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Politicised Toads
Technophobic NGOs today exercise a level of power to which they are not entitled, given their lack of democratic legitimacy. A commentary by Ludwig Bayer.
Toads are appearing on the scene as brakes on technology and obstacles to construction, as they are being instrumentalised by NGOs. In this game, the Green choir sings, “If my strong arm so desires, a part of the economy stands still.” Without question, toads, bats, kingfishers, or corn crakes could relocate. Helping them to do so would be simple. Instead, these animals appear in the legal briefs of pettifogging lawyers; most frequently the toads, which could perhaps be specially bred in allotment gardens specifically for court dates. From lengthy legal proceedings, a rain of money splashes down in the form of legal fees. The fact that technical progress is being slowed down under flimsy pretexts of animal and landscape protection raises the question of whether Members of Parliament were asleep when they created laws that handed such an abundance of power to democratically illegitimate NGOs.
In the case of construction halts pushed through with what are sometimes marked cards, property rights are not infrequently violated. One must stand very far to the left not to feel any legal unease. Conclusion: Green activists resemble watermelons – green on the outside, red on the inside.
It would serve the people and the state if the Ministry of Justice were to initiate legal improvements to trim the power of NGOs down to a format compatible with democracy. To whom am I saying this? Only a few months ago, a plaque with the word “Deregulation” was emblazoned at the entrance to the Ministry of Justice as an indication of part of this institution’s duties. It felt to me as if a dog were being entrusted with guarding a sausage depot. Since the Minister always tends towards an increase in regulations, the contradiction was striking. She changed the designation of her office – along with the sign at the entrance.
Should she adopt a piquant programme point of the German Greens, namely the legalisation of marijuana, she could expand her department’s portfolio once again. Suggestions are provided by marijuana enthusiasts who rave about the “weed of wisdom”. More weed than wisdom is proliferating among technophobic Greens.
© Featured image: European Union 2021
