Finance Minister Christian Lindner was greeted with boos, whistles and chants of “Get lost” as he defended the government’s revised plan. He conceded that the original proposal “was too much and it was too fast” and said the protests were legitimate and peaceful. (read more)


Support every effort that begins!​



View: https://twitter.com/BGatesIsaPyscho/status/1746668863268212819?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1746668863268212819%7Ctwgr%5Ef0e2fc51b35b6ece5588b7c471aca3877ab8c097%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftheconservativetreehouse.com%2Fblog%2F2024%2F01%2F15%2Fgerman-farmers-enter-week-2-steadfast-take-back-the-proposed-tax-increases-then-well-pull-back%2F


(Two short videos at the link.)
 

Plain Jane

Just Plain Jane

German Farm Protests Continue – New Shift to Add Blockades of Warehouse and Distribution Centers

January 16, 2024 | Sundance | 126 Comments
The German farmer protests are strategic. The reality that food doesn’t originate in a grocery store is an odd concept for many who do not pay attention. The latest strategic move by the farmers aims to highlight the issue.


With an alliance of truckers supporting the farmers, the German farmers have now begun short-term blockades of warehouse and distribution centers. The farmers are following and disrupting the general supply chain, leading to delivery issues upon the downstream retail stores that carry their products.

GERMANY – In Germany, farmers block the warehouses of retailers Aldi, Amazon and Lidl. This is reported by the telegram channel “Militarist”.

As the media reported, the president of the Bavarian Farmers’ Association Gunther Felsner said that regional organizations representing the interests of farmers want to enter into dialogue with representatives of the federal government this week. According to the head of the association, if the authorities do not agree to concessions, nationwide protests will continue.

The FRG government should be interested in improving the situation, the lack of dialogue between the Cabinet and farmers harms all participants. This was stated, in turn, to the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Recall, despite the budget deficit, the German government ordered for themselves luxury helicopters for 200 million euros, wrote the day before the telegram channel “Bild in Russian”. (read more)


This approach follows the continued use of farm tractors to block major roads and transportation arteries around Germany. The various cross border and national truckers support the farmers because the overall issues, particularly the diesel prices and taxes therein, are important to the economic livelihood of both.



It is particularly noteworthy that this specific set of protests is happening in Germany, the largest economy inside the EU bloc. Germany is the epicenter of the EU assembly, and Germany has abandoned their own currency in favor of the €uro. As a result, Germany -more than any other nation- is ‘all-in’ on the globalist agenda, and confrontation with the German government is akin to direct confrontation with the leadership in Brussels.

Western media are avoiding all reporting on the events because they do not want to fuel public awareness.

If the German farm protests are successful, it will be a major victory for the larger EU middle and working-class who support them. The assembly of government interests represented by Germany, Brussels and the corporations in the World Economic Forum (the Build Back Better group) are essentially all targets of these protests even though the protests are happening in one nation. This is a systemic pushback against the entire globalist agenda.

To the German farmers who have watched similar action from Holland, Ireland and beyond, this is a zero-sum contest. They are all-in and not open to negotiating a series of slower terms for their eventual demise.

“Too much is too much – enough is enough” – this is the motto under which thousands of farmers are currently taking part in demonstrations and protests throughout Germany. Why are the farmers taking to the streets? The trigger is the planned changes to the tax on agricultural diesel, but this announcement by the federal government is not the only reason for the frustration of the farmers, it only brings the barrel to overflowing. It’s about more and more bureaucracy and requirements, about less and less planning security and appreciation. All this stinks the farmers enormously. That’s why they roll into the city centre with their tractors, paralyze traffic in parts and hope for their actions not only for understanding, but also for the sympathy of consumers. The message from the farmers: without us farmers, there would be no food, at least not domestic food.

View: https://twitter.com/indiclogic/status/1747101735162990595?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1747101735162990595%7Ctwgr%5E814c14ed82d186c2bdf06166838d2631db1f4fe2%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftheconservativetreehouse.com%2Fblog%2F2024%2F01%2F16%2Fgerman-farm-protests-continue-new-shift-to-add-blockades-of-warehouse-and-distribution-centers%2F


(Video at the link)
 
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