Germany, Europe, and the welfare state

I had the good luck of spending some quality time with our Guest for the Global MDP XX, Mr Juergen Weyh.

Juergen has come to India on our invitation, alongwith Mrs Weyh, and is an extremely experience corporate professional. Since they are Germans, married for more than 4 decades, and globe-trotters, I sensed an opportunity of learning from their wide experience on matters as varied as German politics, culture, demographic issues in Europe, the Euro integration etc.

Here are the learnings from this joyful talk!

1. India is a great nation! - Both Mr and Mrs Juergen enjoyed the chaos, hustle-bustle and crowds of India thoroughly. They find India very different from Germany, especially due to the high population. That makes all the difference actually, they say. I added that Germans are known for their discipline, rigour, scientific approach and high standards in manufacturing.. they agreed. So the difference in the lives, lifestyles, and the future of the two nations was visibly apparent in the tone of our discussions. While Juergen has visited India earlier, for Mrs Weyh this was the first time, and she was visibly overwhelmed by the sheer scale and crowd of it!

2. Europe's welfare state is facing a unique test - Europe is, well, in deep trouble due to multiple factors. And Germany is having its own share of these. The overall economic situation is not all that conducive to creating a positive sentiment, and long term worries are constraining thinking at all levels. Politicians have been making all kinds of promises, then making all kinds of cuts, and making all kinds of noises about it. The most important disruption is being seen in the area of reforms in pensionable age (retirement age). Europe has, for long, been a welfare state with generous doles at all levels, especially for senior citizens. But that is a costly system, sustained only by high economic growth rates and a healthy tax regime. This reform agenda now has created a difficult political environment across large countries in Europe. France is witnessing large-scale riots on the streets in response to the government's raising of the retirement age to 62 (from 60), thereby delaying the onset of pension reforms. But reforms are essential - old people are now living much longer (maybe by 10 to 15 years) due to better medical care and hence the pension and health benefits promised to them decades ago are proving unviable (as those had assumed a much shorter average longevity). This is a huge public expenditure area-of-concern for entire Europe. The welfare state concept is eating into their very existence now. Juergen was candid enough to admit that he has enjoyed what was one of the most prosperous periods in Germany's history ever.

3. Marriage is a great institution! - There is no doubt that marriage creates stability, and is good for kids' upbringing. But unfortunately in Germany, there is this new concept of single parenthood where people live single in homes, totally isolated from their partner (even without a divorce) and this creates a unique set of social challenges. While in India, a large percentage still live in joint families, Germans (and Europeans) are facing a crumbling marriage-as-an-institution situation, and that has had serious demographic fallouts. Mrs and Mr Weyh have been happily married for more than 4 decades now, and I could sense the deep bonding, love and joy they enjoy in each other's company. Excellent!
4. Immigration, and the Turkish problem - The poor fertility rates in German families (and largely, the European while families) is leading to a shrinking of the young population in these nations. At the same time, the number of senior citizens is on the rise. As discussed earlier, this is putting immense pressure on the welfare state concept, as the dependency ratio gets skewed adversely. The solution to some extent is immigration. There are a lot of Turks that have moved into Germany. But the problem is one of cultural integration. While the Germans have spent the past 20 years patiently expecting cultural unison with immigrants, it has not happened. There are schools where Turkish kids are in a majority, and they don't speak German. So you have the unique (but rather rare) spectacle of German kids getting outnumbered culturally and linguistically in their own nation! This general phenomenon has led to the rise of the far-right parties across Europe, and also in Germany. The anti-immigrant tone is quite palpable. In fact, we discussed the recent speech of Chancellor Angela Merkel where she vehemently (surprisingly!) announced that the policy of cultural assimilation with the immigrants had "failed to deliver" and that immigrants must show respect towards the host nation by learning German. This "multi-kulti" debate is gaining ground, and obviously, politically it is rich hunting ground for all parties. Juergen went as far as to speculate that one day in the next 20 years, perhaps we will be overtaken by the immigrants, and then it may be too late to do anything.
5. Indian students are quite different - Juergen felt that students in Indian institutions are very much inclined to learning, and are more disciplined than their European counterparts. Part cultural, part technical - this problem is quite acute in Germany. Students may not show adequate respect towards teachers in schools and colleges, and that obviously will not have the desired impact. He was quite happy to see the spirit to learn in the Indian institutes that he visited.

They also liked the malls they visited, and the Indian food they had - tasty and spicy!

Overall, always a joy being a good listener.. great learning.

“There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.” - Albert Einstein
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