German elections are coming up. In our first episode we check reality with Jörg Luyken. We wonder how the crumbling of the Middle Class can affect elections.Jörg is a highly respected Berlin based journalist known for his spot on analysis of German Government and politics. He writes at thegermanreview.de We meet by a remaining piece of the Berlin Wall and we wonder if the divide actually is still alive, yet invisible.

2:58 why is middle class shrinking; why Germans vote increasingly for AFD

4:47 people give roughly ½ of their salary in taxes

6:00 rise of precariousness, of informality, yet it’s the no1 destination for refugees

8:00 housing crisis why?

13:43 rise of homelessness an invisible growing problem

20:37 Gov’t moves 100BE every yr from the State budget to the pension system – yet poverty among pensionaries is very high

22:33 bureaucracy is at its highest level – said Gov’t auditor

26:45 what has caused the rise of the AFD; what establishment parties have done for Germans to consider voting for AFD