scot47

Germany recovered from this, and went on to become the industrial leader in Europe.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dehous...45._CL3400.jpg
Do not let your Germanophobia blind you to what can be done.

Dick Dasterdly

Unfortunately they don't have the benefit of the Marshall Plan this time around.

Been a bit of a bad year for them what with the Merkel cock-up and the VW scandal which could both have negative effects for a long time ahead.
On top of that they're now accused of bribery and corruption in relation to the World Cup.

However I wish them better luck for next year as without a strong Germany the EU could be in even more trouble than it is now, with or without the UK.

scot47

They did not use the Marshal Plan to meet the enormous cost of Unification. DD, you really are a "Little Englander" !

Dick Dasterdly

Check your own link.

It goes back to 1942 !

By the way, childlike name calling simply reflects back on the mindset of the poster, but please continue as you wish.

scot47

The photo shows a part of Hamburg in 1944 or 1945. It illustrates the results of "Dehousing".

Moses2013

Childlike name calling aside, it's only going to get worse. Yes, the government can create jobs and tell us it's all going to be fine, but that's not the point. The big issue is that there are too many people in one place and that reduces quality of life, be it housing, environment etc. At the moment we are basically cutting down another forest, but are not replanting trees in the areas that have already been destroyed.

scot47

As we head down the road to WW3 and Armageddon a bit of name calling is the last of our problems.

Dick Dasterdly

Sweden Full Up, the latest country to close the doors and impose border control.
Meanwhile S. and E. Europe govts are furiously building permanent fences to protect themselves not from Russia but from Western stupidity and Merkel madness.
No one seems to comprehend that many of the inhabitants of some of these countries are in a worse state than many of the incoming migrants, even to the point of following in their tracks and collecting discarded food and other supplies.

It's fast becoming a Berlin Wall situation in reverse, with Schengen dead in the water and bigger numbers forecast to arrive during the next two years at least.

Assanah

Is this the beginning of the new age?
On new years eve hundreds of men of North African origin attacked women in cologne. They sexually harassed and robbed them.

Moses2013

Disgusting and apparently 1000 of them. Now Denmark has closed the doors, but Germany is still letting everyone in without passports.

Assanah

Apparently it happened in Hamburg and Stuttgart too. And Merkel has no answer. For me it boils down to how much women really count as human beings in Germany. I fear that our politicians will expect us women to adapt to the new male dominance in our streets. I see that in my city too. Only male groups roaming the streets. Makes you feel weird.

Police is speaking of completely new dimensions of violence. They speak of very massive sex offences. The offender were completely without inhibition and very violent.

amideislas

I have some difficulty blaming schengen for the migrant crisis.

The obvious causes of the migrant crisis, well, we can argue about how to solve it ad-nauseum, but schengen isn't the cause nor abandoning it is the solution.

The real problem (domestically) is that the EU, the de-facto keeper of, and enforcer of schengen, has simply failed to secure schengen's borders. THAT is the real problem.

Would be a similar situation if California decided to allow free passage over the Mexican border, against the wishes of Arizona and Texas, and everyone else. The difference is that California doesn't have control of immigration policy or enforcement. The Feds do, so California simply can't do that.

Another of the flaws of the EU. They've more or less fixed the single currency problem by putting Euro fiscal policy largely under ECB central control. I wonder how they'll get control of this one.

I speculate that ultimately, it will come down to establishing a centralised EU agency to set policy and enforce schengen - including staffing and operating border controls in schengen member states. And those who object, well, will probably be excluded from schengen. But I doubt that would bother any of those who have already closed their borders...

Moses2013

Certainly challenging times ahead and you feel sorry for the families who just want to live a normal life away from war. Even the Spiegel no longer allows discussions on their forum if the subject is Migrants (see below in German).


Liebe Leserinnen und Leser, im Unterschied zu vielen anderen Artikeln auf SPIEGEL ONLINE finden Sie unter diesem Text kein Forum. Leider erreichen uns zum Thema Flüchtlinge so viele unangemessene, beleidigende oder justiziable Forumsbeiträge, dass eine gewissenhafte Moderation nach den Regeln unserer Netiquette kaum mehr möglich ist. Deshalb gibt es nur unter ausgewählten Artikeln zu diesem Thema ein Forum. Wir bitten um Verständnis.

Assanah

It is not refugees who committed the crimes for all we know. It were Arabs living in Europe for sometime. That is the most worrying part: supposedly integrated men showing a disdain for people just because of their gender that I am tempted to equate them with racists.

Moses2013

But the problem is that the refugees get the blame and political parties like NPD are just waiting for these things to happen. Merkel is always talking about integration and I'm sure that these men are fully integrated, but integration will not change their mentality.