German chancellor Friedrich Merz announced sweeping tax, pension and labour reforms today, including that workers will now be required to get a medical certificate saying they’re too unwell to work from the first day of sick leave.
Workers in Germany used to be able to take up to three sick days without seeing a doctor and could call a doctor for a one-week sick leave letter without an in-person appointment.
Under the new reforms, both options are now banned.
In a speech, Merz flagged “exorbitant levels of sick leave in companies following the pandemic” and said: “We are…
Have you looked at any populist movement in the world? Anyone likes easy solutions and being told their often multiple fears/worries/problems have one definite source. That is the populist playbook and has happened again and again over hundreds of years, irrespective of actual systems of Government. I think that is something very human that can only be beaten with education, imo.
The question is education of what kind? Education only about machines and their practical applications of their force? Or education about the humanities and art and why they are more important than the machines?
Something The Magic Mountain captures in perfect tension.