'Stop Whining' About High Energy Costs: Former President of Parliament Lectures Germans to Wear Layers and Burn Candles (Video)

“Then you put on a sweater. Or maybe a second sweater. You don’t have to whine about it,” advises former President of the Bundestag Wolfgang Schäuble and ex-Finance Minister to the Germans for this winter.

Baden-Württemberg’s Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann (Greens Party) recently recommended using washcloths instead of showers to save energy – now the 80-year-old CDU politician Schäuble also has a tip ready. 

Regarding the scenario that many Germans will have to freeze this winter due to electricity blackouts and a gas shortage, Schäuble, a member of the Bundestag for the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), said on Bild-TV: “Then you just put on a sweater. Or maybe a second sweater. You don’t have to whine about it; you have to recognize that a lot of things can’t be taken for granted.”

The electricity can also go out. “That’s why, just in case, it’s good to have a few candles and matches at home.”

Spoiled Society

According to Schäuble, the Germans are a spoiled society. “I also. But we must now resist the danger that things will continue like this forever. The Germans will have to try harder again!”

” It worries him, warned Schäuble, “so many would rather work less: for example, part-time and never on weekends.” His experience: “Always having fun – that’s not fulfilling life.”

The state should only help those who really need help. “I just think we need to say, ‘Yes, sorry, I really understand you don’t want to pay more for energy, but instead, you could give up a vacation trip, or perhaps vacation in Germany somewhere, and not travel to the Galapagos Islands or wherever the heck else,’ said the politician. It is not sustainable if people get the impression that the state can do everything.

Advice like this gets on the nerves of other politicians – Dietmar Bartsch, the leader of the Left Group, is one of them. “We have record inflation and the worst social crisis in the post-war period. Politicians, in particular, are not allowed to offer simple energy-saving tips with sweaters and candles,” Bartsch told the editorial network Germany (RND). For people who don’t know how to pay high energy bills, Schäuble’s statements are “blatant mockery.”