Reaction To Volker Pispers History of USA (5 of 5) 

I really have to bow my head Sir! You are one of the few "foreigners" that REALLY understood and reacted the according way to that satirical masterpiece of Volker Pispers! During the last months a couple of american and british youtubers have reacted to this video, and most of them did not even understand what he was talking about, because they have zero knowledge about the past 20 years of american or middle european history! Most of them were looking for simple jokes and were not able to grasp the connections, meanings and "lessons" that Volker tried to teach and communicate during this event! Thank you sooo much for uploading this entertaining, informative and insightful video! as long as there are persons like you on youtube, there is still hope for "social media" to inform and enlighten people onstead of dumbing them down!👍 👍

He's so on point and that hurts so deep, that people sometimes stop laughing. This is so intelligent and true.

Volker Pispers once said: "Laughter is the best medicine. And as you know, medicine that tastes good doesn't help. Medicine has to be bitter. So in order for the laughter to be bitter the cabaret has to be distasteful." Such a legend! You asked for other German satirist's like him and there are definitely good ones (go look into Die Anstalt), but Volker Pispers was one of a kind

I believe this program is Pisper's best if you consider the international context. He has created other great stuff, but it may be a little hard to grasp for foreigners due to it being more about domestic politics. Great reaction series 👍

In the end, he is referring to the Madrid bombings in Spain, with 193 dead and 2000 injured. Since this might be a recording from 2004, this was very recent and fueled the fear of terror attacks all over europe.

Volker Pispers ability to speak like reading from a printed in a book without any flaws for an up to 3 hours program time is simply a class of its own. For gathering and bringing facts to the point - which is the main substance for a political cabaret - Volker Pispers is the gold if not titanium standard in my humble opinion. It is very sad he's no longer actively pursuing his unmatched abilities. Following Mert's reactions was very interesting and satisfying because it looks like language does not prevent understanding Volker Pispers genius.

In the last part, Pisper refers to the astonishing transformation of Otto Schilly, the interior minister of Germany at the time. His political career, very edgy left-wing orientated, began as a lawyer and defense attorney for the RAF terrorists First Generation Ulrike Meinhof/Andreas Bader. A short time later he founded the party "Die Grünen" together with Petra Kelly. He later left the Greens and joined the SPD. All these parties are politically on left-wing but SPD is more and in the middle than left-left wing. He became Minister of the Interior and advocated increasingly very conservative and restrictive measures by the state, e.g. taking fingerprints on ID cards, which was very hotly debated in Germany and, above all, contradicted Schilly's own political views from earlier years.

This was the standard programm of Volker for about 20 years (from the 90s until about 2010). The framework never really changed, because during those 20 years times and politics rarely changed. Pispers just updated it frequently, like in this very video, when he took 9/11 for the hook of american foreign politics since the cold war started. Edit: This was a public program. Volker played it on public stages all over Germany.

This performance has been recorded about 2003, I think. Volker Pispers was on stage since the early 80s and guest in many TV shows in all this years. He was one of the pillars of political satire and retired a few years ago. 2:10 Yes, Angela Merkel grew up in East Germany and she wasn't exactly rebellious against the system, so to say...At the time of this show, she was opposition leader in the german parliament. 5:14 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_European_floods 7:00 Yes, it is good he is talking about this numbers, but the point is: Why are you afraid of dying in a terror attack when your chances of dying in a car accident are FAR higher? 11:30 That was a reference to the terror attack in Madrid at that time, meaning: a fingerprint in the ID card won't prevent any terror attacks.

My wife and I have seen his performance twice and it was entertaining and educational both times. His view on things is as clear as water from a glacier, his tongue is sharp like a scalpel, but the way he delivers his deconstruction of politics and human behavior is like you listen to a very casual conversation. He makes you think by making you laugh! An very talented fellow, who also tells his audience at the end of his show it should consider showing up to his young fellow artists shows to give them a chance to shine. Incredible guy, love him so much.

