German Chancellor Merkel v. Multicultural Society

[Magón]

Interesting piece on the BBC. I never really knew much on the German multicultural aspect of things, but this is very interesting. (To me anyway.)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11559451


Attempts to build a multicultural society in Germany have "utterly failed", Chancellor Angela Merkel says.

In a speech in Potsdam, she said the so-called "multikulti" concept - where people would "live side-by-side" happily - did not work.

Mrs Merkel's comments come amid recent outpourings of strong anti-immigrant feeling from mainstream politicians.

A recent survey showed that more than 30% of Germans believed Germany was "overrun by foreigners".

The study - by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation think-tank - also showed that roughly the same number thought that some 16 million of Germany's immigrants or people with foreign origins had come to the country for the social benefits.

[Ke Pauk]

It would seem like the current German political system is now showing its true colors and bringing out the old ones from the 1940's as well. Somehow this doesn't surprise me since the current Chancellor has been shown to have made some questionable remarks in the past.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

A recent survey showed that more than 30% of Germans believed Germany was "overrun by foreigners".

The study - by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation think-tank - also showed that roughly the same number thought that some 16 million of Germany's immigrants or people with foreign origins had come to the country for the social benefits.

Wow, I thought attitudes like this were unique to the UK.

Do the Germans have tabloids? Do they run stories such as "immigrants get thousands of Euros in benefits" like the rags in this country like to print?

[WeAreReborn]

She said the so-called "multikulti" concept - where people would "live side-by-side" happily - did not work, and immigrants needed to do more to integrate - including learning German. Sounds like the conservatives in America when talking about Mexican immigrants. I don't understand how reactionaries manage to spread themselves everywhere. They are like cockroaches but harder to kill. :(

[ed miliband]

Wow, I thought attitudes like this were unique to the UK.

Do the Germans have tabloids? Do they run stories such as "immigrants get thousands of Euros in benefits" like the rags in this country like to print?

I don't see how such attitudes could possibly be unique to a single country, and of course Germany has tabloids.

[brigadista]

she just bought her ticket on the Sarkozy train..

[Dire Helix]

About time. European capitalist establishment is finally dropping all the pretense and showing its true colors. I expect more of this in the future. How long till "Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Fuhrer!" I wonder?

[Widerstand]

It would seem like the current German political system is now showing its true colors and bringing out the old ones from the 1940's as well. Somehow this doesn't surprise me since the current Chancellor has been shown to have made some questionable remarks in the past.

She's just preaching to the choir. That immigrants don't 'integrate', or aren't 'willing' to, has been said since years.


Wow, I thought attitudes like this were unique to the UK.

Try read more international news. I mean it. In every country there are those who hate immigrants.



Do the Germans have tabloids? Do they run stories such as "immigrants get thousands of Euros in benefits" like the rags in this country like to print?

Of course. The biggest German tabloid, "BILD", which is comparable to The Sun, has run exhaustive hate campaigns against Greeks leeching of the EU, for example. Muslimbashing is common too.


she just bought her ticket on the Sarkozy train..

No, she's been there before.


About time. European capitalist establishment is finally dropping all the pretense and showing its true colors. I expect more of this in the future. How long till "Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Fuhrer!" I wonder?

Very long. Germans are heavily conditioned to dislike fascism and all the Third Reich aesthetic. If there will be a new fascist Germany, it'll be established to save democracy.

[Dimentio]

Multiculturalism in the context of western societies under globalisation could per definition not become anything else than a failure, to the extent that solidarity is thrown out the window when the state is dismantlig the welfare system. People are seeking safety within their own social groups then, and that would always breed conflicts between groups.

You cannot simply deny the enormous problems with unemployment, racism, inter-ethnic fighting and so on which is breeding within the multiculturalist discourse. A lot of these problems would exist even if the majority populations had no racist attitudes at all.

[manic expression]

How long till "Ein Volk, ein Reich, eine Führerin!" I wonder?
At least for now...

Merkel's finally saying what every German capitalist has been wanting to say for awhile. Funny how she was standing in Potsdam and managed to blame immigrants and not the fascist lunatics who terrorize the streets of Germany. It's only going to get worse as the EU's economic crisis deepens.


You cannot simply deny the enormous problems with unemployment, racism, inter-ethnic fighting and so on which is breeding within the multiculturalist discourse. A lot of these problems would exist even if the majority populations had no racist attitudes at all.
That's precisely the thing, this "multiculturalism" was set up to fail. The ruling class is to blame from start to finish.

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

You'd not think a German would come out with such racist sentiments, given their unique 20th century history. Not that they have to tip-toe around forever in the shadow of Nazism, but there should really not be such insensitivity on this subject.

Though, Capitalism and the free market by definition is racist, so no surprises there.

