There are two ways you can concede reality. One is to keep running headlong into it with a bucket over your head until you pass out and are dragged off the stage. The other way is to adapt but pretend that reality has decided to accommodate you. This means an assault on the language or sending an inconvenient truth down the memory hole. This way everyone can pretend they were not the guy running headlong into reality with the bucket on their head.
Angela Merkel’s decision to turn Germany into a province of the Caliphate was based on fantasies popular with our ruling classes. Namely, that all people everywhere are the same and want the same things. All those messy differences we see are just social constructs or the legacy of white racism. Throw open the doors of civilization and we will have paradise!
Instead, Germany now has Muslim rape gangs, migrant ghettos and growing social unrest. Further, this has destabilized the very sensitive political balance in Europe. Britain could very well bolt the EU and it is entirely due to the migrant hoards trying to swim the Channel. Across Europe, xenophobic political parties are moving from the fringe to respectability, even in Germany where they are allergic to such things because of you know who.
While there are few signs that the good thinkers in Germany are ready to take the bucket off their head, the rest of Europe is trying to adjust to observable reality. The Balkan states have sealed their borders with Greece, turning the birth place of western democracy into the Camp of the Saints. Greece is quickly becoming a sort of ghetto for migrants denied access to Germany. If the average Greek did not hate Germans after the financial debacle, they do now.
That, of course, should have been the lesson everyone learned from the show down over Greek debt. The EU may have been a French initiative, but it is a German institution now. If you’re the French or Dutch, this is not a bad deal. Hungarians and Poles are probably fine with it for the most part. But the Golden Rule always applies. The man with gold makes the rules and in Europe, that’s Germany.
This brings us back to reality. Germany, as the dominant nation in Europe, has to accept the responsibilities that come with the position. Europe is best served when led by a Frankish coalition, dominated by the heirs of Louis the German. And yes, I’m being fast and loose with history here, but the point is Germany and France are the heart of Europe and must dominate the politics. There can be no other way.
Merkel’s trip to Turkey and the resulting “deal” to help address the migrant problem, suggests the German political elite is starting to figure out that reality is not going away. A united Europe means a federation of ethnic states led by Germany and France. It can never mean a monolithic super state that has no natural identity. Borders exist for a reason. They help maintain order, inside Europe and outside it.
There’s another bit to this and that is Germany will have to take the lead in defending Europe militarily. History has not ended and that means Europe will have to maintain a foreign policy and a military to back it. Russia will forever make mischief in Europe. That’s what Russians are put on earth to do so that has to be addressed. Then there’s the demographic issue to the south.
That brings me back to the beginning. Fair or foul, the idea of a re-militarized Germany is a tough sell, even if the reality of it is a necessity. The political class of Europe is going to have to find a way to accomplish the goal while pretending reality has given in on this point. The rather obvious lesson of the last 25 years is that the institutions designed for fighting the Cold War are falling away. NATO is operating on borrowed time. Something must replace it.
The bigger issue facing Europe, one no one dares mention, is that the Germans need to put their past behind them. You know who was an aberration and it is long past time for Germans to regain their national pride. They cannot be the leader of modern Europe if they are psychologically crippled by events no one alive remembers. Hitler has been dead for 70 years now. Time to close the books on him.
That also means closing the books on the neutered German too. The Cold War required West Germany to be a super-charged Switzerland full of gregarious beer drinking bureaucrats who meticulously adhered to the latest political fashions. The new Europe requires a confident Germany willing to take on the hard work of defending civilization from threats internal as well as external. That’s going to require retiring the old thinking as well as the old men and women currently in charge.
Call it whatever you like, but the reality of Europe is that it is defined in Germany.
First, the are the opinions of one German not the entire country. 🙂 1) Angela Merkel’s decision to turn Germany into a province of the Caliphate was based on fantasies popular with our ruling classes.|” Incorrect. Her effort was a humanitarian aid to the Syrians caught in a civil war which the Americans failed to act upon. Not mass immigration. They are refugees with refugee status, and are not entitled to citizenship as defined in the 1951 Convention. The whole situation in the middle east was due to America’s ineptitude and Europe is paying the price. Let’s put responsibility and… Read more »
This is Karl’s territory, and as always I find his answers thoughtful and insightful, but then he and I are both European and probably from the same northern European stock. It is, as an utterly pointless aside, one of those vague reasons why I can watch German football (soccer, if you must) but dislike watching southern European teams. Germany runs Europe. There is no doubt about that and my desire to see the UK out of Europe — even if I think this will not be allowed, whatever the forthcoming referendum decides — is not to cut my interest off… Read more »
@ UKer – It would be sad indeed for the UK to withdraw from full economic engagement with Germany. To be honest, I believe our respective cultures are more closely aligned than with our French neighbors and certainly we have little in common culturally with anyone south of the Alps. The British have a history of hard work and enduring extreme hardships all while maintaining a sense of humor. While we Germans take pride in our economic prowess, a little humor would be a nice sauce. The Brits lend to us that bit of unseriousness about life more Germans should… Read more »
From a safe distance away, it appears that those people in Brussels have very little interest in the affairs of the UK, Germany, or anyone else. I believe many here in the U.S. share my thinking that the whole EU movement has evolved into an opportunity for an unaccountable elite to skim whatever they want off the backs of the Europeans, and to position themselves so that anyone in Europe that wants or needs anything must go ask permission of them on blended knee, and kiss their ring for good measure. No one should be put in such a position.… Read more »
@Karl, Still thinking on the Russian/Chinese post. Probably next week. Needed to clear some head space first.