5:09 Yepp, the German government increased its already hefty tobacco taxes by another significant margin back then. As a non-smoker I only registered it as a side note. The next comment was about the horrible floods in East Germany along the Elbe river after very strong constant rains over days. Whole neighborhoods were flooded to the rooftops and even above. It was a real disaster back then. "Trinker" in German are a colloquial term for alcoholics. In the aftermath of those floods many people who had already been economically disadvantaged by the reunification lost virtually everything, so they began drinking to drown their sorrow and misfortune. Very dark comment by Volker, as that was merely three years past at the time. Yepp, there actually had been discussions among the government of raising the alcohol tax as well to cover the rebuilding process. Edit: guess how Germans who had seen this show reacted to Trump wanting to build a wall to Mexico? It was a somewhat nervous and hysterical laughter at the orange buffoon's antics. Because that's exactly what Volker Pispers had satirically joked about for Germany. Trump had wanted to actually implement it with his wall plus his immigration controls towards islamic people. We just sat there and couldn't do anything but sadly shake our heads. Volker being prophetic again. Edit 2: nope, back then it wasn't ETA but an actual islamistic terrorist attack on the central station in Madrid. Yes, ETA was still around as well but they had been fairly dormant back then.

References made that may need some inside knowledge on Germany: 1:54 Merkel grew up in East Germany which was a one-party dictatorship 2:30 Germans are notorious for critizing their football teams' trainers and performance in everyday small talk. 2:35 Pisper being a prophet here. In 2021every German on social media became a pandemic expert. In 2022 everyone a military weapons expert. 3:18 The "constitutional police" or Verfassungschutz in Germany has had some scandals that let many Germans question their competence. 4:13 Back in these times you only had to pay the GEZ if you actually owned a radio or television. Students were always trying to hide the fact that they owned one. 4:57 Yes it is true, but the tobacco tax increase wasn't legally purpose-bound. 9:50 East German border guards were ordered to shoot at any East German citizen trying to illegaly cross the border wall to escape the DDR. 11:32 Germans have digitally stored fingerprints in their IDs today. They were voluntary until 2021 and now have became mandatory by law.

Hello I am from Germany and I appreciate it very much, that you actually pay attention to us. For me, Pispers was an absolute genius in exposing the failures of our government. My favorite part is when he talks about „capitalism in its final state“ which is America for him. A de-solidarized society. It actually scares me because it’s so true, but our government nowadays is worse than ever 💀 People are too stupid to vote.

This Monologue was recorded in a famous „Kabarett“ Club in Bonn (Pantheon) and because Volker left the Show we all come back to RU-vids for remembering…sadly still up to date having still the same problems. I hope for the „return of the Jedi“

Yes, in his snide remark at Mrs. Merkel he refers to the one-party dictatorship in East Germany where Mrs. Merkel grew up.

I am a Bavarian and once watched this show of Volker Pispers with great pleasure. He is telling the truth and everything is very well researched. He is a top German intellectual and extremely entertaining. As far as I can tell, you interpreted everything correctly in your comments! There are a few other comedy stars from Germany, but most of them are almost impossible to be translateted without losing the joke. In my opinion, Georg Schramm, for example, should be mentioned, although he now appears less publicly due to his advanced age. He is also very political playing various characters on stage, sharing his political truths in a very comical way. Unfortunately, I can't find any of his videos with English subtitles. It was a pleasure to hear your comments on the monologue. So I listened to all five parts again. I think it's great that there are Brits who find German humor funny or informative. I have to mention that I am very sad that England voted for Brexit and allowed themselves to be taken for a ride by the liars in politics.

Volker was just great. It was nice watching someone from another country reacting to his work.

Hagen Rether is also a very competent one. Please continue with him!!!

the tax on smoking for fight against terror is a true story

I like your channel and the Scottish accent. It's amazing how well you understand even the more difficult parts. Keep up the good work, love from Germany

The monologue was part of his program "Bis Neulich" from 2004 i think I got it on CD, but it was also most likely aired on TV and put on DVD.

You often ask if it's true... ...everything that Volker Pispers said was absolutely factual and correct and is still valid today, even though he had his last gig in 2009

It was indeed aired at WDR (one of the public legal TV stations for what you are forced to pay GEZ-Fees in Germany). It's premiere was on the 23rd of June in 2007 on TV. But I think most Germans knows it because of DVD release and youtube. Another good reaction from you. Thanks Mert.

