Election day

Germany’s next election day lies still quite a bit in the future (sometime in September), but the discussion about “Politikverdrossenheit” (disenchanted with politics) has already started in the media. Today I was proven right (German,  automated translation) that my “Politikverdrossenheit” is actually not based on a lack of interest on these topics or a general misunderstanding, but more on a disillusionment of what is going on “up there” and what a single individuum can actually do in this country. Of course there is always something what can be done, after all I wouldn’t be active in the David vs Goliath challenge the Working Group against Data Retention faces, but still, big moves or radical political changes (for good, not for bad) just don’t seem to be possible here.

While I don’t envy the US americans for their past eight years of Bush and all the other problems they have, I’m certainly envious of them about their current president Obama. I wonder if somebody like Obama would even get as high in the political triangle in one of the countries of the “old world” – I’m sure that there are a lot of good, political driven people here as well which could do a similar good job, but I doubt they’d ever get the chance to “run for chancellor”…