@benroyce

#Merz is not as venal as Trump (but then, few are), and not as committed to fascism. But he has a vicious temper, and doesn't really seem to see people who are not rich as "people" he ought to care about - they are there to be admonished that they are not contributing enough to Germany's GDP, and thus should work harder.

I always compare him to Diederich Hessling, the villain protagonist of "Der Untertan", a vicious satire of German society of the later years of the Second German Empire. Hessling always licked the boots of those "above him" in order to climb the social ladder, and kicked those "below him", and the same seems to be true of Merz.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_Untertan