Black and white political cartoon depicting a yacht with two smiling people labeled "RUHESTAND" and a struggling rowboat with two exhausted people labeled with economic terms.

A very simple black and white political newspaper cartoon, minimalistic line art, clear outlines, no shading, symbolic, hand drawn style. Scene: A large calm lake labeled clearly with the word “RUHESTAND” (retirement). Two rivers flow into the lake. Right river (strong current, going against the flow): a small old damaged rowing boat labeled “Gesetzliche Rente”. In the boat sits the German “Deutscher Michel” with traditional cap and his exhausted partner. Both look stressed, desperate, sweating, struggling hard with oars against the strong current. Words written in the water current of this river: “Unbezahlte Carearbeit”, “Steigende Mieten”, “Kalte Progression”. Left river (calm, flowing easily): a large modern motor yacht moving comfortably toward the lake. On the yacht stand Friedrich Merz and Katherina Reiche, recognizable but caricatured, relaxed, confident, privileged. Speech bubble from Friedrich Merz pointing at the small boat: Second speech bubble from Katherina Reiche: Style: classic German newspaper political cartoon, very simple, reduced, bold lines, high contrast, black ink on white background. See more