During my stay in Munich, I’m struck by a few things - notably how orderly, clean and calm the city is (in stark contrast to Berlin, where everything felt more ‘edgy’, chaotic and noticeably dirty. Driving outside the city, things feel even more orderly - every flower box is neatly trimmed, every building well kept and the streets are so clean you could eat your dinner off them.
Munich is, of course, prosperous (in no small part thanks to BMW, Audi, Siemens) but so is it’s neighbour Schwaben (Porsche, Miele, Bosch) and I have to say that wherever I’ve travelled in Germany - even less wealthy areas - things work. They really do. Without wanting to resort to any tired cliches, I need better to understand why - which is why I began reading journalist John Kampfner’s “Why the Germans Do It Better”.
Kampfner’s book is a well-researched and well-written look at contemporary Germany, published just before it’s about to reach its 150th anniversary (in 2021). He provides a fine overview of the country since the end of World War II, arguing that there have been four major turning points in German society since then. Firstly came economic reconstruction and the enshrinement of democracy in the 1949 constitution. Secondly came the protest movements of 1968. Thirdly, there was the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. And lastly, there was the Syrian refugee crisis of 2015. As a result of the way these events were handled, he argues, Germany is now probably the most stable democracy in Europe.
Kampfner (himself the son of a Jewish refugee in the 30’s) makes a compelling case for why German is in the state it is - ‘responsible capitalism’. Unlike the rigid French labour market, or the deregulated British one, Germany has chosen a different path. With its keen sense of social responsibility and incredibly well-funded public services, the accumulation of wealth isn’t seen necessarily as a bad thing, but is firmly kept in check.
And this commitment to capitalism which is encouraged, but not allowed to run away with itself, seems to have worked well. The German economy is robust, to say the least, with a strong industrial base and high standard of living for workers, compared to anyone else in the EU. Does this have something to do with the idea of corporate responsibility he asks - the idea that if you let your workers sit on company boards, they will end up being happier and more productive?
Photo courtesy of Screen Daily
Equally so, is the idea of community spirit. Germany is full of clubs, both cultural and sporty, where people come together and share experiences. Even in large buildings, in big cities, its common for people to share communal responsibilities so, for example, one week a year, you’ll be responsible for sweeping the hall floors and taking out the rubbish. This all fosters a spirit of cooperation and community which, in turn, keeps people public-spirited.
Kampener’s book is well researched - he knows Germany and this comes across well. Of course, he should do - he lived in Bonn and then Berlin from the 1980s onwards. His chapter on Angela Merkel - ‘Mutti’ - I particularly liked. Merkel epitomises the whole ‘langsam aber sicher’ ethos (‘slow but sure’). Merkel has surely been ‘mother’ to this nation for a long time now, and her insistence, when waves of Syrian refugees were arriving at their borders, that ‘we will find a way’ was incredibly heartening.
Photo cutest of AFP 2021/Tobias Schwarz
Kampfner is surely a fan of post-war Germany and how ‘grown up’ it has become, after struggling with a turbulent and traumatic history, but he’s not wearing rose-tinted spectacles either. The rise of fascism in the east and environmental failure (in the form of reliance on dirty brown coal), not to mention the growing number of trains that arrive late (!) show that it’s not all plain sailing for the Germans,
Still, he makes a persuasive case for how ‘grown up’ this nation has become. And whilst I’m in no hurry to leave Tel Aviv, if I had to choose between David Cameron (for whom a special place in hell should be reserved, after his decision to call a referendum) and ‘Mutti’ (who’s an intellectual hard-hitter, prone to discussing art and literature at summits) it’s a no brainer.
Well-researched and informative.