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My wife is a "typical German" and is nothing like what you describe. Might I suggest that the typical Germans you are aquainted with are not typical? Or should I assume Bill Clinton and the bunch over at Dem Underground (who believe George Bush ordered the 9/11 attacks btw) are typical Americans? Could you even describe a typical American if pressed to do so? I never could.

Not all of them, but enough of them to have a defining influence on German culture.

Sort of like that Hate Bush crowd out in Hollywood? Or the ones that voted for Clinton twice? But for a few thousand people out of a nation of almost 300 million, we would have a President Gore right now. Think about it...

My wife is a "typical German" and is nothing like what you describe.

Good for her. It takes a lot of moral strength to maintain your sense of right and wrong in a culture that is hell-bent on mixing up the two--so, if your wife is indeed completely unlike the Germans I know, I do congratulate you for having married such a great woman.

Might I suggest that the typical Germans you are aquainted with are not typical?

Might I make the same suggestion to you? ;-)

Could you even describe a typical American if pressed to do so? I never could.

There are certain ideas that have been circulating around as to what an ideal American patriot is like: free, brave, principled, individualistic, spunky ... I call an American "typical" if and only if he shares these ideals. Clearly, there are many Americans who don't live these ideals--but, as long as people in this nation sing the last line of the National Anthem with such pride and zeal, I suppose one can rightly say that a spirit of freedom and courage is an integral part of the American culture.

It's cultures and ideas I'm talking about here, not about all Germans or all Americans. You cannot choose the place of your birth, but you can choose the ideas you accept and the ones you reject. You cannot choose the culture you are born into, but you can choose whether you identify with it--or identify with another culture.

So please keep in mind that when I'm criticizing certain ideas that are apparently enshrined in the German constitution and continue to be espoused by a couple of German Freepers, I am criticizing those ideas, and those German Freepers. I am not criticizing your wife, or any of those German ladies and gentlement who think differently.

Now, to the specific ideas. Michael said: "The state ALWAYS has to balance between the rights of the individual...and the needs of the society." What do you think of that?