If you are interested in other political satire, Urban Priol is a stable household name. He usually sums up the current year and the horrors and stupidity that happened in december of that very year. There are two versions: one is cut and shown on youtube, the original goes to DVD and will find it's way way later to YT anyway. Not sure about subtitles, tho. Edit: - Yes, the dictatorship he mentions in the beginning is the GDR times, which Merkel had the "suffer" through. - The flood he mentions must have been 2002, when the Elbe river rose to incredible width and hight, flooding historical cities like Magdeburg and Dresden (which just had restored the opera building to old glory, just to get it destroyed later after mere month?). There was another one in 2012, too. - "Socially accepted mass murder". Germany, especially the east german parts, are subjected to wage dumping. Paying just the bare minimum wage and extracting as much labor as possible. 13-15hour shifts are nothing new for truck drivers. Constant supervision and pressure to keep in time do their toll on those workers, falling asleep at the steering wheel, crashing into the many traffic jams and therefore killing dozens at once. - Doctors fail rate: Stressed out, overworked physicians doing surgery while sleep deprived... recepie for desaster. - "Great wall of chi... germany": Well, the wet dream of the 'newly' growing movement of senile 'good old times' faschists and the newer 'we were left behind' youth without knowledge. Believing everything that's said on telegram and whatever their sources are. Right now, germany is heading back to the 'good old times' by strenghtening the AfD. Those idiots don't even see that they're the first to go, when the swastica returns. I really wish for Volker to come back and to comment on the dystopian times ahead... but now it's too late. He would face death threats, diffamation and worse. Commenting on Covid, faschism, LGBTQ+ would stir up more shit storms than he could legally dodge. "Those who refuse to learn from history are doomed to repeat it"... *sigh*

The quality of these subtitles is rare and exceptionally good w/ the inclusion of these little side notes for various local terms or expressions. I believe the subs were not "official" but by whomever uploaded these tracks a few ears ago. I've seen other subbed clips for different German shows (not just Volker's) and comedy acts that are really mediocre and at places utterly wrong and even misleading due to literal translation. Satire and comedy are particularly hard to translate to make it work as the translator not only has to know and understand the original subject matters, subtle wordplays or double entendres, but also needs to know and understand the pop culture and politics known by speakers of that target language. Anyhow, kudos to whomever created these subtitles.

I'm happy to see that Pispers is getting recognition outside of Germany as he is one of my favorite satirists. His programs are classic thoroughly. However, I also very much enjoy Jonathan Pie, John Oliver, and John Steward and highly recommend watching them too.

I think you got all the points he tried make correct. Pispers mastered the art of saying brutally honest truth in a very casual, conversational style. Like the average 9 to 5 citizen having a conversation with the clerk at a shop in between buying some bread. That s one reason why he can do it on national tv. Plus, there s a tradition of political cabaret in Germany. As long as his points are somewhat accurate, politicians accept it. He would even do it with them in the audience and they know it s best for them to laugh and show a sense of humor. His stuff was on national tv, but mostly late evening on the culture channel (3Sat). Sometimes on the prime channels with others, but never prime time. Pispers had a fanbase, but i believe RU-vid kinda took it to another level. I know many people that would never watch those shows on tv or care much about politics at all, that discovered Volker Pispers work much later on YT. It s always quite surprising to me, but quality is quality at the end of the day P.S. i my opinion there aren‘t many that come close to Pispers apart from the legends Dieter Hildebrandt and Hans-Dieter Hüsch. I ll probably miss out on someone, but many often try to hard to get the laugh. They overplay it. The „wait, did he really just say that ?“ quality isn‘t there. Oh, i d strongly recommend Roger Willhemsen. He was a writer, intellectual, tv host and flat out brilliant person. Roger observed the german parliament for a year and wrote a book about the absurdities that were going on there. He did readings that are on YT. Roger Willhemsen is definitely worth checking out !

From his homepage: "To all fans and longtime loyal visitors: After a 5 year break from performing, it is now clear that I will not be returning to the stage. Many will not understand this and will be very disappointed. I know that from the many emails that have reached me in recent years." 😭

Es wäre so ein Traum, wenn Pispers wieder Programm machen würde. Habe ihn mehrfach live gesehen. Beeindruckend.

