“New Deal” means being prepared for conflict

Coping with the consequences of the Corona crisis makes a socio-ecological transformation even more urgent. A look back at the New Deal of the 1930s is useful as inspiration for this. Not just at what was done, but primarily at how it was set in motion.

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The New Deal policy of the Roosevelt administration was an unprecedented socio-political reform project. The "New Deal" is therefore often used as a slogan, an advertising banner, but it is good for more. Looking at the interplay between government and social actors, their willingness to tread new ground, their ability to learn and their courage to challenge powerful interest groups in business, politics and the media is stimulating for all those who are thinking about how a radical turn towards climate protection can be implemented today."The media debates that paint the Green New Deal as either impossibly impractical or a recipe for tyranny just reinforce the sense of futility. But here's the good news: The old New Deal faced almost precisely the same kinds of opposition - and it didn't stop it for a minute." (Naomi Klein)