Why Thilo Sarrazin ultimately—and rather unapologetically— "resigned" his post at the central bank of Germany is another odd, but oddly familiar, notion: the man authored a book, in which he denigrates the country's Muslim population, and claims (amongst other outrageous notions) that "all Jews share the same gene."
Among Sarrazin's statements is his concern that Germany is being changed beyond recognition by its immigrant population and what he says is its unwillingness and unsuitability to integrate.
"I don't want my grandchildren and great-grandchildren to live in a mostly Muslim country where Turkish and Arabic are widely spoken, women wear headscarves and the day is measured out by the muezzin's call to prayer," he said.
In his more pointed remarks, Sarrazin decried Germany's ethnic blending, in saying the country was being made "more stupid" by poorly educated and unproductive Muslim migrants with headscarves.
His remarks have been condemned by almost every political figure in Germany, as well as Muslim, Jewish and Christian groups. At the same time they have received the backing of far-right groups such as the National Democratic party, as well as a substantial portion of television viewers and radio listeners, who praise Sarrazin for having the courage to address issues that are largely taboo.
Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, publicly described Sarrazin's published remarks as "completely unacceptable" and in danger of causing division.
Germany, of course, is home to approximately four million Muslims, mainly of Turkish origin, and approximately 280,000 Arabs.
Fast forward a few weeks . . .
Chancellor Merkel announced last Saturday, to a Christian Democratic Youth group, that "multikulti" (multiculturalism) in her country has "utterly failed."
Merkel is referencing the last wave of immigrants for hire to Germany: the Turkish Muslims.
"At the beginning of the sixties," The Chancellor said, last week, "our country called the foreign workers to come to Germany, and now they live in our country."
Merkel added, "We kidded ourselves, for a while; we said: 'They won't stay; sometime, they will be gone.' But this isn't reality." She concludes by adding that "to live side by side and enjoy one another" in a multicultural environment is a project that "has failed, utterly failed."
"We feel tied to Christian values. Those who don't accept them don't have a place here," said the Chancellor.
"Subsidising immigrants" isn't sufficient, Germany has the right to "make demands" on them, she added, such as mastering the language of Goethe and abandoning practices such as forced marriages.
Stop me, when this starts sounding familiar . . .
This announcement came a week after Merkel met with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for talks in which the two leaders pledged to "do more" to improve the poor "integration" record of Germany's 2.5 million strong Turkish community.
"Integration" here is to be read as the direct opposite of "multiculturalism": Horst Seehofer, the leader of the Christian Democratic Union, stated that the Union parties are "committed to a dominant German culture, and opposed to a multicultural one."
"Multikulti is dead," he said.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul, in a weekend interview, also urged the Turkish community living in Germany to master the language of their adopted country.
"When one doesn't speak the language of the country in which one lives that doesn't serve anyone, neither the person concerned, the country, nor the society," the Turkish president told the Suedeutsche Zeitung.
"That is why I tell them at every opportunity that they should learn German, and speak it fluently and without an accent. That should start at nurseries."
That's called assimilation, bub. Remember?
Jewish leaders in Germany meanwhile warned that German society and democracy were under threat from extremists.
A recent expert study should prompt the government to act against antidemocratic ideas, the secretary general of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Stephan Kramer, told the Rheinpfalz am Sonntag weekly.
Far-right attitudes are found not only at the extremes of German society, but "to a worrying degree at the centre of society," the report noted.
The study, by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation think tank, showed that more than one third (34.3 percent) of those surveyed believed Germany's 16 million immigrants or people with foreign origins came to the country for the social benefits.
More than half (58.4 percent) of the 2,411 people polled thought the around four million Muslims in Germany should have their religious practices "significantly curbed."
Thirty-two percent of people said they agreed with the statement: "Foreigners should be sent home when jobs are scarce."
Around the same number (35.6 percent) think Germany is being "over-run by foreigners" and more than one in 10 called for a "Fuehrer" to run the country "with a strong hand."
Hey. So. Wanna work in Germany?
According to the head of the German chamber of commerce and industry, Hans Heinrich Driftmann, Germany is in urgent need of about 400,000 engineers and qualified workers.
"The lack is causing a loss of growth of about one percent," he said in an interview.
While warning against "immigration that weighs down on our social system", Merkel said that Germany needed specialists from overseas to keep the pace of its economic development.
Let's not pretend.
After reading this, only white Christians, fluent in German (or willing to become so), are likely to want to work in Germany.
If we think about it: what country truly, successfully is "multicultural"?
Merkel is a bit more outlandish than most internationally-visible leaders—and that fact, in itself, leads one to question why her activities aren't more splashed about in daily news. Still, the quarrels of the rights to place and worth for Muslims in the U.S. are a fairly dominant discussion, these days. (No one's really talking about Merkel's hand in the Lisbon Treaty, c'mon.)
Why there's not a national discourse, comparing Sarrazin's work to that unpleasant document, The Bell Curve, is another wonder, to me. The two works hit all the same unsavory points (that's a hint to you sociology students).
If the international chatter can't get to that, there's still the national debate over what color to paint that damned fence dividing México from whatever parts have been "christened" the U.S.
Then there's that whole thing about people saying, "Why don't you just go back to . . ."
Some of the most sadly amusing moments of that line, recently, were in watching Southerners shout at college students, telling them to "Go back to Mexico." The students were from South America . . .
Meanwhile I've decided to stop talking, and just hand out cards: "I have never lived in México, but my ancestors' land was stolen from there. If you're completely invested in the notion I visit, check your family tree and, if it turns out your ancestors were slavers, pillagers, or colonizers, you may pay for my plane fare. I travel first-class, and I'll need to decide which part of that vast country I'd like to visit. Then, too, I'll expect you to send reparation monies, for my family, and for those still suffering, wherever I decide to go. Thanks for the offer. Bye now."
I'm going to make some of these cards, as gifts, for my friends with other colonized histories.
Mm hmm.
This message brought to you by Angela Merkel's metaphorical shiny white hood, from those of us affected, in no metaphorical way.
~Emmanuela
