Can I be a temporary international diarist? I would send pictures from Wiesbaden, but in typical unorganized packing fashion, I left my camera’s USB cable at home… The weather is wonderful here, with about an extra hour almost of springtime daylight. It will be on to Namibia on Tuesday! After staying up almost 48 straight hours and sleeping well last night, hopefully jet-lag will be gone today…
I am writing today to tell everyone of an eye opening experience that I had yesterday… Discussing politics(how else does a geek stay awake for 48 hours?!) with my in-laws yesterday, I found that the German economy is not as stable as I once would have assumed. Documented unemployment is up around 10%. It seems that their national debt has surpassed a ratio to GDP that was established as ground rules for all countries joining the EU… France and Italy are in the same trouble as well… and have the theoretical risk of being tossed out of the EU. Ironically the former socialist members seem to be doing well. I apologize if this is old news and simplistic to some of the tribe, but I am a moron when it comes to this stuff, and I mostly am good at at snark…
The real eye opening experience came yesterday when I attended a Catholic mass in Erbenheim, a small outlying village of Wiesebaden. It was Mayday yesterday, May 1, which represents a significant type of labor day for Germans. So here I am watching a special presentation… during mass in which the parish priest is condemning unemployment at the hands of corporate profiteering… extolling the virtues of unionization and sacrifices which must be made by all to continue progress for the common man… and above all, condemning the psychological trauma which happens to people as a result of unemployment. Wow! Talk about a trip to Bizzaro-land… Compare and contrast this with the “separation of church and state” in America and the messages of pursuit of personal wealth from the pulpits of many of the Evangelical Christians…
In closing, per my in-laws, much of the compare and contrast Bush with Hitler, and Republicans with Nazis is not lost on them… they are very fearful for our country, and have a unique perspective, having been through this themselves…
I hope that I haven’t grabbed too many third rails in one diary entry! Tcheuss aus Deutschland… The Dood Abides