hahahaha “refugees” right. You say it like you almost believe it! I guess in your world dogs refer to fleas as “refugees” as well. Just like those Russian “refugees” that arrived in Berlin around 1945. You need to get your head out of the clouds Karl, and call things by their proper names.
The Russian refugees, for the most part, actually went back home. There were few, it any Russians in East Germany during the old DDR days. Unfortunately, the Russians that returned to Uncle Stalin were not warmly welcomed. But you make a valid point many of us are concerned with – that the refugees will leave and that immigration will be controlled (e.g. limited) as defined by our Constitutional law. Unfortunately, there is truth to the demographic shifts which we have to accept. We do need more “auslanders” to make up our declining numbers. If only we could convince the Greeks,… Read more »
If you let the population drop, household formation becomes more affordable (and more secure) and people will naturally start having more kids. Keeping population levels up will stymie this process.
“There were few, it any Russians in East Germany during the old DDR days.”
Not counting the soldiers I guess.
Ummm, I think he means the Russian soldiers that gave the Fatherland a good old fashioned ass-fukking 😛 Just like the Muslims are doing now!
No, there were thousands of Russian soldiers garrisoned in the DDR and they all did not leave until the early 1990s. I saw the last of them leave one garrison town. They put on their vehicles toilets, electrical wire, copper pipe, heating radiators, anything they could rip out of their barracks because such stuff was hard to get at home.
“Immigrants of Doom” sounds about right!
“Immigrants of Doom”..I suspect many native born white Americans thought the same of the Irish and Italians as they unloaded onto Ellis Island. But at least they had the advantage of being predominantly Christian. Although I understand the Italians had a worse go of it up through WW2 and enlisted in huge numbers to prove themselves “real” Americans.
You cannot seriously be comparing Moslems, who come from third world hell-holes, treat women like chattel, commit unspeakable violent acts against non-Moslems (and each other), and who are adherents of a political system at direct odds with Western Civilization, to Irish & Italian immigrants? Seriously? You might want to read up on the history of Islam. 1400 years of barbarism and counting. Yes, it took the US some time to properly assimilate the Irish and Italians but it was well worth the effort to do so and supremely successful. Not only were they Christian, but they were part of the… Read more »
@ Kathleen – Have you visited the Blue Mosque in Istanbul or the El Hambra in Granada Spain? They are works of pure engineering and artistic marvel built under Muslim rule. And yes, I am fully aware of what the Muslims religion is capable of, having traveled to Turkey, Egypt and Morocco. My comment was that the Irish and Italians were not exactly warmly welcomed by the “native born” Americans. But since you brought up the subject of barbarism, let’s look at what Americans are capable of doing…and not so long ago in your own back yard and in present… Read more »
You really want to go down that road of tit for tat where I come back and list all the barbarisms committed by Germans? You’re defending Moslem violence by listing instances of American violence? Or making some kind of equivalency? And of what relevancy is the Blue Mosque to the conversation at hand? Just because Moslems were able to produce one or two things of value doesn’t “rescue” their culture from harsh criticism. Because the truth is that Islam is a scourge on humanity. There is no other group of people, religion, or ideology that has murdered more people than… Read more »
Note the date on the last item on your list, 126 years ago. Muslims add to their list EVERY DAY. If you want to just count horrible shit done in Europe, their entries will still have 2016 date stamps on them. You can try to draw false equivalencies all you like, but the facts are that: 1) Americans aren’t flooding into your nation and groping/raping your women and killing people on a daily basis. 2) Muslims have been attacking the west essentially since Islam has existed. It is a totalitarian religion of domination and seeks to control the entire globe… Read more »
@ Kathleen & Nunya – First, let me be clear that I am not condoning nor apologizing for Islam or the acts done in the name of their religion, or any religion. Second, no country can excuse itself from acts of barbarism it has committed towards other human beings. We all have a past, some more recent than others, and we all guilty of abusing other humans whether native or neighbors in this century or before. TheZman made the comment, “…who has the cleanest dirty shirt.” As for the comment Muslims have killed more people than any other group on… Read more »
Karl, you are wrong on this. Much of the killing by Christians that you reference was not done in the name of God, in the name of Christianity, to advance the agenda of a particular ideology over a 1400 year time frame, but for personal or state/fiefdom gains. There have been moments, which you’ve recounted, where Christians forgot who they were for love of power and treasure, and committed atrocities, saying it was for God. But Christianity changed and evolved. There is no reason to hide this history, but there is also no reason to attempt false equivalency to spare… Read more »
The greatest number of people put to death is undoubtedly the Chinese under Mao, and most of them were his own countrymen. You will find that number two is arguably Stalin, again overseeing the murder of mostly his own countrymen (at least roughly geographically). So perhaps communism and one’s own government are the dangers here.