If you liked Pispers i can recommend you Hagen Rether as well. He is also a very sophisticated cabaretist although you might have to rely on automated subtitles for him, because i dont think anyone has translated his work so far.

You know, I could've watched the whole thing on youtube after your first video, but I wanted to wait for your vids :D Great vids, good job, loved every second of it!

He was touring with this program on stages across Germany. I was lucky enough having seen this show in Berlin. It gives you shivers. As a German native speaker you understand the fine irony between the lines that was lost in translation. Because every fact was very well researched, and put into a new perspective, sometimes I was puzzled and my laughter got stuck in my throut.

This is EXACTLY what political cabaret is all about. It is very well known in the german language space and underlines the difference to "mere" commedians: packed to the fullest with sarcasm and cynism but - never the less - showing a part of the truth backed up with facts that lets one suffocate on your own laughter. Laughing untill/allthough it hurts. Absolutely priceless!

Highly recommended are artists like Urban Priol, Christoph Sieber, Dieter Hildebrandt, Till Reiners, Hagen Rether, Sarah Bosetti.

Volker is speaking directly and honest. For a german it's still very straight forward and many people will think it's too much but it is indeed just the truth and as an entertainer he over does it surly but it's also his style many older germans have too. You must speak in this form directly as a german otherwise you won't get attention. He is saying how it is without any diplomatic impulse which is refreshing to us as all language is politicized and you can't solve problems if you can't go straight to the core problem and speak openly about it. It's a very german thing which is becoming less and gets suppressed by the society because solving things means effort. That's a bad sign if you think about it.

Volkers' monologs are incredible. They may be 20 years old but still very accurate in todays german political landscape

4:31 Yep, as Student you don‘t have to pay GEZ😂

Pispers toured Germany for a number of years with various programmes. Many - including myself - were very sad when he decided to retire from the political satire stage.

What you saw was - in essence - the exact same way Volker Pispers made political cabaret for several *decades*. No matter the topic, he would toss numbers in your face, make comparisons that you never thought about and he always called a horse a horse. From my perspective, from the way you analyzed his routine, you are now hooked. The same way I was the instant I saw him for the first time. I binged him on youtube and wherever I could find footage of his radio and TV work. He is still unsurpassed, and when he retired he left a gaping hole. Sadly, nothing ever changed, the madness simply kepts repeating itself. To quote him from memory: "I've been making cabaret for 20 (or 30?) years, told all of this over and over and then some, and never ever has it really made any difference." .. "Keep your cabaret tickets, all of them, stow them away safely. When the day comes and people will finally revolt, you can get them out and say "I've been with the resistance"".

Thank you very much, that you share with us this masterpiece 👏🏼 In the early 2000s in Germany was a lot of great Cabaret Stars like Urban Priol, Georg Schramm or Hagen Rether. Much better than today!

You are courageous taking on Volker Pispers and German mentality on world issues. You are coming along just fine. Still loving it❤

In Germany there is a phrase called "Aufklärung mit dem Vorschlaghammer", "Education with a Sledgehammer". That is what it feels like listening to Volker Pispers.

Pispers' programs were recorded about every second year, sold on DVD and CD and every now and then an abbreviated version (the program went for about 2 1/2 hours) was shown on television. What you see here was the last part of his program up until about 2009. Then he changed the theme to criticize capitalism.

I’ve watched a few reactions to Volker pispers… yours is by far the best one!

This is a recording of his touring Program "Bis Neulich" which he performed for about 14 years from 2002 until he stopped performing regularly in Dezember 2015. There only were a few changed segments every year, gradually replacing the 2002 program over the years, but there is probably a 40% core that did never change from the first performance to the last as it never lost relevance / needed modernization. Not sure if it ever ran on TV, but he was touring all year long with 150 to 200 appearances on small and medium cabaret stages and he was frequent guest on cabaret programs where smaller bits of the whole program were shown, typically the newest additions, as those would be both the least known and the most relevant at the time.

