Posted on 08/27/2016 11:58:00 AM PDT by mac_truck
Since its reunification in 1990, Berlin has developed into a thriving, cosmopolitan centre.
Dubbed "poor but sexy" by its former mayor, it has attracted creative types like moths to a flame with its low rents and exploding startup scene.
Tourists flock to this grungy vibe too, with nearly six million visiting in the first six months of this year alone.
But the reality is that the city is struggling with poverty, unemployment, poor infrastructure, a floundering education system, debt, the refugee crisis and crime.
Its chronic problems led national newspaper Die Welt to label it a “failed state” in 2014. Here are a few reasons why Berlin has earned this uncomfortable moniker.
---snip----
1. Six years behind schedule, the airport still hasn’t been opened.
2. In comparison to Germany as a whole, Berlin is swimming in debt.
3. Berlin is struggling to provide adequate care for refugees.
4. Berlin’s crime rate is higher than in all the other German states.
5. Unemployment and poverty are very real issues.
6. The capital has the worst education system in the Bundesrepublik.
(Excerpt) Read more at thelocal.de ...
Perhaps they will elect a strong Nationalist who makes the trains run on time. Or something like that.
Germany’s problems, like the rest of Europe, are mostly self-induced. I can’t really generate much sympathy.
Sounds remarkably like our own capital city.
The answer (to Leftists) would appear to be “spend more money and bring in more immigrants/colonists”.
Not sure what your deal is but if you’ve got a problem with strong nationalism then I’m your huckleberry.
Care to explain what you meant?
Sorry to hear of this as the usual coverage has been all about the new construction and conversion of the former East Berlin into a livable and thriving area. I visited W. Berlin twice in 1980 so I saw the stark comparison of that time.
Liberal cities across the globe share something in common.
I meant no disrespect to Nationalism! I basically think we (the world) is at a crossroads, and we can choose either Globalism or Nationalism. I choose Nationalism. I see this topic as the big struggle for the coming decades.
But I wasn't actually trying to make a comment about that difference in worldview.
I was really making a snarky comment about the 1920s and a previous time when Berlin was "poor but sexy". The Germans chose a National Socialist named Hitler to get them to a better place. Meanwhile, Italy had already made a similar choice, putting Mussolini in power with the understanding that the Fascists would fix what was broken and "make the trains run on time".
So I was conflating Hitler and Mussolini and worrying that Europe/Berlin would choose bad leaders as a fix to the problems already caused by their previous bad choices regarding refugees and other such things.
For the record: I see Trump as a Nationalist who will (I hope) fix things. But I do NOT see Trump as any sort of Nazi or Socialist or Fascist. I think Trump is a populist and nationalist and that is what I want.
Who wants to live in a city where your odds of getting raped grow, and police go after critics of the rapists instead of the rapists?
Germany: Migrant Rape Crisis Worsens
Public spaces are becoming perilous for women and children
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/7557/germany-rape-migrants-crisis
Reminiscent of Berlin in the 1920’s.
Fair enough, thanks for the explanation.
Same as it ever was...Weimar Republic anyone? We know what followed that.
regards,
Creative Types never bring with them the money to back up the social and cultural change the expect. To them that is the function of the government which they so hate.
4. Berlin’s crime rate is higher than in all the other German states.
I bet they haven't even figured out the connection
He “meant” Il Duce.
Later it was two towns in Germany.
I walked the streets of Berlin a couple of years ago, my comment to my wife was; “Where are the Germans?” There was an Arab rally at the Brandenburg Gate, we went to the flea market by the tall monument and there were no German vendors just foreigners mostly from the mid east and Pakistan from what we could gather. We didn’t expect it to be 1930 Berlin, but it was like NYC, a huge melting pot. I could have been walking down B’way NYC and not tell the difference. It changed since I was there in 85, even the town we had our HQ wasn’t recognizable, the clean town lost it’s luster, and worst of all, the Brewery that was near by.
In this single urban deal....there is no connection between “Berlin struggling to provide adequate care for refugees” and “Berlin’s crime rate being higher than other German states”.
While most German cities are run by one single city council and one mayor....Berlin has a network of city-neighborhoods which have some autonomy over their area. Because of this disconnect....there’s no central authority or leadership. So you have one neighborhood arguing about raising up a container-village for their refugees and another group wanting the city-state itself to pay for new low-income permanent housing. Neighborhood groups are fighting other neighborhood groups over territory authority and why they have to take in refugees.
The crime problem goes chiefly to two issues. First, there’s an average of a million tourists per month for Berlin now. It’s a magnet for pick-pockets and snatch-and-go punks. Second, you have the Riga Street riots which erupt every two or three months....with burnt cars, damaged store-fronts, etc. The Riga crowd are all building squatters that the cops can’t tame or control....so it turns into major riots. I can’t of another German city that has this squatter issue to such a degree.
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