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September 6, 2010
Ex-finance senator says Berlin is too dumb to become a great city
Published: 30 Sep 09 11:10 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/society/20090930-22253.html
Berlin’s former finance senator Thilo Sarrazin has said the denizens of the German capital don't have the intellect to make it a great city, daily Bild reported on Wednesday.
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Instead, the intellectual wherewithal required for the city’s regeneration should be “imported like in New York in the 1950s,” he said.
The lack of talent derives from two factors, the tradition of the left-wing German student movement in the 1960s and “typical West Berliner slovenliness,” he told the magazine, which did not publish the interview online.
Meanwhile Berlin’s politics are “not elitist, instead in their attitude more plebeian and bourgeois,” he said.
Another problem is that “40 percent of all births take place in the lower class,” which doesn’t take part in the normal economy.
“We must completely change family policy: away from cash benefits, above all in the lower class,” he told the magazine.
Sarrazin, who began his Bundesbank post in May, also said that the Hauptstadt needs to change its approach towards economic development. “The media is oriented toward social problems, but Turkish homeless shelters won’t bring the city forward,” he said.
“I would aim for a completely different tone and say: Each person who can do something and strives for something with us is welcome. The rest should go somewhere else,” the 63-year-old said.
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Your comments about this article:
Where I would disagree with him is on his idea of a "great" city. I don't personally believe that armies of besuited businessmen make a city great. Berlin is unique and that's what makes it great; I don't think that Sarrazin's vision matches mine.
regardless of their statements being inconvenient or aggravating.
I think he is addressing the very problem of Berlin at it's core,
even though his choice of words must come as a shock for some.
on the other hand, his often coarse tone & wry statements paired with an analytical thought have always been the strength of Sarrazin.
the real question is, however, to find a way in which Berlin can function as a city & generate capital as a capitol.
Perhaps you could point out any other large city that was basically located within a different country for decades and that didn´t even have a large port and good air connections like e.g. Hong Kong?
All the large companies that had their headquarters in Berlin moved away after the war and didn´t come back after reunification. Cities like Munich and Frankfurt were the cities who profited. As a result Germany has prosperous and attractive "second cities" instead of having one huge capital like London that sucks in all the money and the talent of the whole country. Expecting Berlin to be an attractive capital city and paying its own way is simply not a viable option right now.
Sarrazin is a rude jerk who isn´t half as smart as he believes himself to be. It´s people like him who have run down the SPD.
Great comment! I can only agree.
Cities like Frankfurt (Main) and especially Munich only managed to develop
to what they represent today, because the bloody country and its capital was divided in the first place. If Berlin would play in the same league as London, Paris etc. all those poor artists which make Berlin an interesting place couldn't afford to live there.
to what they represent today, because the bloody country and its…
Subsidies for Berlin didn't start in 1990, as some people might believe. They started in 1948 in the Bizone, a year before even the BRD was founded. And remember that Berlin wasn't the capital. And Frankfurt almost was.
Frankfurt may be older than Berlin and it was home of many famous private banks but during the early 20th century most of Germany´s major banks like Deutsche, Dresdner and Commerzbank had their headquarters in Berlin, just as other major companies like Allianz and Siemens etc. etc.. These are the facts when you look at them in the cold hard light of day and voting down my statement isn´t going to change them. Yes, there were major companies in cities like Frankfurt as well, e.g. IG Farben (its huge former Headquarters is housing Goethe University now) but is there anyone who wants to claim that gaining the headquarters of all those huge companies that were mentioned above didn´t hugely benefit places like Frankfurt or Munich?
"Bundesbank-Chef legt Sarrazin Rücktritt nahe" http://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/0,1518,653015,00.html
Obviously Sarrazin has ignored the simple fact that his rude comments wouldn´t be acceptable in his new position.
As with the former minister Clement (who was responsible for Hartz IV and equally foul mouthed as Sarrazin) one wonders what Sarrazin was doing in the SPD in the first place, except for using it as a career vehicle.
I do not consider it as acceptable for someone who never had to worry about the taxpayer not paying his substantial to make derogatory remarks about people of welfare all the time.
Additionally, this behavious alienated traditional voters without attracting any new voters.
Canada is absorbing immigrants from the same countries, but on highly selective principles. To get there, one has to PROVE that he or she deserves moving to a civilised place. A graduate degree from a good school, plus experience in the field, plus young age of the applicant - that counts as a proof. This is why Canada takes the cream, and Germany gets - hmm... - the rest.
My deepest and profoundest thanks respect to Sarrazin!!
Oh, and by the way, I myself am an emigree. However, first I learned the language and received a graduate degree. Then emigrated. See the difference?
I always feel that if you could bolt Berlin together with (say) Hamburg's prosperity and advancement, you may have one of the world's "A-list" cities. otherwise, no chance for Berlin.