Thanks for your reaction video. It has been very pleasing to watch. Not too many interruptions, short, on point. First time checking out your channel, but I've had to watch all five parts. He really is special. He delivers complex political topics in a very simple and objective manner. Thanks for pointing my attention towards him! 😊

I've seen this on tv back in the day. it was and still is phenomenal. I remember it had quite an impact, multiple re-runs and was quoted, both in jest and in serious conversation, for some time after.

I am glad, I found your 5-part reaction to this eye-opening monologue. I enjoyed watching you. And my respect goes to the person that added the subtitles, so the information could spread.

thanks for dipping into German satire and „Kabarett“ . A German Classic is certainly Scheibenwischer (a long running weekly satire programme on public TV) but it is very much focused on domestic policy and stopped airing in 2003. A person who started in Scheibenwischer and continued elsewhere is Georg Schramm in various stage personas. You might want to check him out as well.

wow, thank you so much for this series. Volker and you have really impressed me.

thank you for bringing this to me

I watched all of your reactions to Volker and I finally remembered to leave a comment (sorry should've done that earlier) You're really the first reactor that I watched that truly got it. I understand it's due to the translation sometimes and some nuances are lost but you had so much knowledge going into it yourself that you could still appreciate and understand it correctly. I remember growing up and watching Kabarett on late nicht tv in my room (when I was supposed to sleep, yes I had a tv in my bedroom - wouldn't recommend to any parents out there lol. but at least I got to appreciate some of the good stuff I'd have never seen otherwise). Volker Pispers/ Bis neulich was always my favourite. I was extremely sad when he retired. And I was very happy when I saw him pop up on youtube at some point with those old recordings and people reacting to them. And it's frightening how close to home the programs still hit today

I just have to watch you and I get a great desire to get involved with a foreign language and culture. You are so positive. Thanks for that!

I miss Volker so much! Thank you for your reaction. It allows me re-enjoy (is this a even word?) his epic entertainment and it's interesting and a big joy to listen to your imprssions of german content. Take my Abo.

you did the best reaction in all parts, well done.

I really enjoyed seeing you watching Pispers, and how curious you are about topics you do not know. I am looking forward to seeing more content from you :)

It‘s so cool, that Volker Pispers is translated in English and seen by UK, USA etc… I‘m sure that specially in the US, they can learn a lot.

You are really smart and knowledgeable, this is such a fresh wind. Tbh I don’t know if I ever saw someone smart reacting to stuff. Thank you for making this content.

I felt the same way as you do when I first discovered Pispers on RU-vid. I viewed all the videos with him available. His reasoning is so convincing and plausible. I wish we had more like him.

This was originally live on stage and there were maybe 200-500 people in the audience. He was also in late-evening TV (a few thousand people). And at some point he realized that millions had watched him on RU-vid … Something problematic: disdain of Merkel almost drove a colleage of mine into the hands of right-wing extremists. Nuances get lost too easily when people not only drop the lies they told themselves but replace them with satirically exaggerated opinions. Verfassungsschutz are those that should defend the constitution. One try to forbid a neonazi party in Germany failed, because the 17 constitutional protection agencies (one per county and one federal) had (taken together) so many undercover informants in that party that it wasn’t clear whether the party was actually able to act on its own accord.

i like how you explain what you read with your own words.. you got it all.

I think the most interesting parts is Volker's stated intention of why he stopped doing cabaret. By the time he left, he said that he did basically the same show for over 20 years. Talking about what went wrong in the financial system, the health care system, international politics, domestic issues, right-wing propagada (which is conviniently left out by contemporary right-wing activists trying to use Volker's anti-establishment bits today for their agenda). He said that in all his years, he would only have to change few specific details but never anything big picture. Nothing changed for the better and he grew tired and exhausted of not being able to make something progress in the people's and voter's minds. And given the fact that basically ALL of his parts and monologues are still incredibly relatable even today, with everything that changed, just once again shows how much this man understands about the honestly fucked up system we're stuck in.

2004 there had happen islamic attacks in trains and stations in Spain, so despite having the fingerprint in their ID-Card it didn't prevent them from having to deal with that problem. That's what Pispers is refering to just moments before end (and was back then the most recent thing, he mentioned in his speech)

I just like your positive approach !

