Craziest Commentary on Germany and Greece
The NY Times published the craziest op-ed on Germany's policy on Greece that I have seen in a broadsheet. Ever.
After tons of articles about Germany being too slow, too hesitant, too selfish to sufficiently help Greece, the NYT now opened its op-ed pages for the American economist Todd Buchholz to write about "Germany's Love for Greece":
Germany's real motivation to help Greece is not cash; it's culture. Germans struggle with a national envy. For over 200 years, they have been searching for a missing part of their soul: passion. They find it in the south and covet the loosey-goosey, sun-filled days of their free-wheeling Mediterranean neighbors.
In the early 1800s, Goethe reported that his travels to Italy charged him up with new creative energy. Later, Heinrich Heine made the pilgrimage, writing to his uncle: "Here, nature is beautiful and man lovable. In the high mountain air that you breathe in here, you forget instantly your troubles and the soul expands."
And the article goes on and on quoting more Nietzsche, Mann, Freud and even a "Schlager" without explaining but just pretending that this shapes our policy on Greece somehow. In addition to claiming that we don't have passion, the author claims that Germans only have fun, when vacationing in Greece. Jesus, on what planet is he living? Has he ever been here?
I am all for thinking outside of the box and a strong thesis, but this is too crazy. I can't believe what bullshit the NYT sees fit to publish these days.
Todd G. Buchholz concludes with the inevitable (?) Nazi reference: "Despite a history of proclaiming their superiority, deep down Germans are not sure they've got it right, after all." Oh, boy.
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