Mao killed the most in the shortest span of time, the numbers are never pinned down exactly but estimates range from 50-78 million killed. Add in Stalins numbers and you find that communism has killed more people than anyone or any other ideology save one: Islam. The numbers of people killed by the adherents of Islam are not as easy to tote up due to the fact that we are talking about a 1400 year time span. It’s harder to keep track of numbers across centuries and across numerous countries. But I have no doubt that Islam wins this ignominious… Read more »
Best estimates I’ve seen were 125 million in Africa, 100 milion in India, 30-60 million in Europe and Greater Europe. These numbers are before the modern age. Oh, I forgot the complete replacement of all previous cultures indigenous to the MENA and Turkish ‘Stans.
Genghis dedicated himself to the destruction of Islam due to 600 years of setback since the Muslim victory at Yalu River 741 A.D.
He was the Eastern version of Crusade, for the same reason.
“China” once extended nearly to the Turkish border, until Islam.
Hands down the most destructive threat ever in human history.
Secular (non-religion dominated) states in the 20th century killed far and away more people than any religion throughout history, since the invention of history. Communists and fascists alone killed something on the order of half a billion people in the 20th century, some as war casualties, but most as grist ground in the political machine, and through famines induced both by malice and by incompetence on the part of central planners. Other forms of government added to that list as well, mostly through war casualties. Religious killers are pikers compared to the industrial scale of the slaughters perpetuated by governments… Read more »
I know that what you stated is the commonly held position, and that the 20th century was indeed the bloodiest in history, but Islam is not only a religion but a political system., across a 1400 year history. Certainly, the State in the 20th century was a more efficient killer over a shorter span of time. Sometimes the Mohammedans acted under what we consider a true state, such as the Ottoman Empire’s murder of over a million Armenian Christians, and sometimes over history it was smaller kingdoms. The result is the same, for Islam is forever at war with the… Read more »
Mr. Horst, the Muslims have most definitely not “learned from example” — while Europe was engaging in its own wars, the Muslims were doing very much the same thing.
And please don’t go there with the Native Americans — they were pretty bloody all on their own, in synchronicity with what was going on in the Old World.
The myth of the “noble savage” is just that, a myth.
Karl, stick to German and European history. The American Indians, were, by and large, bloodthirsty savages. Before the white man arrived, they spent most of their free time slaughtering each other. After the whites arrived, they decided to start slaughtering them too, but kept on killing each other because they couldn’t help themselves. Tecumseh recognized in the early 19th century that the only hope the Indians had was to unite the tribes in the face of the white man. He made a heroic effort, but it proved to be a hopeless task as the tribes simply didn’t trust each other,… Read more »
Uh, the Irish are common born scum. I can’t think of a single positive thing they have brought to this country. So with regards to the Muslims here, that’s a wash I guess?
Wow! So anti-Irish! Are you English? The Irish have contributed mightily to this country. Many of our best writers are Irish, Henry Ford was the son of Irish immigrants, Georgia O’Keefe a great painter. There are countless examples so if you are interested, which given your vitriol, I’m guessing you are not, you can Google it yourself. a7LMW
Said the Delbert of Scottish heritage…
How do you make a Scottish omelette?
First, steal two eggs…
You’re telling me that you would trade the fair skinned, green eyed, ginger haired goddesses that we got from the Irish in exchange for being rid of a certain subset of obnoxious drunks?
For shame, sir.
“It is long past time for Germans to regain their national pride.”
Hear, hear.
“But, the Golden Rule always applies. The man with gold makes the rules and in Europe, that’s Germany.”
The Eastern European states, Balkans and Baltics took the EU candy and now they’re learning what goes on in the van.
