Germany's Sigmar Gabriel slams Donald Trump's 'national selfishness' in UN speech

Deutsche Welle ^ | 09.21.2017 | rs/sms (AFP, dpa)

[Olog-hai]

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel warned against “national selfishness” in world politics on Thursday in his first speech at the United Nations General Assembly.

“This worldview describes the world as an arena, a kind of battleground, in which everyone is fighting against everyone else and in which everyone has to assert their own interests, either alone or in alliances of convenience,” Gabriel told world leaders.

“The motto ‘Our country first’ only leads to more national confrontations and less prosperity. In the end, there will only be losers,” he said, in a thinly veiled reference to US President Donald Trump’s oft-repeated slogan “Make America Great Again.”

Gabriel’s speech rejected Trump’s previous remarks to the world body that encouraged world leaders to primarily consider their country’s own interests, reiterating his statement that he will be putting “America first” when it comes to foreign policy.

“We have learned that it was not ‘Germany first’ that made our country strong and prosperous. Rather, it was only ‘European and international responsibility first’ that gave us Germans peace and prosperity,” Gabriel said. …

[mindburglar]

Pretty sure it was “America first” that brought a reluctant peace to her shitty little country.

[the_daug]

so delusional. Wonder if the Germans middle class think so too.

[Vlad The Inhaler]

Proves the president’s point.

[blueplum]

that’s funny. Germany sure expects to ‘be first’ in any EU schemes, along with Brussels. And what will Merkel ‘mediate’ anyway? If Merkel thinks the US is going to cough up a few billion to pacify him, perhaps she should look in her own pocket instead and just pay him off now; he’s already robbed us twice.

[Secret Agent Man]

Socialists: Always on the lookout for other peoples money.

[Mark17]

Socialists: Always on the lookout for other peoples money.

Who cares what the Germans think?

[SunkenCiv]

The guy's either stupid or lying, or both -- Germany wound up split in half, and because of the US' President Reagan, wound up back in one piece. The EU has been made possible (both its existence and its expansion) due to the US' selfish policies. Thanks Olog-hai.

[RegulatorCountry]

Has that place turned into American Idol or something? Or should I say Anti-American Idol? What’s with the one speech after another after another after another, their Greatest Snits?

[pepsionice]

I sat and pondered over the words a bit that were emphasized by most of the news media.

What made Germany strong and prosperous? I tend to have a different view from Sigmar Gabriel.

There are three basic ingredients to the period between 8 May 1945 and today:

1. The Marshall Plan. It is true....the plan was not finalized and implemented until the spring of 1948....roughly three years after the war. In today’s value....$132 billion was pumped into Europe (not just Germany). Over a four-year period, it was one of most bold maneuvers by the US in the past two-hundred years. They literally shoveled money into the European economy....to reboot it after the war.

Trade barriers? Removed. Stagnant industry? They got charged up and active...hiring people. In fact, German industry by the mid-1950s was so short-manned....that they had to go and bring in thousands from around Europe (particularly Turkey) to reach their goals. Bombed-out cities (not just in Germany) got a chance to get funding, and start thousands of construction projects....on housing, roads, bridges and infrastructure.

In the US view....trade mattered. A stagnant Europe, and in particular...a stagnant Germany....weren’t really trade-partners, unless they were back at full-strength.

2. Determined Germans who were left over from the era prior to 1945. When you go and look at determination....they were pretty well maxed out. Engineers and architects laid out the plans.....and millions of Germans picked up shovels and hammers. You can go and look at photos of the war damage, and how things still looked around by 1948....then gaze at the images from the mid-1970s....thirty years later, and get shocked over the amount of effort accomplished. These are folks who worked six days a week....often ten hours a day...and were proud of their accomplishments.

No one stood around and said “Germany first”, but they weren’t working for some moral cause, European unification, or some EU goal. They were there....heart and soul....for rebuilding Germany.

3. Finally, not to openly criticize Gabriel....but if you walked around Germany and noted the amount of poverty and stagnant wages among the working-class Germans....there might be some argument over a prosperous Germany.

A week ago, I noted some government report that was published and noted that roughly 2-million German kids are in some poverty environment....some more than others. It’s nothing to brag about and people have been aware of these statistics for at least a decade.

If you go ask these particular Germans about European and international responsibility....they will give you a few choice words that they are still waiting on their ‘golden-ticket’ from the EU to arrive.

There’s a board landscape here in Germany. When you go and drive around....there’s a lot of effort to make things appear as they are. Craftsmanship, determination, engineering skills, and enthusiasm made this all possible. Yeah, maybe no one wants to utter the phrase....but silently....it was ‘Germany first’ in their minds every step of the way.

[Secret Agent Man]

If we are going that way, who cares what the UN thinks?

[proud American in Canada]

go f... yourself, whoever you are. The US has saved Europe’s butt many times, and lost many good, patriotic young men in doing so.

Try not committing national suicide by importing people who want to kill you and rape your wives, sisters and daughters.

America may have had enough of being the world’s police.

[proud American in Canada]

Oh! wasn’t talking to you, FRiend! :)

[jim35]

He then pooped into his hand, took a bite of it, and threw the rest of it at the crowd, just to make sure they didn’t mistake another person as the stupidest man in the world.

[Mark17]

If we are going that way, who cares what the UN thinks?

Yes, them too. 😊

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

Perhaps we should bomb the German bastards again, just to remind them that peace comes through strength, not “unicorns and krauts”.

[GOPJ]

Germany’s pulling the wool over someone’s eyes...that’s what they’re trying to do here. German’s always put Germany first - then they pretend that’s not what’s happening.

After all the wars Germany has stated who would trust them? America first works for Americans. We’re honest about it.

[RooRoobird20]

There’s been peace in Germany because the U. S. STOMPED Nazi Germany into the ground and did not allow racist Germans who followed Hitler to build another fascist war-loving military.

I back our POTUS 200%—America first, Americans first. Run your country into the ground on your own, Mr Foreign Minister. If the U.S. never gives Germany another ten cents, I don’t care.

[DoughtyOne]

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President Donald J. Trump and the Free Republic of the United States of America
President Donald J. Trump's address to the United Nations on 09/19/2017.

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[Clutch Martin]

What made Germany strong?

A post-war Germany instituted Friedrich Hayek’s economics and political philosophies.