Germany racked up one economic success after another for most of this century. But the loss of Russian natural gas due to the war in Ukraine has dealt a severe blow to its industry through higher energy costs.

For most of this century, Germany racked up one economic success after another, dominating global markets for high-end products like luxury cars and industrial machinery, selling so much to the rest of the world that half the economy ran on exports.

Jobs were plentiful, the government’s financial coffers grew as other European countries drowned in debt, and books were written about what other countries could learn from Germany.

No longer. Now, Germany is the world’s worst-performing major developed economy, with both the International Monetary Fund and European Union expecting it to shrink this year.

  • febra@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    1 year ago

    saying how I should just shut up, and be grateful that I could work there, because I could be replaced by a machine anytime soon.

    Sadly this is in my opinion also cultural. There’s a cultural aspect to being obedient and loyal to a company. Working there for decades and RARELY being showered with a bit of gratitude in the form of a lame pizza party or some stupid company gathering. This is true for the older generations. They really fall for that shit and don’t question one thing. Younger people aren’t as willing to sell their souls to a company, which makes me a bit more hopeful about the future.

    But yes, overall people are being treated like shit. I am sure that soulless capitalism is a big part of the problem, but at least in other countries tehre’s a more collective will to unionise and hold companies accountable for the shit they’re doing (just look at France). This is rarely the case in most german companies. There’s a saying “if a revolution was happening, Germans would line up to buy tickets for it”

    With that being said, I am also eastern european. I have lived in Germany for a long time, I am a german citizen by now, I finished my school here and graduated at one of the best universities in the german speaking world. And at the same time, Many of my peers made me feel lesser because of my ethnic background. And here I am purely talking about the most concrete of examples. Like, a colleague randomly talking to me about the small/petty crime some people from my country commit here. Or randomly asking me stuff about the seasonal agricultural workers from my country, because of course I’m an expert on it. And MANY, many more examples. Or back when I used to have an indian flat mate, being asked about “the indian hygiene standards” as if I was living with an animal or something. And these are “educated” people I am talking about.