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Agree with much you've said here. The mere idea of a 'European Union' was/is a very complicated & challenging task to pull off without a hitch. Challenged & complicated further by the global financial imbroglio experienced by all.
Germany is a democratic, federal parliamentary republic. Federal legislative power is vested in their Bundestag (their parliament). Each of the EU members has its own, as you've said, individual language, cultural, economic & political structures in place before the EU, & still in place after the EU.
All Countries, including ours & the EU, are attempting to deal with the aftershocks & effects of the global financial crises. Germany's economic, political & cultural infrastructures & systems have been very broadly influenced by the underlying concepts inherent in Ordoliberalism:
The German (ordoliberal) approach also focuses much more on the contributions of labor in decision making in their business model. In other words, their Union of workers is a successful model for them, whereas the US model of worker Unions has largely been 'disappeared'.
Germany's economy (as ours) has become one that has become increasingly financialized with the impact of the global financial crises worsened by the fact.
The difference between US & Germany in dealing with the conclusions reached by an evaluation of 'what went wrong' is that Germany is attempting to hold their financial institutions accountable for mistakes made, the German people expect no less. We in the US have done little or nothing in holding the various institutions responsible &/or accountable, so it's likely there will be more financial crises in our future, some more & some less damaging than the recent one. Long story short, Germany is attempting to proactively decrease the systemic risks in their institutions & infrastructures. While we are, apparently, pretending the systemic risks have magically vanished.
Here's an example:
Deutsche Bank apologizes in full-page newspaper ads Germany's largest lender has apologized for its costly mistakes in the past as it deals with historic legal troubles. Last week, Deutsche Bank announced a 1.4 billion euro annual loss.
Germany also has a lifelong educational system focused on ensuring that every citizen is employable.
This can be seen as a sortof case model why the US business model doesn't work in Germany:
World's Biggest Retailer Wal-Mart Closes Up Shop in Germany
Retailing giant Wal-Mart is bidding Auf Wiedersehen to Germany. The Metro retail chain will take over Wal-Mart's 85 German stores. Wal-Mart Germany's CEO David Wild said mistakes were made.
Quote:
Wal-Mart moved into Germany in 1998, hoping to repeat its phenomenal US success in Europe's biggest economy.
It didn't turn out that way. From the beginning, Wal-Mart found its American approach to business did not quite translate into German.
''As we focus our efforts on where we can have the greatest impact on our growth and return on investment strategies, it has become increasingly clear that in Germany's business environment, it would be difficult for us to obtain the scale and results we desire,'' Michael Duke, a vice chairman of Wal-Mart, said in a statement. ...
US Model not effective here
The authors wrote: "Wal-Mart's attempt to apply the company's proven US success formula in an unmodified manner to the German market turned out to be nothing short of a fiasco." ...
So, anyone who would disenfranchise Europe by allowing any foreigner group in is the "leader of the free world"?
The only question to ask in regard to this is who is making this declaration, and what do they have to gain politically?
These migrant pushes are nothing more than geopolitical and sociopolitical disenfranchisement. The people facilitating this are are the quintessential definition of "enemy".
Why isn't flooding Africa, Asia, or the ME with immigrants seen as promoting the "free world"?
In other words, who is this enemy who hates White people so deeply?
The article's logic can be easily dismantled, as well. Take its points on the media, for instance, The media was and is so hostile to Trump that journalists felt the need to apologize for it during the election season. When Trump fights back, now its a scandal that he's hostile to the media. Give us a break. The media represents the antithesis of democracy in this age, because they are a political institution for one side's agenda. That they have protection and privilege as "independent media", while in fact being partisan propagandists, hurts democracy. The media supports Merkel's insane agendas, thus Merkel doesn't push back. That's the difference.
One day this will all be ironed out, with an exceedingly hot iron.
How is Germany "abusing the system"? The U.S. has no bilateral trade agreement with Germany.
Germany isn't paying what they are supposed to be paying to support NATO. Since America is protecting them, they are able to use the military money to support/subsidize their businesses.
Germany's tax and social system has the effect of subsidizing German industry(who don't have to provide the "benefits" directly), through what are very regressive taxes.
Germany and all other NATO countries agreed to increase its defense spending to 2% by the year 2024. Last I checked, it's only 2017 - 7 years to go to meet the commitment.
The 2% target was set at Riga in 2006. In 2014, they just reiterated their commitment that they'll spend 2% within ten years as a result of what was happening in Ukraine.
This can be seen as a sortof case model why the US business model doesn't work in Germany:
World's Biggest Retailer Wal-Mart Closes Up Shop in Germany
Retailing giant Wal-Mart is bidding Auf Wiedersehen to Germany. The Metro retail chain will take over Wal-Mart's 85 German stores. Wal-Mart Germany's CEO David Wild said mistakes were made.
Sounds more like a failed business model from the 1930's.
Quote:
A German court ruled last year against the company's attempt to introduce a telephone hotline for employees to inform on their colleagues.
High labor costs may have been a big hurdle for Wal-Mart Germany, as well as workers who tried to resist management's demands which they felt were unjust.
One Wal-Mart employee told the newsmagazine Der Spiegel that management had threatened to close certain stores if staff did not agree to work to working longer hours than their contracts foresaw and did not permit video surveillance of their work.
Sounds more like a failed business model from the 1930's.
It's failing here too in the present day unless what is intended is a revised feudalism or plantation based economy.
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