The Capital of Absurdity

Berlin has long served as a cautionary tale of institutional paralysis and misplaced political priorities, but the latest platform put forward by Die Linke pushes the boundaries of ideological delusion. Spanning 333 pages, the party’s state election program outlines a systematic dismantling of basic civic order, offering a window into how far left-wing politics in Germany have drifted from economic reality and public safety.

At the core of the document is a profound hostility toward state enforcement. The party proposes replacing police interventions with social workers wherever feasible, while simultaneously seeking to ban weapons exclusion zones, eliminate random police checks, and abolish the prohibition on face coverings during demonstrations. In this worldview, lawbreaking is systematically reframed as a social misunderstanding. Squatting in properties vacant for over a year would confer a permanent right to inhabit them, fare evasion on public transport would no longer carry penalties, and prisoners would receive minimum wage alongside digital access.

This erosion of authority is mirrored in the party’s stance on public security and migration. Rejecting all deportations as unacceptable, the platform calls for new state-level admission programs targeting regions including Gaza, Syria, Iraq, Sudan, and Afghanistan. Even basic security measures, such as identity checks at public swimming pools, are slated for elimination. Meanwhile, the party’s public record has been shadowed by rhetoric that rationalizes extremist violence against Israel as resistance, forcing lead candidate Elif Eralp to issue a five-point plan to protect Jewish life. That official plan, which includes calls for public celebrations of Jewish holidays in city spaces, stands in sharp contrast to a reality where Jewish institutions already require constant police protection against Islamist threats.

Beyond security, the manifesto takes aim at property owners and educational standards. Construction permits for single-family or two-family homes would be banned entirely, replaced by a focus on expanding supervised crack consumption rooms. In schools, traditional grading up to the ninth grade would be discarded alongside homework, ensuring that academic standards are systematically dismantled rather than maintained.

Whether potential coalition partners like the Social Democrats and Greens are prepared to embrace such proposals remains an open question. Adopting a platform of unchecked migration, weakened policing, and economic recklessness offers no path to stability for a city already struggling under the weight of its own mismanagement.

Written by Andreas Hofer andreas.hofer@alpineweekly.com