Germany is one of the wealthiest nations within the European Union (which makes it to one of the richest countries in the world) and it’s obviously its most influential. Certainly this country didn’t gain that position by being ruled by idiots. I am definitely not a fan of Angela Merkel, I never did vote for her and I see a lot about her that can and should be criticized, but nobody can seriously impute her to be stupid. She does not even have a dump without taking an advantage out of it.
To provide shelter for refugees is not only a humanistic imperative and a consequence of our country's history, it’s also a matter of common sense (and it generates great pictures for public relations and maybe even some good karma
).
In the 50s and 60s we had Italians coming here to make a living, in the 70s and 80s it were Turkish folks that came as
Gastarbeiter (guest workers) or
Fremdarbeiter (foreign workers). Admittedly I have no idea what the political correct term currently is, workers with emigrational background? However nowadays we have people from everywhere around the world living here and only a very small number of them live on social security payment. The vast majority are integrated into our society quite well, they have jobs (often in professions that most bio-Germans don’t want to do, like room cleaning, waste disposal or taxi driving), pay taxes and some even create new jobs and become employers themselves.
I live near Frankfurt am Main, which is one of the cities in Germany with the highest amount of inhabitants with emigrational background (about 30%). It’s a cosmopolitan city with great cultural diversity, a traditional centre of trade and exchange. The worlds biggest book fare, the biggest motor show, the
Bundesbank, the European Central Bank, the most important stock exchange and the biggest and busiest airport of continental Europe can be found here.
And it’s a pretty good place to live.
Of course it’s never without problems when so many different cultures live together in one place, but I never heard of anything major. On the other hand we also never had any major problems with right-winged extremists here or these embarrassing demonstrations of stupidity, like what can be seen in Dresden for about a year now. I once witnessed them trying to do something similar at the Hauptwache, the central square in Frankfurt’s downtown. It ended with about 60 fools on the podium and a crowd of approximately 5000 people yelling them down, an army of policemen keeping both groups apart. Once again I knew why I like my fellow Frankfurters so much.
Now we have large numbers of refugees, not only, but mostly from Syria coming to Germany and too often I hear people complaining about the costs to accommodate them. These people obviously have no idea, that this money is not simply spilled into the gutter, but must be understood as investment and there seems to be no better way to invest money than in people. Basically that is what everybody does when they buy shares of companies; they invest money in the people that these companies consist of and their future accomplishments. And it is pretty much what I and many others did when we spent money for the Kickstarter to back Elite Dangerous, because we trusted in the ability of Sir David and his teams to come up with something truly amazing.
When money is invested in these refugees, they certainly won't just put it on their bank accounts and be delighted by their newly acquired wealth, like perhaps some already rich investment bankers did, after billions had been spent to save their finance companies. They will spend it to pay the rent, for water and electricity and buying food, thereby generating profits for landlords, construction companies, janitor services, providers of electricity/water/communication, supermarkets and many others. And all of these are then going to pay their employees and taxes with that money.
In the long run providing shelter for refugees will make Germany even richer and more powerful as it already is, because today’s refugees are going to be the future labour force.
Also the war in Syria will not last forever. Maybe it’ll even quicker come to an end, if the airplane crash at the Sinai was in fact caused by an IS attack and Putin will actually bomb primarily their emplacements in Syria as a reaction. However, after the war certainly most of the refugees will return to their homeland. They’ll have learned our language, got accustomed with our way of life and they’ll have a positive opinion about Germany and that can be a good foundation for future business relations, another reliable market for products made in Germany.
As I said, I am really not a fan of Angela Merkel, but I totally agree with her decision to help, instead of looking the other way and letting these people die. It is embarrassing how long so many in charge have done so and still do.
Some years ago I stood on the ruins of Fort Douaumont on the former battlefield of Verdun in France. My grandfather had served there as a medic in WW1 and was decorated with the Iron Cross. It felt kind of strange to be there, a bit spooky, because although grass has grown over it, the craters of the bombardment are still easily recognizable, making the area look like a green lunar landscape and it’s literally a graveyard soaked with blood. It’s a place that everybody should visit at least once, because it makes you understand what has been accomplished by the establishment of the European Union. As I said, my grandfather took part in the battle of Verdun, my father exchanged bullets with American GIs in WW2 (though according to what he told, they were rather trying to take cover most of the time), while I can hardly imagine shooting somebody else, just because he has a different nationality then I have (or whatever else it is, that make people different from each other). I feel very lucky that I can live in times of peace and I’m glad for being a European (that’s not an accomplishment, so I can’t really say to be proud of it, but you get the idea).
Europe over the years has become the continent of reason, common sense and humanistic values. It’s a beacon of the best qualities of mankind, a giant project of endless improvements and correction and failure is not an option.
Angst ist immer ein schlechter Ratgeber (Fear is always a bad counsellor), so lets not listen to the egoists and those stupid right-wing idiots, who try to profit by propelling feelings of xenophobia and splitting the unity.
The refugees are a chance for a prosperous future, not a danger.
