It appeared to be a small news story that hardly made a blip on the German media radar, but it’s a hell of a lot bigger than that. It represents, in a nutshell, the idiocy of Socialist thought and policy. Wrong thinking, horrible planning, and disastrous ideology.
Bernd Riexenger (say that three times fast after a few shots of tequila), co-leader of the leftist party Die Linke, wanted rail operator Deutsche Bahn to eliminate First Class cars so they could be converted to standard coach seats, which could accommodate more passengers and alleviate overall crowding throughout the train. (And in case your German is as bad as mine, “Die” means “The” and “Linke” means “Left,” so let’s leave no doubt as to where these guys are coming from.)
At first glance, one would think this was a sincere effort to alleviate train overcrowding, which would be considered a good thing, but it’s not about that at all. It’s about the left’s hatred for those who can afford to travel in better comfort than everyone else. Doesn’t matter if you worked 80 hours a week to afford that, or inherited millions from a rich uncle, it’s all the same, To them, it’s a disgrace that you get to “live better” than others.
To further bolster his argument, he claimed this would make rail service more accessible to everyone, and increase energy efficiency. The higher energy efficiency claim isn’t simply suspicious, it’s outright ridiculous, and more on that below.
In response to Riexeneger’s request, the head of the German passenger association Bahn said, “Nein.” The association for the Berlin-Bradenburg rail region VBB said, “Very nein!” And they both agreed it was “Indecent nonsense and an obscene attempt at ‘Socialistic Leveling.’ ”
They said, and I’m paraphrasing:
“If there’s a problem with overcrowding in coach service, we simply add an additional car or two, at no additional energy cost or any other additional expenses. We run electric. This is [possibly] a train configuration problem which is easily fixed, adding cars, much preferable to eliminating First Class service which all of our history shows the vast majority of our riders want as a travel option. Plus, as said, eliminating First Class accomplishes nothing.”
In other words, the request to eliminate First Class service was just stupid, based not on facts and reality, but driven by leftist ideology.
I urge you to remember this story as you watch the Democrats stump through to 2020, and please tell your friends. It’s like an Aesop’s Fable that rings true throughout all time, and you will be reminded of this foolish train tale when you hear the Dems talk about doing this and doing that for a better, more equal world, the facts be damned. And your freedom of choice be damned.
To make it even more obscene, there’s a large movement in Germany to minimize air travel throughout Europe, in favor of rail. So what if you want to fly? They want to make it more difficult and more expensive to do so (higher taxes, more regulation, fewer routes), and ultimately, if they get their way, they’ll make it completely impossible.
What’s the next step backwards, horse and buggy? What about all of those farts destroying the Ozone? I’m sure that in this instance, they’ll claim that cow and horse methane isn’t the deadly global threat that they’ve been crying about for years.
So as Germany goes, so goes the entire European Union. Heil E.U.! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, deal or no deal, U.K. get out!
The bright side of all this is that us Yanks don’t have to look at history to learn from. We can learn plenty just from the direction these ridiculous German and E.U. policies want to steer the rest of the world towards right now.
So I’m pulling the emergency brake cord to stop this runaway train before we reach the washed out bridge ahead, and disastrously plummet off the cliff of no return.