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a worrying sign of the times we live in :(

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  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    It's been a very painful re-unification, because the west and east had been brought up seeing each other as enemies for three generations. If it doesn't go well, the old animosities are inevitably there.

    I don't think its a worrying sign of any time, except that Germany has suffered economically with reunification.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    why is it a worrying sign of the times...i don't think it's a desire from the public to return to some capatilist versus communist war...i'm not too sure but i think a lot of west berliners feel that the easterners have taken their jobs, the easterners feel the economic benefits promised have not been granted, i think i read somewhere that there is still a big gap in the riches of east and west berlin, poverty is still rife in the east, so i think it's more than just some nostalgiac wanting to return to the good ole days...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Kermit wrote:
    It's been a very painful re-unification, because the west and east had been brought up seeing each other as enemies for three generations. If it doesn't go well, the old animosities are inevitably there.

    I don't think its a worrying sign of any time, except that Germany has suffered economically with reunification.


    the way it was done with the 1:1 currency was the only way in which the 2 sides could feel symbolically like 2 equal groups of people rather than the rich west taking on the bankrupt east
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Symbolic or not, the 1:1 exchange was the very root of the economic nightmare which persists today. It was one of Kohl's most shortsighted and opportunistic blunders.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Has that statistic changed over the 15 years? I would suspect that it has gone down.

    Watch Goodbye Lenin btw. Quite a good film.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Kentish wrote:
    Has that statistic changed over the 15 years? I would suspect that it has gone down.

    Watch Goodbye Lenin btw. Quite a good film.

    Yes, yes it is.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    The high unemployment and other problems are a real shame. Both East and West have the potential to become as economically stable as Britain but it is something they will have to sort out on their own. (Voting against everything to do with the European Union would be a start). That said I am more apprehensive about Germanys rapidly burgeoning fascination and open support of Hitler. I read in the papers yesterday about the "gripping obsession of the Nazi era" flourishing across Germany. Speaking as someone who lives with two, regularly visits the country and knows what wankers they are, this does not surprise me. "Sixty years ago the Third Reich perished," wrote Jens Jessen in Die Zeit. "Now one gets the impression it is being resurrected on a daily basis". Recent polls sadly support these accusations.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Germans problems stem directly from its high regulation, massive welfare state, inflexible labour market. Essentially it is ahving economic problems because it is a social democracy.

    What Germany needs is its own Thatcher.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    The Matadore wrote:
    Germans problems stem directly from its high regulation, massive welfare state, inflexible labour market. Essentially it is ahving economic problems because it is a social democracy.

    What Germany needs is its own Thatcher.

    Doesn't it have a stronger economy than the UK....
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    well the unemployment rate is higher
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    MrG wrote:
    well the unemployment rate is higher

    and by The Matadores logic thats something that doesn't matter right. ;)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    And in the 1980s employment laws were even stricter.

    And in the 1980s West Germany was the leading economy.

    Still, The Matadore has never been comfortable with facts...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Doesn't it have a stronger economy than the UK....

    It has a bigger economy, but it is almost at 0% growth every year, combined with 10 million unemplyed and high inflation.

    Yup, social democracy just doesnt work.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    The Matadore wrote:
    It has a bigger economy, but it is almost at 0% growth every year, combined with 10 million unemplyed and high inflation.

    Yup, social democracy just doesnt work.


    did u just miss kermits post by accident


    its great how some people always do this :chin: reminds me of my question of sheer pragmatism in the israel 'disputed/illegal' land thread which some certain oher people ignored quite blindly

    and high levels of state funding and regulation do not necesserily stifle productivity, high levels of greed can do so too

    its all a matter of balance really ;)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Unemployment in the east is constant.

    Unemployment in the west is largely constant.

    Germans get paid more than we do, and get more time off.

    I'd rather have the legislation, and so would most low-paid workers.
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