Volker Pispers is political education for the whole world 👍👌👍👌

Thank's😊

Volker Pispers is brutally pointing out real problems in a quite funny manner. He leaves me always speechless and mostly depressed. He’s right, but I feel uncomfortable because inhale the urge to do something about it but don’t se a chance to do it. So I try to make my surroundings a better place and be aware.

nice to see this. You got most of what Volker is referring quite well. But even for younger Germans its tough to get because of the context of historical facts he puts into.

love it

Volker Pispers is the greatest!!!🎉

According to his GDR cricicism I guess he once told a joke about a man consulting psychological support and living in East Berlin at times of the GDR. He complains about climbing the wall. The therapist answers „...well, maybe a lot do.“ „But I climb from the west to the east side…“😀

Another great reaction video my brother! Its a bit funny to see how shocked you sometimes are by some of his comments. But remember: "Satire darf Alles" :) I can only recommend again Jan Böhmermann, investigative journalism paired with political satire.

I guess most Germans 30+ know Volker and this bit. He was a regular guest on public television.

GEZ is the public television fee - Gebühreneinzugszentrale

Volkers disdain with Merkel has a simple reason. Merkel voted hard for a german participation in the iraq war.

pispers on kapitalisem is a good material

Danke!

We actually watched this in school when about 10 years ago. Good memories

"socially accepted mass murder" - my criterion for when I’d start to worry less about covid is "when fewer people die of covid than in traffic". This was the case in July 2023 - before that more people died from covid every week than from traffic accidents. That’s definitely influenced from watching Volker Pispers.

The socially accepted mass murder refers to the fact that we keep avoiding a general speed limit and that there used to be a 2nd man on a lorrie, but live to drive fast, which kills hundreds and thousands every year, also that we accept accidents by overworked lorrie drivers in order to cut costs on logistics.

Nice to see you watch an interpreted version instead of a translated version of Pisper's act. Huge diferrence. Greetings from Bavaria

Volker is a legend, always on point, speaking out loud what others wouldn't even dare to think. But as you already mentioned a couple of times, German humour, comedy or satire is absolutely great and unique. There are so many good comedians and cabaret artists with amazing skills of finding the right words for almost every topic you can imagine. One of my favourite cabaret artists is Dieter Nuhr and his annual review on the past year is one hour of pure irony, sarcasm and sometimes simple jokes. He is looking at things that happened in Germany (in society, politics and stuff) but also worldwide, and he nails it every year. You find his videos here on YT. He is also a great photographer and artist and his general knowledge is really outstanding, like Volker's. Give it a try 🤗

Swiss fan of Volker Pispers, show your presence!

About this '40 years of dictatorship' thing: yes, this is about the GDR. Back then children were to become part of political indoctrination(?) at a certain age. When they entered elementary school they became "Thälmann-Pioniere", later "Jung-Pioniere", before joining the "Freie Deutsche Jugend"(Free German Youth) called short "FDJ" in teenage years. The salute of the two pioneer groups was that a superior, usually an adult group leader, said something along the lines "für Frieden und Sozialismus seid bereit!" (Something about peace or freedom and socialism - i don't know the exact wording besides the last bit -, be prepared!) And the pioneers put their hand to their head in a certain manner and answer "Immer bereit!"(Always prepared!)

It was origially recorded and broadcasted by Germanys public televison (the german BBC), sadly he hasn´t performed since 7 years.

That's really true!!!

Fantastic video, I look forward to seeing more! Current estimates for deaths by smoking are at 127000 per year for Germany.

3:23 What is referred to as "constitutional police" in the subtitles is actually our domestic intelligence agency, which is (to give you the Wikipedia synopsis) "tasked with intelligence-gathering on efforts against the liberal democratic basic order, the existence and security of the federation or one of its states, and the peaceful coexistence of peoples; with counter-intelligence; and with protective security and counter-sabotage". It's one of three German federal intelligence services (the other two being the BND for foreign intelligence and MAD for military counterintelligence), and its full title "Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz" translates to "Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution".

