First “lazy Germans”, now the “dirty work”: What his language reveals about Friedrich Merz

Since then, national and international outrage against the Chancellor has been widespread. There is widespread debate about the extent to which the words mock the civilian victims in Iran , and even whether they are fundamentally wrong in light of the attack, which violated international law. But there is also discussion about whether Merz's words aren't actually good and appropriate, because they finally represent an honest and clear stand for this war against the mullah regime, its nuclear program , and its global support for terrorism. Many people want clear words from politicians again. But are they the right ones?

What is remarkable is that since taking office, the Chancellor has stumbled for the second time over his “own” words, which in both cases come from the language of work.

Just two weeks in office, the Chancellor played the strict father, shaking his head at how far his children had gone astray in his absence. This country needed to work more, and above all, more efficiently . "With a four-day week and work-life balance, we won't be able to maintain the prosperity of this country," Merz admonished the supposedly increasingly "lazy" population . That was the view of a colleague from the business editorial team here, who was as annoyed by the Chancellor's statements as many citizens.

Of course, the substance of what the Chancellor says is debatable. Some may see it one way, others another. Indeed, per capita working hours in Germany are rather below average. But to say that the German work ethic is to blame for the country's poor state borders on denial of reality, according to my colleague.

Merz's linguistic stumbles concern two fundamentally different things that have nothing to do with each other. But linguistically, they both fall into the realm of work. And working is always done by others, for people like Merz. And they should try harder.

The CDU chairman worked for years for the US financial giant Blackrock, which juggles unimaginable fortunes on the market. For many citizens, this represents a distant, detached world in which one earns more and more money not through hard work, but simply by having money. In which someone else always does the dirty work, and one looks as good as possible for oneself. Merz is considered cold and rather unsympathetic by the public. This is hardly surprising, given the cold thinking he expresses in seemingly succinct terms in both cases described here.

Of course, a chancellor doesn't have to be likeable. But both cases demonstrate a high degree of double standards. Merz knows full well that, despite tightened sanctions against the Iranian regime, German exports to the country have recently increased significantly. From January to February, they rose by 22 percent, to €241 million, according to the Federal Statistical Office. Die Zeit commented: He doesn't dare to impose harsh sanctions on the regime, "but is happy, with completely inappropriate expressions, when someone else attacks it militarily?"

It is similar with his ideas on the willingness to work: The German economy is shrinking, unemployment is rising (his problems and responsibility), but Merz is complaining about the individual worker, the German work ethic?

Dirty work is work that no one wants to do, but someone has to. It's a term for "menial tasks" that bosses don't want to get their hands dirty with, but rather have others do. The bosses are smart; they're never found at the crime scene. Nor in the excavation pit.

It's a word one likes to hear from people who know from their own experience what dirty work is. It's a word one doesn't like to hear from people who have never done dirty work themselves. "Merz should clean a toilet. Then he'd know what dirty work means," said Left Party co-chair Jan van Aken.

Merz's escalatory, emotionally driven, and irresponsible speech doesn't sit well with many Germans . Perhaps because the Chancellor clearly lacks empathy, but certainly because the so-called people have a keen sense of hypocrisy and notice when someone speaks in an elitist manner, even though they have no idea about their everyday lives.