Anyone who thinks that Germany, and Germans haven't made a major cultural contribution in the last century is off his/her rocker. Honestly, Germany has been the source of some of the greatest (and worst) minds of the past 100 years. Take away my Herman Hesse, Thomas Mann, Franz Kafka (wrtoe in German), Albert Einstein, Fritz Lang, and others and I am a very sad person. To say German is a culture in decline is a joke, seeming that even German language is on the rise as the strenght of the EU grows.
Oh, yeah, and one thing that Germany has that North America is lacking is the sense that everyone is entitled, if they have been working, to a vacation that includes travel.
North Americans in general work far too many hours for far too little return. And if you expect me to work until I'm 70 for my pention, you can go and fata off.
edit: some of the rhetoric in that first article is distubingly close to the extreme nationalist sentiments that led to the First World War, the Second, and genocide. I'm half expecting to see a follow up article explaining the virtues of pro-natal policies for fighting the onslaught of the foreing masses. Neo-Cons seem hellbent on attempting to to return to already demonstrated to be disasterous policies. Yikes
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