After World War II, Germany was a war-torn strip of land, its people dejected and hopeless after having lost two successive wars. However, as a result of American investment in Europe's economies, Germany slowly rose up again as a capable nation. As the years went on, the idea of "multikulti," or multiculturalism, started to gain momentum. Politicians had an "if the Americans could do it, why can't we" attitude, and in the 1960s, Germany introduced new immigration policies in order to boost the economy. As a result, millions of immigrants, mostly of Turkish descent, moved and settled in Germany.
Fast forward to today. One hears Chancellor Angela Merkel speaking of the "utter failure" of multikulti, and then one hears the clapping and cheering. Americans might ask what has happened in the last 40 years that has so completely changed attitudes about immigration?
The problem is that attitudes toward immigration have not, in fact, undergone a 180 degree turnaround. Germany is a nation-state, which means the citizens of the state are unified by a common identity, or at least that's how it should be. Many Germans think the immigrant population isn't sufficiently integrated into society. In fact, a recent survey showed that 30 percent of Germans felt that their country was being "overrun" by immigrants, and these fears are not unwarranted. Ethnic Germans currently have a fertility rate of around 1.38, but Muslims in the country have a much higher rate.
This wouldn't be as much of a problem if multikulti had worked as German politicians in the '60s and '70s wanted it to. They envisioned a situation where immigrants and Germans actively interacted with each other, eventually making the immigrants "more German." But as Merkel bluntly pointed out, that hasn't happened. What occurred instead was a segregation of German culture from that of its Turkish-Muslim population.
This segment of the population has high jobless rates, little freedom for women within the family, and abysmal child education success rates. Their tradition of forced marriages is not accepted by the majority of Germans.
Now Americans might say that if the Germans just let immigrants settle in, as time goes on, they will become part of the fabric of society. Unfortunately, that is not necessarily the case. England is a perfect example of a country with open borders and a large immigrant population, and the seeming inability of Muslim youths to "fit in" has bred dissatisfaction and homegrown terrorism.
Germany needs to start taking a realistic approach to its immigrant population, otherwise they could easily overwhelm the native German culture. But Merkel is not even advocating the expulsion of immigrants. She merely wishes for their integration into German society. If these immigrants living in Germany need to be forced into joining German society, why go to Germany in the first place? If they must be forced into society, so be it.
