FRANKFURT,
GERMANY Over a lunch I interviewed Julius, a former student of mine. We spoke
in German. Although I recorded the interview and am therefore in a position to
cull some of the more pertinent details, I take full responsibility for any
misrepresentations that I may have made.
Julius
On the Euro Crisis: I’m no friend of the CDU but I’m impressed with the way
Frau Merkel has managed the crisis here in Europe. It’s noteworthy the way she
has held her coalition together. She is very popular and trusted here in
Germany. I hope Europe acts reasonably and depends not just on one country to
solve its problems. In the end though, Germany must pay. It can’t be otherwise.
This is a challenge for Frau Merkel to bring her own party to accept this. The
SPD is clear that we are an export country and we need the Euro to remain
competitive. We don’t have an industrial crisis. We have a financial crisis.
The banks have made risky investments and now they have to write these
investments off and we must pay. That’s crazy. Banks have not just been greedy
they’ve been stupid. Every bank apprentice knows that the customers’ deposits
must be protected. The banks dare not engage in risky investments. What Germans
fear most though is inflation. My grandfather was a very successful banker, a
millionaire, who was the co-founder of a bank, and lost everything in 1923 due
to hyperinflation. The solution to the Euro crisis is difficult. We must have
agreement among the European countries regarding structural matters. The Greeks
must pay their taxes. France’s concern is unemployment and that is
understandable. There were six million unemployed in Germany when Hitler came
to power. Keynes had argued that during a crisis such as this more spending is
required. All this needs to be better explained to the German people. We need a
good communicator like a Reagan. Unfortunately, this is not Merkel’s forte.
On
America and Social Issues: The tea party and the religious right in America
seem to want to return to the 50s, to McCarthyism, not against communism per se
— but against others. They seem to be on a witch hunt and want to return to
some earlier time, “ein reinkultur” when there was supposedly no separation
between church and state. They want to teach creationism in the schools. That’s
crazy. This is a Country that has landed people on the moon. How can they be so
stupid? Sometimes I wonder whether these people are for real? Do they really
believe these things or do they just say anything to defeat Obama. Here in
Germany their issues are impossible to understand. Here, the government stays
out of these issues and leaves them to the individual to decide according to
his or her conscience. Gays can marry here and it’s quite normal. The only
thing where the law is clear is that stores must close on Sunday. Not all
stores though, bakeries and flower shops can stay open. [Julius chuckles] We
need our Kucken on Sundays, you know, and, of course, be able to buy some
flowers as a gift, but this has nothing to do with the church, but protection
for employees from their employers. It’s the tradition here. Upon concluding
our interview Julius suggests we stop by the Alte Nikolaikirche, an Evangelical
church, where he makes a habit, when in the area, of lighting a candle.
