By Damien McGuinness in Berlin
Soaring unemployment, bleak prospects and an economy in the dumpers has given Germans a world-class case of weltschmerz.
Hardly the most cheerful thinker to ever walk the face of the earth, philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer once described the human existence like this: "We are like lambs in a field, disporting themselves under the eye of the butcher, who chooses out first one and then the other for his prey." Judging by the general mood here these days, it comes as little surprise that Schopenhauer was German. With 5.2 million unemployed, a stagnant economy and a steady stream of bad news daily, the average German seems more pessimistic than ever -- and that in the country that coined the term Sturm und Drang.
A recent poll of 70 countries found that when it comes to pessimism, Germany is the world's leader. The February survey by the German market research institute TMS Emnid found that only 25 percent of Germans are optimistic about their prospects for the future compared with a chipper 65 percent of Americans. A full 85 percent of Germans say they worry about the future, 48 percent believe the economic situation will get worse before it gets better and 37 percent fear losing their jobs.
This constant pessimism has fueled such a climate of despair for politicians in Berlin that Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder this week held a job summit in an attempt to spark optimism. Improving his party's prospects in upcoming elections wouldn't be so bad, either, especially after a flood of negative poll data. But with 82 percent of Germans saying they didn't think the meeting would do anything to improve the job situation, the government's chances of boosting its image were limited from the start.
But how justified is Germany's gloomy mood? In many respects, you could argue that Germans are over-exaggerating their hardships. Germany is one of the few countries in the world with booming exports. Despite recent mass protests against benefit cuts, the social system here is still more generous than that of most other Western countries. And even the general standard of living doesn't seem to be showing signs of cracking. In a quality of life survey published by Mercer Human Resource Consulting this week, out of 215 cities world-wide, Munich, Dusseldorf and Frankfurt all shared fifth place, with other German cities also faring well. So what's wrong? Is this just a bad case of the angst and weltschmerz that Germans seem to excel at?
Negativity and the national psyche
Professor Oskar Niedermayer, a sociologist specializing in political science at Berlin's Free University, says German pessimism is a problem that needs to be taken seriously. "Negativity seems to be part of the national psyche," he says. "If you take consumer behavior, for example, the psychological situation is actually having an impact on the real situation: people are not spending out of fear for the future and are, thereby, making the situation worse." Indeed, Office of Economic Cooperation and Development statistics show that Germans now typically save more than 11 percent of their income compared to Americans, who save less than 1 percent.
The current wave of pessimism in Germany isn't new. TNS Emnid head Klaus-Peter Schnoeppner, author of the recent poll on German negativity, says the country first lost its nerve around 1996. Back then, while Helmut Kohl still served as chancellor, it first became clear that social reforms were necessary.
"Pension and health reforms were discussed and then nothing was achieved," Schnoeppner says. "This was a great shock to the Germans. After 50 years of economic improvement, Germans suddenly lost faith in their ability to push through with reforms. Negativity increased massively."
The risk-averse nature of most Germans has made pushing through the bold and necessary changes especially difficult. "There is a tendency in Germany to go for the safest option and avoid risk at all costs," Schnoeppner says. "Take wind power, for example. Thirty percent of the world's windmills are in Germany. It's not the most efficient or cost-effective way, but it appeals to Germans as the least dangerous alternative."
All's well when the economy is
Others say Germany's depressive tendencies are rooted in its tumultuous history and aren't just a symptom of today's troubled job market. "No other country in Europe has experienced the wars and the violent breaks with history which Germany has," says Doctor Gerd Dietrich, a historian at Berlin's Humboldt University. As far back as the Middle Ages and the Thirty Years' War, the experience of people in the area which is now Germany, was often highly insecure. This means that Germans traditionally place a greater emphasis on economic security.
"The history of Germany shows that the mood in the country is connected to economic success rather than the national unit and that people are only happy when the economy is going well. This was how Bismarck achieved unity. And, until its economic collapse, the Weimar Republic (between the two world wars) attempted the same thing. The Nazis also built the nation on economic prosperity, as did (Germany) after the war. So it seems logical that, faced with today's economic problems and globalization, the Germans are nervous."
Many analysts also put German jitteriness down to the fact that after the post-war Economic Miracle, many here viewed growth and prosperity as a given. When Germany's economic growth slid, it came as a shock to the system. Indeed, for five decades, economic prosperity had been one of the few acceptable forms of national identity in a country where many national symbols were discredited by the Nazis.
In repeated surveys, Germans cite unemployment and the economy as their biggest cause for concern. But a lack of faith in political leadership on those issues also plays a crucial role in the country's current malaise. A survey carried out by the Berlin-based social research group Forsa in January found that almost one-third of all Germans feel that none of the country's major political parties are doing enough to reduce unemployment and get the economy moving again.
"Germans have lost their faith in politics," Niedermayer says. "They see no consistent vision of the future which they can hold onto. People are deeply insecure. All they perceive is that politicians can't agree, or appear to be changing their minds on a daily basis."
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