Video summary
The video discusses a critical shift in Germany where increasing military spending is occurring simultaneously with the severe deterioration of local infrastructure, creating a stark contrast between national defense priorities and everyday civic needs. The speakers argue that while abstract discussions about militarization often fail to capture public attention because many people tacitly support higher military budgets, connecting this issue directly to tangible economic problems yields much stronger results. By highlighting how crumbling roads, bridges, and other facilities hamper businesses and reduce the quality of life for citizens, activists can frame excessive defense spending as a misallocation of resources that ignores immediate local crises. This approach leverages the principle that "it's the economy stupid," urging society to question why funds are being diverted from essential repairs in cities like Cologne to military projects when critical structures remain unsafe or non-functional.
To effectively mobilize public support, the discussion outlines a strategic campaign structure focused on engaging people who are directly affected by these infrastructure failures rather than relying solely on traditional peace activists whose concerns might not resonate broadly with mainstream media. The proposed strategy involves identifying specific communities suffering from broken bridges and poor road conditions to build a core group capable of organizing regular demonstrations in front of city halls, particularly in Cologne and Leverkusen where the Ryan River bridge has been closed for years. This grassroots movement would combine physical protests with digital petitions aimed at local representatives and state governments like North Rhine-Westphalia, demanding that they redirect funds from military budgets to repair vital public works. The campaign aims to be measurable by tracking petition signatures and attendance numbers while also reaching out to specific interest groups such as truck drivers, ambulance crews, and cyclists who are currently stuck in traffic or unable to use safe routes due to the lack of maintenance.
Beyond the tactical aspects of the protest movement, the speakers emphasize the importance of transforming online interactions into real-life community building through face-to-face meetings and shared experiences outside formal settings like webinars. The narrator shares their personal journey from living in the United States for twelve years back to Germany, noting that while virtual connections via Zoom provided some input during the pandemic, nothing compares to the unmeasurable benefits of meeting people physically, sharing food, and discussing issues off-screen within a local context. These in-person interactions foster a genuine sense of belonging and shared perspective on major societal challenges, allowing activists to organize activities with hours dedicated to planning rather than just attending meetings. The DiEM25 Academy is highlighted as providing essential tools and methodologies that help structure these efforts, making the campaign more tangible and effective for organizers who want to bridge long distances across Europe while addressing immediate local realities in their own neighborhoods.
Read the full video transcript
I'm Edgar. I'm originally from Berlin,
West Berlin and Germany. And I lived the
last 12 years in the United States. Just
recently came back to the to Germany and
are a member of [music] DM and Ma 25 for
quite a few years.
>> I've been with Meta for about one and a
half years after I left the Green Party
due [music]
due to their support for the genocide in
Gaza. And yeah, I'm out and about
anchored a bit close by [music] Berlin,
but keen to explore MERA and DM more at
the European level too. We started to uh
to talk yesterday um about
militarization in Germany [music] and h
um today we were more focusing on um how
that relates to local issues and [music]
particularly
um we were yesterday very much talking
about the looming subscription or
drafting of young people while we were
today more focusing on the local
infrastructure crumbling.
And also lots of resources are moving
into the militarization.
>> Yeah, yesterday it was more abstract and
the question today [music] is okay, how
do we mobilize people? How do we get
attention on a particular topic [music]
and if we just talk about oh my god the
military spending is out of control
militarization of society. [music]
You don't get so much attention actually
a lot of people support that. But if you
connect it to a local issue that people
can really feel that [music] that
statement it's economy stupid I think
holds true today. Hence we connected it
to a very economic issue which is
infrastructure hampers business destroys
[music] business reduces the quality of
life and the infrastructure in Germany
is crumbling. If [music] you look at the
examples of bridges across Germany, but
in particular that example that we took
close by [music] Cologne is a massive
issue for years to come and it's
probably a good flash point to raise
that topic of massive militarization and
ask society as a whole why are we
spending so much here where it's missing
there. And also yesterday we talked more
about like broader campaign like
background and how things relate [music]
to each other. While today we were
developing a real campaign structure
that is measurable and how we can also
have activists supporting the campaign
but not that activism would be the main
campaign. So basically, how do we
involve [music] people that we that are
not already in our bubble, but to really
structure and [music] make success with
the campaign also measurable?
>> First of all, just to send a few
ecoactivists or peace activists, [music]
it's not surprising. It's nothing new.
It's not really going to catch on in
media. Whereas if you go and find out
who are the people that are negatively
impacted by that infrastructure that is
not working anymore, shut down for
years, and then you reach out to them
and try to get them involved in in in
bigger societal issues. I think that's
potentially very helpful for the
attention you get because these kind of
people are already in media. The media
is already looking for them to get those
stories out. And we literally just join
the dots [music]
>> also to create a core group that would
[music] basically structure the actions
that are taken the different actions
[music]
like demonstrations to organize that
every week in front of the city hall.
There are actually two cities involved
Cologne and Leakusen. So there are two
municiples and the bridge [music] is
connecting across the Ryan River. And so
we want to engage the public [music]
with different actions. That would also
be a petition to sign [music] to call
your representative and make them decide
on [music] spending the money on the
local issue and also demanding this
money from the state government like
Northran failure. I think it is and and
then see how the petition is doing.
[music] See how the numbers come up and
with the weekby- week demonstrations and
then reach out to to different interest
groups also if that is the cap drivers,
[music] ambulance drivers, people on
bicycles that can't go the short way. If
that is [music]
all the the people that stuck in traffic
there forever and ever [music] and and
it's also that we saw it more as a
sample campaign that can [music] be then
related to other very local issues um
and um be useful to as [music] a sample
for other places in Germany or where I
just joined [music] uh DM and Mera then
during the p pandmic mic and I was still
also living in the US. So I basically
only knew people from Zoom meetings and
never had the chance to actually meet
the people real in real feel them
discuss with them also offscreen or
outside while getting food or anything
[music] like that. And so I just for me
personally it's something different to
benefit from little comments to benefit
from all the input and ideas that for me
are not as translated through webinars
or online [music] meetings or as usful
as they are to bridge long distances for
sure. and the the like input from so
many people [music]
and the exchange across the borders
throughout Europe and to hear about a
living like real living situations of so
many people is just a unmeasurable
benefit [music] from it.
>> Yeah, I mean the inerson
meetings are very different to online
meetings. I completely agree with that.
That makes you feel part of a community.
It makes you feel you belong somewhere
that people share a common perspective
on big issues and that you have hours to
go to organize activities [music]
and the academy does give you some tools
at hand both the connections but also
the methodologies in order to get
[music] going.
Yeah, extremely the tools are really
important that we get here. I feel like
it it makes us [music] way more
structured and tangible to go out and
organize in your own community.