A well-done description of the current – September 2021 – situation in Germany. By the economist. Using the German automobile industry as a window into the wider challenges to the German economy and to German society.
It’s bottom-line question is whether the German people are capable of responding to the challenges of today and the near future.
“One should have just asked a Swabian housewife,” said German Chancellor Angela Merkel when asked about the Lehman Brothers collapse in 2008.
In Germany, the traditional image of a housewife in the region of Swabia has typically been a positive one: a woman who is wise with her family’s money. Yet is there anything behind that stereotype?
A funny comment in YouTube: “I’d like to see a Swabian and a Scotsman plan a holiday together. I can only imagine the depths of destitution they would stoop to.”
Friedrich Schiller – Wilhelm Tell. Schiller’s play, centered on the legendary Swiss marksman, highlights the importance of waiting for the right moment to act. The characters carefully consider their actions, resisting provocation and external pressure until the time is right, embodying the principle that patience leads to the best outcomes.
Robert Musil – Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften (The Man Without Qualities): This modernist masterpiece is known for its intellectual depth and the protagonist’s reluctance to make hasty decisions. Musil’s Ulrich is a thinker who values contemplation and the suspension of judgment, reflecting the German ideal of allowing time and thoughtfulness to guide important choices.
Der Medicus. (The Physician, 2013). Based on the novel by Noah Gordon, this historical drama follows a young man’s journey to become a physician in the Middle Ages. The protagonist’s path is marked by years of study, travel, and careful learning, demonstrating that mastery and wise decisions-both personal and professional-require patience and cannot be rushed.
In this episode we find out what people in Berlin think about Elon Musk. Musk has just been named Person of the Year by Time Magazine and is known as an entrepreneur and visionary but also for causing controversies.
On the outskirts of Berlin, he is currently building the European headquarters of his car brand Tesla – a good moment for us to find out what Germans think about Elon Musk. Our friend Emanuel from yourdailygerman is with us on the streets today to ask the people!
Interestingly, but not suprising, most of the Germans are negative about Musk: egocentric, unrealistic, etc. Whereas as the non-Germans are more positive.
“Given Silicon Valley is in Germany, you’d think the Germans would be more open to innovation and the fruits of capitalism. Hmmmm.” (a comment on YouTube. Irony at its best.)
‘Not macht erfinderisch’ or “necessity is the mother of invention”. Not – necessity – forces one to become creative, to work in a disciplined way, to draw on resources carefully. Process oriented thinking is the logical response to working with limited resources. One could say “necessity is the mother of processes”.
The most popular kind of food in Germany is the potato. Imported from Latin America at the end of the 1700s in response to severely limited food supplies in Germany, the potato was a perfect fit: has high nutritional content, grows in poor soil, is resilient in erratic climates.
It was the Prussian king who had heard about the oddly shaped vegetable. At first the German people did not respond to the potato, even though hunger had become widespread. The king decided to appeal to the inclination of his subjects to challenge authority.
Fences were built around the potato fields, guards were posted. The people became curious. It didn’t take long for the first thieves to recognize the value and versatility of the potato. Today’s German cuisine could not exist without that once strange object from a far away land.
Set in 1920s Berlin, this series depicts police and political officials navigating a turbulent era. The main characters often face high-stakes decisions and are shown taking time to gather information, consult with colleagues, and deliberate, even as external events create urgency. The show’s narrative structure rewards patience and careful planning.
In this crime series, a fictionalized Angela Merkel solves mysteries with the same patience and methodical questioning she was known for as chancellor. The show highlights her tendency to “wear down” suspects with persistent, careful interrogation, mirroring her real-life approach to political negotiations, where she was famous for her endurance and refusal to be rushed.
On the one side, the Germans strive hard to be objective, to reduce, even eliminate the subjective.
Rational, logical, scientific. Filtering, screening, separating fact from gut feel, from intuition.
Communication: Say what you mean, mean what you say. Honest. Not meant personally. Persuasion: Separate message and messenger. Take yourself out of the equation. Decision making: Sober, scientific, self-skeptical. Feedback: The focus on weaknesses as authentically constructive input. Processes: Stripping down, compressing to the core, machine-like.
Yet, the Germans are personal, emotional, subjective.
Agreements: Think it through carefully. Your word is your bond.
Leadership: Hire talent. Train and equip. State mission. Then get out of the way. Product: Deep curiosity and concern for the user. Do it right. Customer: Do what is best for the customer, even if it jeopardizes the relationship.
Germans. Objective subjective. Rational personal. Perhaps a false dichotomy.