Riots in France, what are the Germans thinking?

The racial problems in the United States have over the years resulted in a great deal of self righteous pontificating from our friends on the other side of the Atlantic pond. Those of us Americans who have spent any length of time in Europe suspected they were not being very introspective. In the late 60's and early 70's when the US was experiencing racial turmoil I lived in Munich for three years. Munich had a 10 to 20 percent Turkish minority. Rather than hang out at the American establishments in Munich I frequented a blue collar tavern. I had many conversations over many beers with the blue collar Bavarians who were there nightly. What I found was a great deal of prejudice towards the Turks and a sympathy with the Americans who were fighting integration and civil rights. Admittedly that was over 30 years ago and attitudes have changed here and I'm sure that they have changed in Germany as well.
So what are the Germans saying now in the wake of the new French Revolution?
Defining a Common Culture - Does Germany Need To?

For decades, the phrase "German pride" was considered an oxymoron, something that had been rubbed out of existence after Auschwitz. But that began to change after reunification and in 2000, conservative politician Friedrich Merz asked the question publicly: Could Germans be proud of their achievements and should there be common cultural guidelines that people ought to live by? It evoked some angry responses.


Now, the new president of the Bundestag, Norbert Lammert, another conservative politician, has said it is time to look again at what makes Germany German. He is not comfortable with the term "Leitkultur," which he says conjures up a sense of superiority of one culture over another. But he says he wants to get beyond the provocative nature of the term itself.

"The prospects of a really constructive discussion are far greater today than they were a few years ago," he said. "The truth is that there are cultural differences, and the truth is also that these differences, and the conflicts that occasionally arise from them, are anything but irrelevant."


He mentioned the concept of gender equality, which in Germany is enshrined in the law. In some immigrant communities, fathers arrange marriages for their daughters and women are of second rank.


"The right to equality for women, culturally based on our historical experience, and the right of the man to dominate in other cultural circles, also culturally based, cannot exist in one and the same society," he said.


Lammert said that while German society is a multicultural one, there should be a visible common thread that holds society together. According to him, a society needs to come to an agreement that there is at least a minimal level of "orientation" that should apply to everyone, regardless of ethnic or cultural background.

But others don't agree with Herr Lammert.

But others think this debate isn't leading anywhere. According to Claudia Roth, now head of the Green Party, the country's constitution paves the way for a peaceful coexistence of cultures and Lammert should see Germany's cultural diversity as a defining value in itself.

"He should realize that what he's doing is not encouraging debate but unleashing serious controversies," she said. "The concept of a defining German culture is nothing more than an attack on minorities in our country."


Thomas Nord, head of the new Left Party, also said he has misgivings about reigniting the debate of a term which he said would not lead toward addressing issues that needed attention.

These are not unlike the arguments we hear in the US. Mr Lammert is a typical cultural elitist and misses the real root cause of the problems in France, ECONOMICS. Politicians attempt to avoid the real issue simply because they are helpless to do anything about it. Countries no longer control the economy, it's the large multi-national corporations. Extremist movements, whether they be communist, Islamic, Christian. etc. require a sense of desperation among the population to recruit. The problems between Israel and the Palestinians only increased after Israel all but destroyed the economy and infrastructure of the Palestinian controlled territories. Much of the insurgency in Iraq can be blamed on unemployment rather than politics or Jihad. The problems in France have their roots in unemployment. Politicians try to place the blame on conflicting cultures because they are unable to do anything about the economic issues.

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