The political right in Germany has always been a pariah in the society. Back in the late ’70s and the early ’80s, they argued for a reunited Germany, and were treated like lepers for the audacity of asking for such a thing. One of their more recent asks was “Germany for the Germans”. Again, it looks like history will show that what they had asked for would eventually come to pass–or perhaps not, this time around. Other Germans are so quick to criticize and go all Adolf on them, when underneath it all most of the political right simply seeks… Read more »
Reunification was a natural expression of reuniting our country and our countrymen. Allied forced split our country, chopped it into zones and occupied them in a similar way to the Versailles treaty years before. Look back at why our Austrian chancellor rolled into Poland and Czech in 1939. It was to regain historically German territory. Read the stanzas from our old national anthem; the rivers describe our old eastern borders. We brought our country back together in peace and as a huge sign that communism is a total failure and that western democracy and capitalism works. This quickly led to… Read more »
Your last paragraph is an interesting one, our military operations have accomplished almost nothing constructive for anyone in the last two decades. My impression of the hard-won and long-worked-for Eastern European freedoms was that many people in many countries worked quietly and patiently for it, waiting for the moment when they could effectively act. The Poles, the Hungarians, the people of Czechoslovakia, and the East Germans imprisoned on the doorstep of the free West, all took matters into their own hands, once they sensed the opportunity. West Germans certainly paid the bill for the recovery of East Germany (and I… Read more »
@ Dutch – President Regan is one of my favorite US Presidents. The timing was perfect as both the US and Europe were in very good shape economically. Herr Gorbachev I believe realized the future of the Soviet Union was in serious trouble. Despite a military on par with the US, the USSR still had an isolated economy, no exports of any serious market value and he understood that long term, the future of the soviets was in serious trouble. I agree the west must unite, more so than just American isolationism and middle east meddling. The EU is a… Read more »
Only if you count Mexico as part of Europe 😛
Mexico owes its existence to Spain. So sure, why not? Bring the Brazilians too, courtesy of Portugal.
I’m pretty sure Mexico existed well before Spain arrived on the scene. They are a world unto them selves. All secret Aztecs at heart.
The U.S. is basically the bast*rd children of all the other cultures, the British along the east coast, the French around the Great Lakes and down south, the Spaniards in Florida, and the Germans in the Midwest down to Texas. The Dutch and Italians in the New York and Pennsylvania areas, and the Scots and Irish pretty much everywhere. And that’s just the Western Europeans. I believe the U.S. has been some sort of happy social and economic accident. The naked human greed and the will to exercise power over others just seem such strong parts of human nature, that… Read more »
I worked in the former East Germany from 1994 to 2009. Unless you were to watch the transformation, you are unaware of the remarkable job the Western Germans did in improving the lives of those in the East.
Maybe Merkel thinks Germany can similarly transform the lives of millions of immigrants, but she is wrong.
The Hard Left’s cleverest achievement was convincing the world that the Nazis are associated with the Conservative Right rather than with the socialist Left. Remember, “NAZI” is short for “national socialist”. They were leftists all right, just not as “left” as the Marxist/Communists.
Dude you really are playing fast and loose with history, you say Russia exists to cause trouble with Europe, and then you link it to an article claiming Russia and and Syria are weaponizing the Migrant Crisis. Of all people, the article regards general shithead Breedlove as a preeminent voice on the topic when he’s been trying to lead war against Russia during his entire tenure. All of this in spite of the FACT that Russia and Syria are the only parties actually attacking ISIS. Very clever of you to sneak that in there while neglecting to mention all of… Read more »
Me, I’m first generation Canadian. Out of Germany. Speak German fluently, still visit the cousins often and have them here.
I mostly agree with this post except for one thing. The most dynamic, electrifying thing about the whole Germanic thing recently has been, and I think will be, the German-Russian love hate relationship.
Solzhenitsyn. The Guns of August.
Putin is not trying to defeat Merkel, he is trying to seduce her.
/shudder
God god what a hideous picture you paint, Dorian! What is seen cannot be unseen…
The Russians realize that France/Germany is really the heart of Europe — it takes the rest of Europe along for its ride no matter which way it goes. This is neither bad nor good, but the Russians do live next door and thus have had to deal with it. Of course they are going to meddle, and that is what it is too. I suppose this could be called a love/hate relationship — but I tend to leave personal relationship metaphors out. If you couple that with a reading of German history — the stuff before the dude with the… Read more »
Russia is Europe bets chance of survival but the Soros and the Kaganite Deep State want WWIII, the truth is that Germany would become a third world hellhole before becoming a military power again, a lot of money has been made in bashing Germany and France, the ideal would be a Franco-German-Russian alliance.
Not sure about a third world hellhole, but there would be very strong resistance. We got the fight kicked out of us some time ago. Curious point about a Franco-German-Russian alliance. It may be part of why the Americans have demonized the Russians for so long – that would be a considerable force for the US to contend with economically and militarily should that ever happen.
The BRD put a much larger military force out during the cold war working with the US/UK/Canada. Naval, Air and Land forces were capable and well run. The sheer size of the Warsaw pact forces on the borders was astonishing and Soviet military doctrine emphasized the potential use of Tactical nuclear weapons. A truly scary time. For Germany (and by extension Europe) to exercise any real influence they need more than token military forces to deter any provocations. This has to be coupled by a much larger level of energy independence from any one country (read Gazprom). The Germans foolish… Read more »
@ DirtyJobsGuy – While German does import around 70% of it’s domestic energy, Gazprom is not a major factor in European (German) gas consumption. Actually the Russians are not that significant in the total energy scheme since most of our oil comes from our northern neighbors. For electricity, we share the grid with the French, Dutch, Swiss and Brits. For the oil we do import, it only contributes to around 35% as Germany’s primary energy source, most of which is used for used for transportation and heating. Only a small fraction of oil imports are used for power production. Much… Read more »
[…] Time for Germany to re-arm […]
Why Europe is committing suicide by Muslim immigration is a question that has baffled me. This post posits an answer but it’s hard to believe they’d welcome their own executioners because of multiculturalism. I wrote a novel about this in 2008,thinking the answer might come to me as I wrote, but it never did. Motive is to me the most interesting thing in fiction and in real life, something I am always thinking about. I can understand what motivates the invaders, but the Europeans are either crazy or brain dead.
They are idiots, simple as that. Imagine a retard kid playing with a fully loaded pistol in a crowded room.
You could be right, it just comes down to madness.
@ McClintok – Do you mean in contrast to the idiots in the US who brought thousands of blacks into the US, off shored your jobs to Mexico, Honduras and China?. Remind me again how’s that working out for you?
There is no shortage of idiots in the world. We are in the process of taking the gun away from our retard; good luck with your efforts in the same vein. Personally I find the juvenile “my nation is better than yours” banter (here) tiresome. I can love my country without having to diminish other countries. Except Russia, they just flat out suck.
There was no intention on my part to imply my country, or any other country, was better than the US. Clearly, we all have our advantages and problems. I believe it is important to recognize the greatness of other countries, while accepting the criticism of things that don’t work. It’s why I am so interested in this forum, the diversity of the American perspective is amazing.
@Karl,
Funny how this happens, isn’t it? Love of country is as natural as love of family. That’s because it is the same thing.
@ theZman – “Love of country is as natural as love of family”. That single point is what I believe is behind Frau Merkel’s recent unexplainable decisions; she has never had a child. Which is also true of most of the leftist feminists in European politics who are responsible for so many of these “progressive” decisions. It would make for interesting reading to know how many feminists in politics have never had children. I suspect there is a direct correlation here and in the US.
She’s proving she’s a nurturer, that is, a mother. Sounds crazy, but this could be what’s driving her. If it is, then Germany is opening its doors to a flood of barbarians (that’s hyperbole to make a point) because of one unhinged woman.
Uh, have you seen Merkel’s *face*?! She is as nurturing as a succubus.
Sorry to bring up the H-Man, but I have read in several texts that part of his early support came from “women of a certain age” or something like that. But these opaque references never define just what is meant by those statements. Karl, have you any insight on this? I bring it up, because it looks like a common phenomena where unmarried women support and encourage tyrannical governments as a replacement for a husband and family. Maybe all that witch burning really was for the greater good?
@ McClintock – Oh I am very happy to discuss our old Austrian Chancellor. But I only know what the history books tell us; unhappy Christian family, didn’t get along with his father, an only child (bastard at that) and he had only one testicle. I suppose that alone would make anyone a bit grumpy. I guess if the family doctor had figured he’d take it out on all of Europe and the entire Jewish race, they might have sewn in a marble or something when he was little at least to even things out a bit. Merkel is an… Read more »
I am married to a preacher’s daughter. You would not believe the combination of world-wise cynicism that dwells there, alongside but subordinate to a ridiculous utopian socialistic optimism. I do not know how it all coexists, but there it is. She is an absolutely delightful person, but I would not want to see her in charge of a major country.
I re-read Speer’s memoirs last year, and I recall that he wrote that Hitler was well aware of the rock-star style adulation felt for him by female supporters. He was very careful to make sure that NO hint of romance in his private life ever got out into public. The key to making that sort of female fantasy work for him was to create the impression that no one woman possessed him – as a result, they could ALL secretly feel that he belonged to them. Freud made the first study of what today we would call fan worship. In… Read more »
There was a second thirty year’s war ( 1914 – 1945 ) for Europe and it takes a century or so to recover.
Dan Kurt
Perhaps in part due to the flood of American campaign professionals working in European elections during the Clinton regime, along with the same financial institutions that brought the Euro into existence.
Are the German people ready for diminished social welfare benefits? A muscular military requires big bucks. I really have no idea what percentage of their budget (Karl?) currently funds the military they currently have, but the military they will need when NATO’s days are done will certainly suck up a great deal of cash that is now funding generous social benefits. This is monetary reality.
Military spending is just a different kind of welfare cost.
Just because the cost is paid through the same taxation method doesn’t make it social welfare.
It may not be directly targeted as such, but it has the same effect.
Not really. Not everyone receives social welfare benefits, but everyone benefits from having the country protected by the military.
Not even close to reality. Your “logic” is faulty, therefore not logical at all. Using the USA as example, there are three Departments necessary to run any country, Dept of State, Dept. of War (defense) and Dept. of Treasury. All others are unnecessary and thus could be called social welfare.
@ Kathleen – While there is nothing wrong with being proud of your military, it is still a government funded entity. While welfare may be seen as wealth distribution to a few, the effect still provides benefits to society overall. Ask yourself this question – would you rather pay to take care of a divorced, single mother of two who’s company just laid her off and moved to Mexico, or an F-35? The answer is you pay for them both, and everyone benefits.
Perhaps this is a German thing. Most Americans do not consider military spending as part of “social welfare”. It doesn’t matter that the funding comes from the same source: federal taxes. Tax money spent on the military is for the common defense. Everyone benefits in the same way, which cannot be said of social welfare benefits. While social welfare benefits can serve a valuable purpose when used judicially, thereby benefitting everyone, the more usual result is that they tend to subsidize an underclass, rather than benefit the country at large.
@ Kathleen – I encourage you to read the preamble of your Constitution which includes the phrase “…provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare…” These are both tax funded institutions, you can call them what you want, it’s just semantics. In the US, about one in five children (20%) lived in families with incomes below the poverty line in 2014. If social welfare prevents one of those children from starving to death, puts shoes on their feet or provides a warm bed for them to sleep in, we all benefit. Last time I checked, an F-16 fighter jet… Read more »
Common defense and general welfare are two separate ideas. The Founders did not mean social welfare as you are mistakenly reading it. Again, a German thing. Let it rest, we are not going to agree.
One is a handout and the other is DEFENSE. The other is you, clearly not so intelligent. How does clothing a child I bear no responsibility for benefit me? If a tree falls in the forest do you hear it? Then you just say we all benefit, you appear to be a master of semantics and false equivalence.
hahahahaha you so funny (not really, sad)
Would it hurt you too much to actually think the situation through, instead of responding like a patella tapped by a rubber hammer?
Are you talking to me? I’ve certainly thought the situation through quite thoroughly. It seems that some of us are conversant with the original intent of the Founders and the current state of our State budget and the resultant spending, and there are those who clearly are not. Which are you? Who’s sad now?
Military spending offers huge economic benefits to the local community. As a resident of a military city, I can tell you the local community thrives on the military, and would suffer greatly if the military moved away. That is why communities fight so hard to get or keep their military neighbors. The military is in part a social welfare organization, but it is the best sort, it is social welfare born out of service, not handouts.
“born out of service, not handouts” . I like that, Dutch.
You’re feeding trolls. Don’t let a german who admires the f35 and says supporting a single mother with two children is societal welfare. The guy is obviously mental or trying to get a rise out of you.
A government’s primary responsibility is to provide for the defense of the nation and to maintain peace and order in society. As Kathleen writes: ” . . . for the common defense,” and I would add, at home and abroad. Thus, such expenditures for said purpose are primary, necessary, and wholly justified. Social welfare, by contrast, is self-perpetuating; the more that is spent the greater the number of people who permit themselves to give way to their natural temptation to be taken care of by the hard work of others — and to play the victim, and have for themselves… Read more »
You sir, are a pompous fool. The American military is a cosmic joke,
The military brass and the military/industrial complex(i.e. civilian workers who live off the military teet) are a joke. But you have to have somebody willing to put their ass on the line so your sorry ass can criticize them from the safety of their basement! Troll!
That was dumb nobody has benefited from the F-35, the thing falls apart during test flights and how does paying for a single mother with children. benefit society? That’s rewarding devious behavior. You present two shitty choices then claim 1+1=3. Sneaky sneaky.
I told you, they would miss us when we’re gone…
Let’s sit this one out.
I’m not sure where you Americans get the idea German is some sort of social state freely distributing hand-outs like bratwurst and beer at Oktoberfest. But to answer your question, our military budget in 2014 was 1.2% of GDP. While that sounds small, the US military budget at that same period was only 3.5% of GDP*. What you fail to bring into the equation is 80-million German tax payers (in a country smaller than Texas) as compared to 321-million tax payers in the US. Let’s not forget, while you may be able to boast about a huge military, you’re actually… Read more »
Thanks for the lecture Karl.
We’ll be sending over an invoice for the ~$5-trillion we spent keeping you lot from having to learn to speak Russian for 30 years.
Prompt payment would be greatly appreciated, since you aren’t a debtor nation.
@ NuyaBusiness – Would you prefer Papiermark, Rentenmark, Reichsmark, Deutschmarks or Euros? 🙂
Gold will do nicely bitte.
@ The Usual Suspect – Unfortunately, most of the German gold that’s not in Switzerland or lost aboard some secret Nazi gold train in Poland, is already in US vaults. And the Americans aren’t very interested in returning it. I believe something like 1.5 tons of German gold are still in American vaults to this day.
Well, Karl, we’ll just call that 1.5 tons a down payment (of ~$53M at current gold prices) on the rest.
Germany has a long tradition of mining and excellent metallurgy, so I’m sure you all won’t have too awful much trouble scraping together the other 142,044 TONS that you still owe us.
Better get started.
@ NunyaBusiness – If you insist on keeping our gold, I must insist you return a few things first; starting with beer, the light bulb, the car, aspirin, the bicycle, printing, the helicopter, the jet engine, television and we’ll call it even with rocket science. You can keep nuclear fission (it’s messy anyway) kindergarten and the Christmas tree because no child should have to go through Christmas without one. 🙂
Beer you can have, whiskey is more my speed. You might have invented the car, but Mr Ford perfected its production, so we’re keeping that one. Bicycles are a pain the ass, you’re welcome to them. We’re keeping the printing press, otherwise we’d have no money at all. 😉 Again with the helicopter, your man might have thought of it first, but Mr Sikorsky made its production a reality, so again, we’re keeping it. Got us dead to rights on the turbojet engine, stole it as war booty (a bit from you all, and a bit from the Brits), but… Read more »
You can have the other stuff, but not the light bulb. ? Along with your Heinrich Goebel, 2 English inventors were working on the same project, as well as our very own Edison. I know Goebel beat everyone by decades but he didn’t follow through to the end like Edison did. No American thinks “Goebel” when they think of light bulbs, they think “Edison”. And my lovely incandescent bulbs have been banned by the government for inefficiency. I do not like the halogen incandescent replacement. Before the ban, I stocked up but only have about 10 years worth. The sale… Read more »
@Karl, Germany at debt to GDP of ~73% and the US is at ~102%, but the EU as a whole is ~95% so when it comes to being broke, it’s a game of who has the cleanest dirty shirt. The entirety of the West floats on thermals of credit money. The Euro and Dollar were redefined in the Louvre Accords just for this purpose. Otherwise, none of us could maintain the vast welfare states we have now.
Our currencies, despite the name, are more closely tied than you realize. German banks now have to declare to the US Government if any new accounts have any ties to US citizens. If you ever have to live in Switzerland, good luck opening an account as an ex-pat.
@Karl, Very much so. It’s ironic, in a way, as the Euro imagined by the French would be a rival to the Dollar. The French always despised the fact that the Dollar was the reserve currency. Now, the ECB and the Federal Reserve play good cop/worse cop on the world economy.
“Let’s not forget, while you may be able to boast about a huge military, you’re actually broke. ”
More to the point, as Mark Steyn has repeatedly pointed out, that huge, state-of-the-art, money-no-object military doesn’t actually win wars anymore. It’s become a very expensive hose, spraying the nation’s blood and money uselessly over foreign soil.
321-million tax payers in the US.?
Are you insane?
About HALF of the population pays net taxes.
And THAT is on a “progressive” scale.
@ CaptDMO – Interesting. So half your citizens pay for the other half. Wait, tell me again what a socialist state is, maybe I missed something in the translation. 🙂
Things are well beyond socialism; next stop feudalism!
Considering what I’ve read about Baltimore and Detroit these days, the next stop may be just around the corner.
Feudalism would be a step UP for Detroit and Baltimore. At least under feudalism the lords and knights had SOME responsibility for protecting their people from barbarians. In Baltimore, the lords turn the barbarians loose on their own people and call it justice. It ain’t all roses and unicorn shit here in the USA, but happily this is a BIG country, and I live FAR FAR away from such hellholes. The US is really quite wonderful out here in BFE where there aren’t a lot of people and the Democrats aren’t in charge. I know the Red team/Blue team thing… Read more »
@ NunyaBusiness – You say you can drive a car for a whole day in America and not see another town? I had a French car once too, it was horrible!
LMAO!
You stole that joke, but it’s a good one.
The mongols treated Babylon better than the Dems have treated Detroit.
We are socialist- we pretend not to be, though.
That’s a metric to track — recruitment or conscription into the German Army (I honestly don’t know how they do it. Karl Horst, can you enlighten us?). As I understand it (again, my understanding is very limited), they’ve got a pretty good native weapons and especially aircraft industry, but I have no idea how quickly that could be ramped up to actual fighting strength. If they start tooling up, watch out. I’d bet, though, that before she goes, Merkel is going to order her troops to police (at best) or actually open fire on, an anti-rapefugee rally. I wonder if… Read more »
Not remotely possible. She will be out of office in less than year.
Conscription actually ended a few years ago. It wasn’t a particularly effective means for keeping numbers in the military as it was basically impossible to train anyone in the short period of service. This means we have a very small professional corps and a constantly changing lower ranks. German soldiers are not respected as your US soldiers. In fact, US soldiers stationed here are treated better than our own. It’s why young German soldiers don’t leave their barracks to visit the local beer hall since the locals have a tendency to beat them up.
Thanks, Karl. I figured there’d be a small cadre of professionals – which I think is the case in most of Europe — to be expanded by conscription as needed. Which is another reason I think a coup or something coup-like may be closer than we think in Western Europe — you need to *really* want to be in a Western European military. Will those professionals really continue to stomach this, especially if they’re deployed to the borders, not to stop, but to *facilitate* rapefugee movement?
@ Severian – As for a coup, the military is so small they’d have little success. Germans are by nature very law abiding and respectful people. So it really goes against our nature to do something so antisocial. To be honest, our Swiss neighbors are better prepared than we Germans. Their conscription lasts until men are in their mid 30’s or early 40’s I believe, with most keeping their issued firearms at home. I think they stopped giving out ammunition after a few men shot themselves with their own rifles (suicide). On the other side of that coin, back in… Read more »
@ Karl, I thought that might be the case — that the armies are too small to stage a coup. But how many does it really take? I’m thinking more “a few tanks around the parliament house” than “fighting in the streets.” Temporary martial law for the duration of the emergency, as it were. I’d also look to France first – Front National does very well among the junior officer corps, I’ve heard, and they have a long and storied tradition of putting the screws to Muslims. Thanks for the responses — it’s fascinating to get the perspective directly, instead… Read more »
@ Severian – You’re welcome. I think things would have to get really, really bad for a coup. I don’t think the French military has any special affection for Muslims or anyone non-French. Now, as for the French Foreign legion, that’s a very different question. I do try to ignore the noise in the signal as much as possible, such as the tabloids and extremist website banter.
I second that. I too treasure Karl Horst’s valuable perspective, and am glad he found Zman as a sounding board. Thanks also to American Digest for pointing me to here.
Why the lack of respect for the German soldiers?
The German people still blame the military for what happened 70-years ago; for failing to win and for failing to defend their countrymen. Their failure is at a very deep psychological level, something Americans can’t really relate to. The bullet and bomb scars are still clearly visible on the cathedral in Köln, a constant reminder of what happened and who was ultimately responsible. We are a harshly critical people, we take responsibility for our actions, and we don’t forgive easily. Sometimes I think we are our own worse enemy.
It’s not like the American military is any better in this regard (although a lot of people foolishly think they are, all evidence to the contrary).
@ McClintock – I can only speak to the professionalism and courtesy of the soldiers I have encountered here. They are a fine example of what Americans are all about and a delight to talk with. Many of us Germans really appreciate the American service men and women and we’d be very happy to have more of them back. Nothing like tanks rolling through your neighborhood at all ungodly hours of the morning. I actually miss the sound of F-4s, F-16s, F-17s and F-111 roaring around the Hunsruck. I was once told that the engine roar was the sound of… Read more »
Speaking to American soldiers on leave in Germany in the mid 1980’s, they felt rather isolated as the communities were not particularly outwardly friendly to them, but not hostile either. They felt they owed an extra duty to be professional at all times, as the areas surrounding their base were orderly and tidy, and the people were pleasant and polite. They also were of the opinion that the local Polizei put up with no crap from anyone, no matter who they were. They told me that fellow soldiers who misbehaved set a very bad example for the rest of them,… Read more »
For anyone that’s interested, the latest votes (at state level) just gave very large favor to the AfD party. Something to watch very carefully. This party is about as close to being the new Nazi party as the German Constitution will allow. The only thing these people are missing are brown shirts and arm bands. Very scary, very dangerous and very serious. Frau Merkel and the CDU are in serious trouble and if the AfD has any major influence in the future Germany parliament she will be burned at the political stake. http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/refugee-crisis-policies-have-merkel-on-defensive-in-europe-a-1081820.html I have included this link in English… Read more »
Merkel’s big mistakes were:
(1) issuing her open borders invitation without consulting the people or their representatives
(2) making no serious advance plans or provisions to limit and accommodate the crowds who would arrive
(3) trying to hide the obvious chaos by telling the media to keep quiet
(4) pressuring the other EU states to obey her diktat to participate in her gamble
(5) her sad attempt to buy Erdogan’s assistance.
By insisting that moderate opposition shut up, she guaranteed the rise of the less moderate.
[…] by the discussion here, and […]
A coup out of Germany is highly unlikely as it is not in the German nature to openly rebel against the accepted rule of law. The question is how will Baltic countries react as thousands continue to cross their farms and fields; that is a very different question. Would Germany use it’s economic influence to quietly encourage them to use physical force to turn them away? Now that is a question worth asking.
Agreed, but I think you meant “Balkan” instead of “Baltic”. Macedonia has already closed its Greek border.
And just who does Europe need to defend itself against?
Its only enemy, the US, already occupies it: Its withdrawal thought the dissolution of NATO would represent liberation.
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