MUTINY PART 2 with Sevim Dagdalen

“It’s not the wages that are the problem. It’s the profits.”

In Germany, one of the richest countries in the world, 11.4% of its 10 million people cannot afford a nutritious meal at least every day. In this episode, Peter Mertens talks with Sevim Dagdalen, a trade union worker who was elected to the German parliament, Bundestag, in 2005 about the policy choices prioritizing war and profit over feeding, housing and educating working people in Germany.

In addition to the factors laid out in the previous episode (difficult restart to the economy after COVID-19 lockdowns, big companies’ greed for profit, extreme weather events due to the climate crisis), the war in Ukraine and the sanctions against Russia has had a significant negative effect on the cost of living in Germany. From companies like BASF, the German chemical giant, being forced to buy more expensive gas after Russian sanctions or NATO forcing member states to expand defense spending, working people pay the price.

‪@PeterMertensTV‬ is a leader of the Workers’ Party of Belgium. He has served as a member of the Chamber of Representatives since 2019, and as a Municipal Councillor in Antwerp since 2013. He is the author of “They Have Forgotten Us: The Working Class, Care and the Looming Crisis” and “Mutiny: How Our World is Tilting,” available in English this fall from 1804 Books.