4professionals
Post Titled: Articulation of Germany's big fat HANG-UPs.
DISCLAIMER: this post is NOT directed and anyone I know personally OR work with on a regular basis, but is directed more towards the society as a whole. Mind you, when I am in the States (or even when I am not) I am just as (if not more) harsh of a critic of that so-called society.
LAst week, in various states of delirium from over-working on the UdK project I would come home in a delerious state after having worked 17 hours straight and rant to Nadine about how "The Germans can be just a little bit FUCKING RETARDED, often they can't solve problems, are obsessed with process itself, times, schedules and are willing to just write most things off as 'not possible' instead of Just DOING it, FINDING a solution or a way." THis was making me NUTS, literally. It wasn#t just the germans either, it was the people from many an EU nation.
In retrospect, I am a guest here and should respect the way this society works, even if it is a little bit fucking retarded it is still one of the top economies int he world and produces many innovations. BUT to back-up my remarks, 10 years ago the then- Bundespräsident Roman Herzog said the same damn things, just a bit more diplomatically:
"Probably the biggest scold of the past few decades has been Roman Herzog, who was President from 1994-99. His political origins lay in the mainstream-conservative CDU/CSU, so he's a cherished whipping-boy of the left. Whatever you think of him politically, there's no question that he was one of the greatest scolds that ever scolded. In this 1997 speech, Herzog begins by describing the optimism he encountered on a recent trip to Asia, and then comparing it with German society, where he laments: "the loss of economic dynamism, the paralysis (Erstarrung) of society, and an unbelievable mental depression." Instead of approaching new technologies and challenges soberly, he continues,
'...we fall prey to fear scenarios. There’s hardly a single new discovery which does not first provoke questions about the risks and dangers – but never about the opportunities. There’s hardly a single reform effort that is not immediately suspected of being an “attack on the social state.” Whether atomic energy, genetic technology, or digitalization: we suffer from the fact that our discussions are distorted into unrecognizability – to some extend ideologized, to some extent simply “idiotized.” Such debates no longer lead to decisions. Instead, they end up following a ritual, which always seem to play out in the same seven-step pattern:
1.In the beginning, there is a reform proposal which would require some sacrifice from some interest group.
2.The media registers a wave of “collective outrage.”
3.Now (at the very latest) the political parties jump onto the bandwagon, one of them in favor, one against.
4.The next phase produces a blizzard of alternative proposals and empty symbolic gestures of all kinds, going all the way to mass demonstrations, petition drives, and questionable blitz-polls.
5.A general lack of orientation follows; citizens become insecure.
6.Now, from all sides, come the appeals toward “prudence.”
7.Finally, at the end, the problem is put off. The status quo is maintained. Everyone waits for the next big subject.'
These rituals would be amusing to watch, if they didn’t also dangerously cripple the ability to actually make decisions. We fight about the unimportant things, in order to avoid having to concentrate on the important ones."
CREDIT: plucked from a blog called German Joys
I still love Germany and Europe, of course, but damn- people!, the motto around here sould be JUST EFFING SHUT-UP AND DO IT! - kinda like the old Nike slogan, but more harsh...
on top of that, there are other problems that Germany seems to prefer to look the other way on, namely the integration of its minority populations... but this is also and EU issue.
DISCLAIMER: this post is NOT directed and anyone I know personally OR work with on a regular basis, but is directed more towards the society as a whole. Mind you, when I am in the States (or even when I am not) I am just as (if not more) harsh of a critic of that so-called society.
LAst week, in various states of delirium from over-working on the UdK project I would come home in a delerious state after having worked 17 hours straight and rant to Nadine about how "The Germans can be just a little bit FUCKING RETARDED, often they can't solve problems, are obsessed with process itself, times, schedules and are willing to just write most things off as 'not possible' instead of Just DOING it, FINDING a solution or a way." THis was making me NUTS, literally. It wasn#t just the germans either, it was the people from many an EU nation.
In retrospect, I am a guest here and should respect the way this society works, even if it is a little bit fucking retarded it is still one of the top economies int he world and produces many innovations. BUT to back-up my remarks, 10 years ago the then- Bundespräsident Roman Herzog said the same damn things, just a bit more diplomatically:
"Probably the biggest scold of the past few decades has been Roman Herzog, who was President from 1994-99. His political origins lay in the mainstream-conservative CDU/CSU, so he's a cherished whipping-boy of the left. Whatever you think of him politically, there's no question that he was one of the greatest scolds that ever scolded. In this 1997 speech, Herzog begins by describing the optimism he encountered on a recent trip to Asia, and then comparing it with German society, where he laments: "the loss of economic dynamism, the paralysis (Erstarrung) of society, and an unbelievable mental depression." Instead of approaching new technologies and challenges soberly, he continues,
'...we fall prey to fear scenarios. There’s hardly a single new discovery which does not first provoke questions about the risks and dangers – but never about the opportunities. There’s hardly a single reform effort that is not immediately suspected of being an “attack on the social state.” Whether atomic energy, genetic technology, or digitalization: we suffer from the fact that our discussions are distorted into unrecognizability – to some extend ideologized, to some extent simply “idiotized.” Such debates no longer lead to decisions. Instead, they end up following a ritual, which always seem to play out in the same seven-step pattern:
1.In the beginning, there is a reform proposal which would require some sacrifice from some interest group.
2.The media registers a wave of “collective outrage.”
3.Now (at the very latest) the political parties jump onto the bandwagon, one of them in favor, one against.
4.The next phase produces a blizzard of alternative proposals and empty symbolic gestures of all kinds, going all the way to mass demonstrations, petition drives, and questionable blitz-polls.
5.A general lack of orientation follows; citizens become insecure.
6.Now, from all sides, come the appeals toward “prudence.”
7.Finally, at the end, the problem is put off. The status quo is maintained. Everyone waits for the next big subject.'
These rituals would be amusing to watch, if they didn’t also dangerously cripple the ability to actually make decisions. We fight about the unimportant things, in order to avoid having to concentrate on the important ones."
CREDIT: plucked from a blog called German Joys
I still love Germany and Europe, of course, but damn- people!, the motto around here sould be JUST EFFING SHUT-UP AND DO IT! - kinda like the old Nike slogan, but more harsh...
on top of that, there are other problems that Germany seems to prefer to look the other way on, namely the integration of its minority populations... but this is also and EU issue.
posted by "Post-Google" by TAR ART RAT at 12:41 pm
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