Long and serious article that proposes to abolish current German legislation prohibiting immigration, to a Canada-type Selection Board to attract young educated workers. If not done fast, Germany will become like Japan, an "ethnically pure old age nursing home."
"Rural areas in Saxony-Anhalt, Pomerania and Brandenburg need to be re-colonized as under Friedrich II if we want to blow life into the schools and kindergartens, the museums and parks. We need people to cover the maintenance costs of sewage treatment plants, district heating and water pipes. Some provincial politicians already are calling for immigration because without consumers and taxpayers the last light will go out soon." One should not underestimate the difficulties of countries like Germany, Sweden, Norway to adopt an Anglo-Saxon type open-doors policy. The alternatives are to give up some of their national character, or to shrink to insignificance.
12 comments:
Why not close the schools and kindergartens? There are going to be fewer jobs in the future. More people will mean more people without jobs to be maintained by the government. Even Canada's immigration regime can't keep out all the bad apples. If the Germans are serious about attracting population, they aren't just going to get scientists and tech workers. In fact, why would "young educated workers" want to live in rural Pomerania where there are no jobs?
There once was a highly intelligent and industrious group who was willing to immigrate to Germany. They were called "Jews". We know how that worked out. Fool me twice, shame on me.
K
Jews don't have a high enough birthrate.
The US has the same "problem" with rural areas depopulating. Modern farming requires very few people. Young people don't want to live in some small town where there's nothing to do. I don't think it's really a problem at all - if more people live in the city vs. the countryside, so what?
On the other hand, overall demographics IS a problem in terms of funding pensions schemes, etc., although only because of phony promises made by politicians. It is entirely possible to design an actuarially sound retirement system where people save up enough money for their own retirement. Such a scheme is indifferent to whether the population is growing or shrinking. But of course, we don't have those schemes, we have Ponzi schemes instead.
K
Germany is different from the US in that it has a stronger national identity and those romantic/historical towns and villages have deep spiritual significance for them. America is much more practical and far less sentimental, it builds cattle and mining towns and it abandons them when the economy changes. I grew up on Western TV series (who remembers Lassie and Bonanza?) and in 1970 went to visit those small Far West cattle towns. To my surprise, they were ghost towns in the desert with one souvenir shop. Germans are not Anglo-SAxons and it is difficult for them to accept foreigners. Britain decided early to abandon its ethnic heritage and has successfully integrated a large group of immigrants, and except for the Africans and AfroCaribbeans, it is working nicely. On the other hand, I can understand Japanese and German desire to preserve their culture and ethnic composition.
Germany lost all of E. Prussia and other parts and they got over it. Modern Germany is already full of Turks. The Germans don't have to accept further immigration if they don't want it - there are other ways to deal with demographic bottlenecks. I'm not sure that there are really that many people who A want to go to Germany (esp. to some small eastern town) and B who would make a net positive contribution for this and future generations. A is no problem but A+B is.
K
There is no shortage of ethnic Germans in countries such as the US. If it wanted to, Germany could probably get some of them to immigrate to Germany. For the average worker, the German economic system is more attractive than the American one.
Also in Brasil, ARgentina, etc.there are millions of ethnic Germans. The Volga Germans already have been repatriated.
How is allowing third world blacks or mestizos in going to prevent these countries from shrinking into insignificance?
Japan is doing quite fine and will continue to...the open-borders maniacs want to pretend there is a crisis in Japan, but there isn't. The population will shrink for some time. Then it will expand, in a cycle. At the end, they will still be Japanese. Not so for the Americans.
I dont know the future, but the "cycle" is uncertain. It may not happen. Till now no country was able to reverse the shrinking phase.
It is very dangerous to depopulate large parts of one's country. Wolves and bears come back.
And then other wild creatures.
It is difficult to have firm opinions on this subject.
Better wolves and bears than Africans and Arabs...
It is OK to have a population drop that is not a problem.
Prof. J.,
"It is very dangerous to depopulate large parts of one's country. Wolves and bears come back."
Bears, you can shoot. Not so some other creatures.
-s.n.
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