When the National Socialist government of Germany collapsed after World War II, the nation’s infrastructure was in ruins. Fortunately, Germany had friends in the West, and they received massive loans to rebuild their nation. Ironically, the 1950s and 1960s could be considered Germany’s “glory days,” in a purely economic sense of the term. The task of rebuilding a nation out of rubble meant that nobody would be refused a job. In fact, Germany had a pronounced worker shortage during this era, and turned to immigration to quench its thirst for new labor.
This Phoenix rising from its own ashes is known today as “das Wirtschaftswunder,” or “the economic miracle.” It’s hard to pinpoint an exact date when “das Wirtschaftswunder” ended, but it is clearly a thing of the past. In Germany today, there are 5.2 million unemployed, giving the nation an astounding unemployment rate of 12.6 percent. Say goodbye to the Wirtschaftswunder, say hello to the Wirtschafts Blunder.
This is incredibly bad news for Chancellor Gerhart Schroeder, and his SPD party. When campaigning for reelection in 2002, he remarked that he wanted his administration to be judged in terms of jobs created. By that criteria, Schroeder is a dismal failure; such unemployment rates haven’t been seen since before the Third Reich.
But don’t worry, Schroeder has a plan. He’s going to throw out all ethical standards and export anything to anyone, regardless of the consequences. Jobs are jobs, and the German economy needs a shot in the arm. Germany is already exporting plutonium to China. The Germans assure us that the plutonium is not for military purposes, but I’m not buying it.
Germany and its European neighbors are getting even more brash. Both President Bush and Secretary of State Rice have recently made “fence-mending” tours of Europe. On both occasions, the Americans urged the Europeans not to lift the EU’s weapons trading ban with China. On both occasions, the Schroeder government refused to budge an inch. They fully intend to make a veritable fortune arming the world’s largest military with high quality German weapons.
The EU weapons ban with China was initiated after the pro-democracy rally was crushed at Tiananmen Square in 1989. But the Europeans assure us that China has reformed, that we have nothing to fear of them anymore. It’s a boldfaced lie. China still occupies and oppresses Tibet. China still monitors houses of worship, in order to ensure that clerics don’t contradict the government. Child laborers are still commonplace and workplace safety regulations are almost nonexistent. China still begrudgingly tolerates the five “approved” religions, and outlaws all others.
Moreover, this is a slap in the face to our Asian allies in the region. Japan, India, and South Korea have cool relations with the dragon in their back yard. China is Taiwan’s most bitter enemy, and China now maintains an estimated five hundred ballistic missiles pointed at the small island nation. All of these nations have reason to fear superior European weapons in the hands of the Chinese military.
This flies in the face of prevailing wisdom, which tells us that the EU is deeply concerned with world peace and global stability. On Feb. 15, the UMass Republicans hosted a lecture from a gentleman I know, Mr. Ray Drake. Ray’s topic was anti-American bias in the German media, and it attracted a number of people knowledgeable on German affairs. When Ray commented that the Germans “have a very deep sense of pacifism,” many of the heads in the room began to nod in agreement.
I disagree. A truly pacifistic nation wouldn’t even be in the business of making weapons. In Germany, we find a nation that not only makes weapons, but makes some of the best around – ready to load on ships bound for Beijing. Cash is king, and a 12.6 percent unemployment rate spells death for Schroeder and his party in the 2006 elections.
I have heard so many times that American gluttony is to blame for the war in Iraq, that we need an endless source of oil for our Hummer H2’s. Never mind the fact that the price of gas has gone up, the image of bloated, greedy America still lingers. Well, now I’m pointing the finger back at the Germans. Their semi-socialist economy has gone stagnate. They demand healthcare, thirty days vacation, childcare and other social services, a generous safety net for the unemployed, a hefty pension, and free university. While its citizens are making demands of the system, jobs are blowing away in the wind. So in order to sustain an unsustainable system, this nation of “pacifists” is looking for salvation in the form of arms sales to China.
It’s called “war-profiteering,” and it’s what the Europeans accuse the United States of doing all the time. If the Germans need to provide arms to an already dangerous military superpower in order to keep the whole system afloat, then that’s what they will do. The 1.5 billion citizens of the US, India, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan be damned. If only Germans would be half as angry at their own government’s foreign policy as they are with ours. Where have all the pacifists gone?
Ben Duffy is a Collegian columnist.
