Germans look to the past

Reuters reports Nearly a quarter of western Germans and 12 percent of easterners want the Berlin Wall back -- more than 15 years after the fall of the barrier that split Germany during the Cold War, according to a new survey.

Mr Gorbachev, bring back that wall
The results of the poll, published Saturday, reflected die-hard animosities over high reunification costs lowering western standards of living and economic turmoil in the east.

Aha! It's all about money.
The survey of 2,000 Germans by Berlin's Free University and pollsters Forsa found 24 percent of those living in western Germany want the Wall back -- double the eastern level. In Berlin itself, 11 percent of westerners and 8 percent of easterners said "yes" when asked: "Would it be better if the Wall between East and West were still standing?." The Berlin Wall was breached on Nov. 9, 1989, paving the way for the unification of Communist East Germany with the West on Oct. 3, 1990. But billions of euros (dollars) spent rebuilding the east have failed to prop up the depressed region, which is plagued by high unemployment and a shrinking population.

I can understand how the west does not like pouring money down a hole with no obvious results. It reminds me of the billions we have wasted on education with no results other than demands for even more money.

The poll also found that 47 percent of the easterners agree with the statement that the West "acquired the east like a colony," while 58 percent of the westerners back the statement that "easterners tend to wallow in self-pity."

The east should have taken advantage of the freedom they got, and tried to do more for themselves, but they were apparently too used to just asking for more from government. So much of Europe is socialistic that they did not see what was happening.

Ed Driscoll blogs It's fascinating to read of the large minority of both Russian and German citizens who want to relieve their totalitarian past. It just seems bizarre to me that they'd want to go back. But actually, it's not that bizarre, all things considered.

Quick caveat: I'm one of those folks who view both the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany as creatures of the totalitarian left. (See this article for a sense of closely the two ideologies are intertwined.) I view the political spectrum, as it proceeds from left to right, as going from totalitarianism to moderate liberalism (which in this case, I'm defining in the broadest sense of the word, running from JFK to Reagan), to libertarianism, to, finally, anarchy.

Arthur Chrenkoff blogs The result of itself is not particularly significant or alarming. There are in every polity around the world minorities which believe all sorts of strange things; so we shouldn't be too hard on the Germans.... All this underscores the fact that no change is ever painless, that there are inevitably some losers, and that - well - life's never perfect. What's important is the sense of perspective: is the situation better now for more people, in more aspects of their lives, in the longer term? This does not mean that we should discount the costs and forget about those left behind - but we shouldn't let malcontents color our views and determine our policies either.

Telegraph reports The intimate details of Hitler's life - from his fear that his lavatory might be poisoned to his habit of scratching his neck until it bled - are obsessing Germans once again amid a huge revival of interest in the Nazi era.... "Sixty years ago the Third Reich perished," wrote Jens Jessen in Die Zeit. "Now one gets the impression it is being resurrected on a daily basis."....

A poll published yesterday showed huge sympathy for Right-wing extremists among Germans from the capital and the surrounding region. National Socialism "had its positive sides", thought 15 per cent of Berliners and 20 per cent of people living in the neighbouring state of Brandenburg. At the same time 12 per cent of Berliners and 24 per cent of Brandenburgers said they wanted a "Fuhrer who would rule with a firm hand".

Betsy Newmark blogs Here in the U.S., we have all sorts of weird allegations that Bush and Republicans represent a new Naziism. Perhaps, people should worry instead about a real nostalgia for Hitler in Europe rather than trumping up extremist comparisons that use Hitler as a metaphor rather than the historical monster he was. For it is the real Hitler who is inspiring real people in Germany, not the caricature used to tar Bush and conservatives.

Mitch commented Keep in mind unemployment in Germany (and France) is around 12%. That sort of unemployment can make people look for "strong" leadership.

The person who writes a poll can get it to show whatever he wants it to show.