And ... Germany Gets Back To Being German

"This approach has failed, totally," she said, adding that immigrants should integrate and adopt Germany's culture and values.
Click to expand...

Fair part.

"We feel tied to Christian values. Those who don't accept them don't have a place here," said the chancellor.
Click to expand...

Stupid part.
 
ddt said:
...snip...

Of course, things like learning the language and adhering to the laws are things an immigrant should do. They go without saying.

...snip...
Click to expand...

I heard a German politician saying that Merkel's party had blocked or opposed plans to provide funding for immigrants to be taught German. Which to me seems a rather short sighted approach.
 
Darat said:
I heard a German politician saying that Merkel's party had blocked or opposed plans to provide funding for immigrants to be taught German. Which to me seems a rather short sighted approach.
Click to expand...

When my German relatives are over, they are always amazed that in the Netherlands, Turks, Moroccans and even the freaking Chinese speak Dutch amongst each other.

Apparently it is a big taboo to stimulate learning German.
German guilt and all that.
 
Not been able to read a transcript of the entire speech but from what I have read it seems to be the typical "instinct" of a politician that is losing support - trying to sound ""strong" and "populist".
 
Eddie Dane said:
When my German relatives are over, they are always amazed that in the Netherlands, Turks, Moroccans and even the freaking Chinese speak Dutch amongst each other.

Apparently it is a big taboo to stimulate learning German.
German guilt and all that.
Click to expand...

Not a big taboo. Left-wingers in general are fanatically opposed to helping immigrants integrate in German culture, because that would contradict their brand of multi-cultural approach. Right-wingers in general are fanatically opposed to helping immigrants integrate into German culture, because that would mean acknowledging that the immigrants will stay here.

Of course, right-wingers won´t actually ever do anything to throw out all the immigrants they don´t like - they´d lose their favorite all-purpose scapegoat if they did.
 
Darat said:
Not been able to read a transcript of the entire speech but from what I have read it seems to be the typical "instinct" of a politician that is losing support - trying to sound ""strong" and "populist".
Click to expand...

Pretty much, yeah. Bashing foreigners is the standard operating procedure for conservative politicians whenever they feel they need more votes.
 
Darat said:
I heard a German politician saying that Merkel's party had blocked or opposed plans to provide funding for immigrants to be taught German. Which to me seems a rather short sighted approach.
Click to expand...
From the venerable Beeb:
Mr Ozkaraca, a lawyer by profession, was born in Hamburg. His father came to Germany as a student in 1949, long before the "guest workers".

"These politicians say: They don't speak German, they don't want to be part of German society, and they have their own structures. But I ask: Where are the courses where we can learn German? Where is the help to integrate us, to show - you are welcome and we want you here?"
Click to expand...

Eddie Dane said:
When my German relatives are over, they are always amazed that in the Netherlands, Turks, Moroccans and even the freaking Chinese speak Dutch amongst each other.

Apparently it is a big taboo to stimulate learning German.
German guilt and all that.
Click to expand...
Interesting, as I remember that a few years ago, Germany was held up in the Dutch debate as an example where integration had worked better, despite lack of "pampering" of immigrants - and it was held that Holland had been the only country that had just let them in without any testing or preparations, e.g., for learning the language.

Of course, those immigrants into Holland who are now about retirement age also have a poor working knowledge of Dutch. And those who tried echo the same sentiment as from the above BBC article: nobody was interested in teaching them the language.

Darat said:
Not been able to read a transcript of the entire speech but from what I have read it seems to be the typical "instinct" of a politician that is losing support - trying to sound ""strong" and "populist".
Click to expand...
No luck here either. Der Spiegel has an English page about it. Indeed, Merkel needed to sound tough in the face of waning polls, and in the face of her rival from the Bavarian CSU sister party Seehofer, who takes an even stronger stance. The stinger in it all is that business-minded coalition partner FDP is very much in favour now of immigration: the German economy is going strong again, and as the Germans have nearly forgotten to make babies for a couple of decades now, there's a looming worker shortage. :)
 
ddt said:
Interesting, as I remember that a few years ago, Germany was held up in the Dutch debate as an example where integration had worked better, despite lack of "pampering" of immigrants - and it was held that Holland had been the only country that had just let them in without any testing or preparations, e.g., for learning the language.
Click to expand...

I love how that debate goes back and forth.

Some years ago, I read an article by some French sociology professor who claimed that the French approach to immigration led to much less discontent then the Dutch approach.
I guess that not a month later, that same woman was peeking through the curtains at her burning Renault as the riots broke out.

Not so happy after all, those immigrants.
 
nvidiot said:
The John Howard of Germany. Likely long will she reign.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't be so sure:
Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP) has now been overtaken for the first time by a center-left opposition of Social Democrats (SPD) and Greens.

According to the latest opinion poll from state broadcaster ARD, the Social Democrat-Green partnership would get 45 percent of the vote, while the CDU-FDP would barely scrape together 38 percent.
Click to expand...
 
I found this sentence odd:

Far-right attitudes are found not only at the extremes of German society, but "to a worrying degree at the centre of society," the think tank said in its report.
Click to expand...


The far right is in the middle?
 
aggle-rithm said:
I found this sentence odd:




The far right is in the middle?
Click to expand...

Depends on what one considers "far-right attitudes". The anti-foreigner smear campaigns have been unsettlingly effective, for example. There´s a disgustingly large number of people who think that "the Jews still wield too much influence", too.
 
German: So, have you visited Germany before?

Tourist: No, but my Grandfather was here.

German: Where abouts?

Tourist: Oh, all over.

German: When?

Tourist: Only at night.
 
Architect said:
German: So, have you visited Germany before?

Tourist: No, but my Grandfather was here.

German: Where abouts?

Tourist: Oh, all over.

German: When?

Tourist: Only at night.
Click to expand...
Oh, we're now into politically incorrect jokes?

German tourist in Rotterdam, to a passer-by: Wo ist hier die Altstadt? (where is the historic city center)

It would be likewise insensitive for an American to ask that in Nijmegen, btw.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom