How German got entangled into the financial mess

[PandaBear]

It's the Economy, Dummkopf!

A very very long article (17 pages), describing how the German mentality of "obeying the rules, and trust the everyone else obey the rules" got themselves into the financial mess.

 

[Y_K]

Trust is the fabrique of free market economy. Once it is torn, we get the state of affairs where everyone knows that everyone else were cooking books, and cleansing is going to be painful.

 

[Trav]

Good article but discussing the Nazi era, the whats and whys is nothing for this board.
Germans know its time for a major change and it will happen in time.

 

[pbm]

It's strange that's it's OK to print stereotypes about some groups but not about others.....

 

[JHZR2]

Quote:
Of course, no German in his right mind actually wants to sit around remembering the terrible crimes committed by his ancestors—and there are signs, including the memorials, that they are finding ways to move on.


Disgusting. None of my ancestors committed "crimes". Why must all Germans get lumped into this garbage?

 

[Billy_D]

From the article

Quote:
The secret of success is to understand the point of view of others.

—henry ford

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Quote:
Of course, no German in his right mind actually wants to sit around remembering the terrible crimes committed by his ancestors—and there are signs, including the memorials, that they are finding ways to move on.


Disgusting. None of my ancestors committed "crimes". Why must all Germans get lumped into this garbage?


Agreed. Mine as well. A bit bloody ridiculous.

 

[pbm]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Quote:
Of course, no German in his right mind actually wants to sit around remembering the terrible crimes committed by his ancestors—and there are signs, including the memorials, that they are finding ways to move on.


Disgusting. None of my ancestors committed "crimes". Why must all Germans get lumped into this garbage?




Did you ever notice how many movie villians have german accents.....it's all by design....

 

[Trav]

Quote:
Disgusting. None of my ancestors committed "crimes". Why must all Germans get lumped into this garbage?


Unfortunately, the WWII era has tainted Germans and German history as a whole in many peoples mind, its a stigma that will be around for many generations to come.

 

[javacontour]

It's universal. I doubt any here have owned slaves or killed entire Indian tribes, but the White European Male is still treated as if we were doing that sort of thing last week.

So it's not just the Germans who are remembered for what happened generations ago. They can look to our history to see that this perception will not go away for a long time.

 

[CivicFan]

Originally Posted By: Trav
Quote:
Disgusting. None of my ancestors committed "crimes". Why must all Germans get lumped into this garbage?


Unfortunately, the WWII era has tainted Germans and German history as a whole in many peoples mind, its a stigma that will be around for many generations to come.


You can call it the "History Channel" effect. Outside the US, Germany does not have such an image. Even in Russia, who had millions and millions of people brutally killed by the Nazis, Germans and Germany are not associated with the Nazis.

I don't know why it is so difficult for us to disassociate in a similar way. After all, our interaction with the Nazis was minimal compared to the European nations.

 

[expat]

Originally Posted By: CivicFan
Originally Posted By: Trav
Quote:
Disgusting. None of my ancestors committed "crimes". Why must all Germans get lumped into this garbage?


Unfortunately, the WWII era has tainted Germans and German history as a whole in many peoples mind, its a stigma that will be around for many generations to come.


You can call it the "History Channel" effect. Outside the US, Germany does not have such an image. Even in Russia, who had millions and millions of people brutally killed by the Nazis, Germans and Germany are not associated with the Nazis.

I don't know why it is so difficult for us to disassociate in a similar way. After all, our interaction with the Nazis was minimal compared to the European nations.


I tend to agree.
My Mother was German, Father British. I also have close friends in England and France that are German (and are of an age to have been around during WWII) AS far as I can tell, bad feelings are forgotten.

 

[PandaBear]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Quote:
Of course, no German in his right mind actually wants to sit around remembering the terrible crimes committed by his ancestors—and there are signs, including the memorials, that they are finding ways to move on.


Disgusting. None of my ancestors committed "crimes". Why must all Germans get lumped into this garbage?


But once your ancestor immigrated to the US, they (and therefore you) are no longer Germans and are Americans (technically US Citizens) instead.

Also did anyone even read the article about what it is (how culture affect financial decision)? It is not really about WWII and Nazi.

 

[expat]

As a side note, there was a popular TV show in Europe, Jeux sand fronteres, Teams representing different counties compeated in Silly games in an atmosphere of friendship.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeux_Sans_Fronti%C3%A8res

"The idea of the show came from French President Charles de Gaulle, whose wish was that French and German youth would meet in a series of funny games to reinforce the friendship between France and Germany. The games were inspired by the matches between French cities. Some games were played in swimming pools. In 1965, three French men (Pedro Brime, Claude Savarit, Jean-Louis Marest) brought the idea of the games to all Europe with success. Teams representing France, Germany, Belgium, and Italy took part in the first edition of the show called Inter Nations Games.[1]"

 

[rshaw125]

interesting article. The German appetite for the sub-prime bonds speaks volumes.

 

[Tempest]

Originally Posted By: CivicFan

You can call it the "History Channel" effect. Outside the US, Germany does not have such an image. Even in Russia, who had millions and millions of people brutally killed by the Nazis, Germans and Germany are not associated with the Nazis.

I don't know why it is so difficult for us to disassociate in a similar way. After all, our interaction with the Nazis was minimal compared to the European nations.

There were far more Russians killed by other Russians than the Nazi's. Might take the sting out of what the Nazi's did?

There was a great amount of propaganda directed at the US public by the US government against the German people during WWII. Most people trusted the government at that time so the social programing stuck, and still lingers today.

People of German decent were severely treated in the US, without due process, during both WWI and WWII.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_American_internment

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: rshaw125
interesting article. The German appetite for the sub-prime bonds speaks volumes.


A heck of a lot of Australian local councils got burned on them as well.

They weren't quite represented as sub-prime, but as I said to my BIL who was an accountant for such an authority...if it looks too good to be true, then it is, even if it's "safe as (American) houses".

 

[Loobed]

Germany stopped being run by Germans in May of 1945. The puppets in that country do what they are told. When they are told to bail out America's other puppets, they obey. Japan does the same.