[Dimentio]

This isn't explicitly racist. Rather, what the christian democrats (and the social democrats) probably want is to use high immigrant unemployment as a pretext to smash social security systems to give employers the "incentive" to hire people. It is possible that Merkel herself has racist prejudices. The Swedish government has used this tactic for years though. "Integration has failed, let's get the immigrants out to work!"

An example of explicit racist policies, you would need to look on the other side of the Rhine with Sarkozy's increasingly desperate fishing in brown waters.

[Tatarin]

In one sense, multiculturalism would fail in any case in capitalism. Not only would the welfare state be dismantled with immigration taking the blame, the very fact that societies have become more tolerant to immigrants is also telling.

But what is also telling is that with all this racism, is any society really working toward multicultural integration, or is it on the contrary, the immigrants working toward assimilation with the knowledge that they will never really be tolerated?

In any case, I think Fraühler Merkele is boarding the xenophobic train with this. Or, as I have suspected for some time, the "traditional" right-wing parties are doing like they do on the History Channel, attract voters with hate (something I believe was pretty common in Germany in the 1920's).

[Rakhmetov]

Merkel's eyes roll back in her head like a shark every time she engages in deep throat action against everything that is honest decent and just. :crying:

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/10/17-2

[Myrdal]

I was under the impression it failed because a lot of aspects of culture simply cannot coexist with other, mainly those relating to crime and punishment. One culture must be dominant. And if Germany is similar to Holland I don't think it's Germany that is at fault.

[ed miliband]

I was under the impression it failed because a lot of aspects of culture simply cannot coexist with other, mainly those relating to crime and punishment. One culture must be dominant. And if Germany is similar to Holland I don't think it's Germany that is at fault.

Culture isn't absolute. My main problem with multiculturalism (as policy) is that its advocates have the same attitude as you - some cultures can never co-exist peacefully and so encouraging people to merely tolerate rather than embrace is the best way to avoid social conflict. Put an Italian worker and a Somali worker side by side and they'll likely have many cultural differences, but their class similarities outweigh those cultural differences. It's useful for bourgeois policy makers to see all people as simply products of the culture they have been born into, and further to see these cultures as contradictory, as it means that class becomes something of very little importance. For instance now much debate about class is about the white working class and their inability to get along with the black working class, the latter group being presented as fundamentally different to the former.

Honestly, I don't see much difference between the attitudes of those who support multicultural policy and those who seem to be against it. Let's not forget that Blair, often presented as an ardent supporter of multiculturalism, blamed crime in London on 'black culture', or something like that. Pretty telling.

[Dr. Rosenpenis]

slavoj zizek has some interesting insight
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/10/18/slavoj_zizek_far_right_and_anti

[~Spectre]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-maher/new-rule-if-a-woman-rejec_b_764893.html

Same sort of thing.

[Rjevan]

Do they run stories such as "immigrants get thousands of Euros in benefits" like the rags in this country like to print?
Absolutely, the "Turkish immigrants bring their whole family with them to live like parasites idle on our welfare system!"-story is one of the favourites along the usual "immigrants take away our job" (so much for consistency...).

"Mounting debate" is an accurate description. Similar stuff has been going on for years but now it reaches new highs. Since Sarrazin successfully fueld the anti-immigant views of many in this country, populists (like Herr Seehofer is par excellence) have thankfully taken up the whole "Germany is transformed into Turkey II" theme to distract from issues like Stuttgart 21 and to boost their approval ratings in polls. Merkel had to follow, many of the traditional CDU voters as well as party members are running off to join "more conservative" parties, denouncing the CDU as "too liberal". They can't ignore this nor the success of right-wing populists like Geert Wilders in the Netherlands or HC Strache in Austria who score massively just by stirring anti-immigration sentiments.

All the talk about "Multikulti (which is the derogative term for Multikulturalismus) has utterly failed", "islamization of a Christian country" and "immigrants living on welfare but refusing to assimilate" is identical with favourite slogans of the neo-nazi NPD. Latter and similar groups have also managed to create a feeling of "occupied in the own county" or "overtolerance", i.e. that immigrants are treated as first class citizens with loads of privileges and Germans as second-class who aren't allowed to make any criticism and who have to make one concession after the other untill one moring they'll wake up in "Turkey II". Many people who normally wouldn't vote for the NPD have still taken up this view and feel now is the time to "break free and openly fight back".

Anyway, no big surprise, it comes as it has to come under capitalism in crisis. Scapegoats are made up to distract from the actual source of problems. That maybe the whole bourgeois concept of and attitudes and policies towards immigration and multiculturalism contributed much to some immigrants isolating themselves and developing hostile feelings towards this society never occurs to the most ardent advocates of "multiculturalism is an utter failure". They rather blame its failure on "the clash of cultures" and inherently parasitic and aggressive immigrants. It's easier and more popular to do so.



We feel tied to Christian values. Those who don't accept them don't have a place here.

Oh really? Wait a sec, have to pack my stuff and then I'm outta here. :)