Oh, leftist city of underachievers!

For those reading this blog who appreciate or are interested in non-US based newspapers and magazines that are of absolut top class I have a recommendation to make: Der Spiegel. While I am sure critics are sure to retort by calling it left-leaning, biased, etc., I find it to be rather balanced plus there is the added bonus that the writers tend to see things from a German perspective which as a resident of their country is important to have access to. Final added bonus: they have an english news section.

There is currently an article about the former finance minister (SPD) Thilo Sarrazin who said recently that Berlin had an underclass that was too big and was only growing outward but not economically upward. He also added that people who aren´t contributing should go elsewhere. Note that his current employer the Bundesbank has made sure to distance themselves from this remark.

As a resident of Berlin I find his statements rather insulting. The notion that those who don´t have anything should just pack up their bags and leave is a slap in the face to those who lost their jobs when the west stopped subsidizing them at the end of the cold war. Perhaps we should look at the false economy that was built up in the Western parts of the city to serve as a sort of propaganda that the western model was working (without the subsidies manufacturing jobs in Berlin would have dissapeared long before the wall came down). The city is currently in the middle of an economic crises, that much is clear, but what is not clear is where the city itself is headed. Creative center? Business Center (can´t compete with Frankfurt and Munich)? Manufacturing (outsourced)? Essentially the city is in the midst of a shift that no one seems to be able to control (not exactly anything new) so I don´t quite see how blaming poor people helps in any way.