Dear Reader,

I have no idea if his novels translate well into English, but I highly recommend picking up a book by Christian Kracht. They are normally pretty short and provide hilarious entertainment, as the Swiss author dissects the various neuroses and self-delusions that make up the German soul.

I was reminded of one of Kracht’s best known novels recently while listening to an idea that gained immense popularity last year.

Proposed by the journalist Ulrike Herrmann, it is the notion that Germany should enter a sort of war economy as the only way to tackle the ‘climate crisis.’ Hermann has argued that technological solutions to climate change are hopeless and that the only thing that can be done is to copy the example of Great Britain in the Second World War and ration food.

In her book ‘The End of Capitalism,’ Hermann puts forwards her vision, which includes banning private transport and handing the state control over all consumption. Her conclusion i…