And now it's time to discover Hagen Rether. 😉

One fun video without words from a german fun game magazine "Eskalation an der Kaffeemaschine - Neulich bei Game Two"

Thanks for bringing these videos. You might also be interested in Wolfgang Krebs and Helmut Schleich from Bavaria.

Yeah, he used to be on TV a lot in the 1990s - especially in Cabaret-Festivals on 3rd Public TV programs like 3sat, but also on primary German Public TV Channels at Late-Night-Hours (which usually were the hours these kind of critical Entertainment Shows were shown - why some might have only seen them on "3rd" [meaning Regionally-focussed] Public TV Stations as repetition during different daytimes. And yeah, he was referring to the 40 years of East-Germany-Dictatorship, where Angela Merkel was born - like me, too. Students don't need to pay GEZ usually - why it was an "Anomaly". All taxes (including the tobacco tax) end up eventually in the State-Budget for Public Services - which includes infrastructure, Administration, Legal Forces (including Police). There were very severe Floods in Europe in 2002 - you can easily look a summary article up for them on Wikipedia looking for "2002 European floods". The Problems with the Deaths from abuse of Alcohol, Smoking and driving without enough sleep (truck drivers being pushed to drive longer than they're allowed even falsifying their records at times - even though they have something like a "Black Box" on board, I know, where the police can check for how long the vehicle was driving and standing parked for resting)...I'm sure many of these problems are rather systemic for many countries and their Economies though - since you seem curious about it for Germany in this context, why not expand it to the countries you've been living at and are living at - some have better, some worse regulations, I'm sure. Yet, it's also depending on how well laws are implemented and can be enforced). He also used that term "Socially Accepted Mass Murder" as a way to "dramatize" his point about the Deaths from drugs, drug-related accidents and the conditions of Truck-/Bus-Drivers among others... Exactly what you pointed out afterwards - the numbers aren't known or much propagated in German Media sadly, too - at least never in comparison to what's happening in other contexts of the Country (why he's so awesome and informative to watch - much like "Georg Schramm" did, too - there's another suggestion for you ). Cheers...Volker is an Icon of Political Cabaret, too...especially since the 1990s, too. Urban Priol is another one, who's really funny, but also points out "painful truths" like him, Georg Schramm (as mentioned above) - who even denied a price that was sponsored by some unethical Bank or Corporation not too long ago (maybe still a decade though, my time-perception is pretty crappy ;-) ) - and Anny Hartmann, who has also been praised by Volker. Well, not sure how many of them are already available with English Subtitles though - maybe you'll need a German friend who has really good English skills (to also translate the references they all make to contemporary developments of the times when they were "commenting" in their Personas (like Georg Schramm) on the Events during those.

No recommendations. Just hang on with pispers. He is unmatched by far.

We watched that in our politics class almost 10 years ago 😂

You should take a look at Hagen Rether, another great cabaret performer from Germany. I think quite a few of his videos are available with english subtitles, for example "Nothing Changes".

it was aired on german free tv... on ARD... i saw it back then live in the first decade...

i have to admit that i usually don't watch reaction videos/channels because i generally feel they're quite fake/cheap. But the fact that you, as a Brit, are covering one of my favorite pieces by my absolute favorite cabaret artist, of all things, left me hugely impressed. Volker Pispers was, is and always will be a national treasure from my pov. Thank you for giving him and his program the attention and appreciation he very much deserves.👏 This was really a brave program at the time, because anyone who didn't toot the 'America above all' horn was immediately anti-American, which was tantamount to being a muslim- terrorism sympathizer. Also, if you're interested in this kind of political cabaret from Germany, maybe check out old episodes of 'Neues aus der Anstalt' (2007-2013)..back in the day with Urban Priol and Georg Schramm. The newer episodes aren't so much my taste anymore... nowadays I rather watch the "heute-Show".😄

Another great caberetist would be Georg Schramm, he had a similar style to Pispers

I guess this was broadcasted in public german TV on a channel named 3sat (a program with many satire and comedy bits - i.e. every sunday evening prime time).

Hi Mert, More Pispers: "Bis Neulich 2016" (Last before retiring and IMHO the best), "Damit müssen Sie rechnen Update 2000", "Frisch gestrichen"... All to find here but without any subtitles.