Gießkannenprinzip

... or scattergun approach. This martial denomination is the best translation of the principle of a watering can. It means, in particular, a dispersal of financial benefits to everyone regardless of their needs.

The latest example of the Gießkannenprinzip is the 300 Euros the German government grants to all people who draw an Altersrente (old age pension) from the German social security system, irrespectively whether the monthly retirement pension is small or substantial. The Energiepreispauschale is meant to compensate for inflated energy prices and help people to make ends meet.

Yesterday the Energiepreispauschale arrived.

Red Baron only draws a small old-age pension from the German national system because he spent 32 years of his working life at CERN. So the bulk of his monthly income is covered by the CERN pension.

When our finance minister was asked why those in real need of the money don't get more than those with a reasonable income, he said, "We cannot link the social security number with the tax identification number," disclosing the disastrous digitalization in Germany's administrative offices.

Red Baron doesn't need the Energiepreispauschale and opposes the unsocial Gießkannenprinzip. 

I shall round up the 300 Euros and donate the money to the UNHCR refugee relief for Ukraine.

 

*