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by hans1729 1429 days ago
When covid hit, governments across Germany realized wait, we need videoconferencing for students!. For the prime ministers and their ministers of education, this meant they could either shine in comparison to the others, or the opposition would rip them apart in the next election.

Suddenly: money everywhere, zero red tape, worry about compliance later, get it done now.

So, if the political will is there, things are possible, and I can easily imagine our country going a lot harder than that if the danger was imminent enough.
2 comments
stingraycharles 1429 days ago
So the conclusion is that they don’t yet believe the danger is imminent?

As a Dutch person whose country is equally dependent on gas (but happens to be sitting on gas as well, which can’t be used for political reasons), I’m flabbergasted by the optimism of the politicians.

Yes, it may be fine, but why bet on it? Why isn’t there more central EU coordination in case there actually will be a gas shortage, and we need to divide the gas? Who gets what and who should deliver to whom?

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hans1729 1429 days ago
>Why isn’t there more central EU coordination in case there actually will be a gas shortage, and we need to divide the gas?

Look no further than back to early Covid again, remember the disparities and chaos wrt borders? When people finally realized the potential gravity of the situation, politicians went full "each man to himself". Saying "we distribute gas elsewhere while you are freezing" isn't part of any regular elected politicians playbook, don't you think?

To your first question, I haven't met anyone who openly doubts he'll be fine personally. The situation is tense, but not meteor heading towards dortmund tense.

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bell-cot 1428 days ago
Sounds credible. OTOH...lack of Student Videoconferencing showed up instantly in millions of homes, and I suspect that political opposition to Student Videoconferencing was pretty light.

Vs. with natural gas, there aren't so many people shivering in the dark now that all the carbon-neutral, Green, anti-global-warming, NIMBY, etc., etc. opposition can just be ignored.

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