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Originally Posted by bradclark1
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Skybird
"Former enemies"  Nice, I must remember that for next time when the former SED-people of "Die Linke" show up in the Bundestag.  Those are real nerve-killers, and listening to them reminds me of the sound and phrasing of "Aktuelle Kamera"
(AK was the official major TV news program in the GDR.)
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Is it still a little touchy regards employment & economics etc. between the former east and west Germany's though? |
Yes, but not generally with every person. It depends, last but not least wether you are a winner or looser from unification. But there are massive differences in unemployment rates, and general perspectives. Whole regions in the East are shutting down, have lost all middle- and young-aged population, and only the oldest 15 or 20% of the original population are still living in a given city. Another problem: young women go West by marriage or by taking job options, but young men only can go West if they can compete on the Western job market, which often is not the case: and marriage is no option for them to escape, like it is for the girls. Eastgermany is the one region in europe where the ratio between males and females is more distorted and towards males than anywhere else, and that has demographic and social consequences, it prvents family-forming, which means a dysfunctional society as well, and leaves a generation of males behind that have learned one thing: that they are loosers. The lack of motivation and frustration inside society is enormous. Right wing policies become very popular here, as well as mourning that the wall is gone and the better days of the GDR are no more there. Infrastructure slowly breakes down, and medical caretaking as well. It becomes a problem to keep such systems operational if only so few people are still living in such a critical region. It costs money, but the state does not get any revenue in return. But what to do? Enforced resettlement? It is a big problem - and most politicians do not touch it at all, for fear to burn their fingers.
Add to this future economic perspectives and the demographic developement of giving the old more and more voting power and the young becoming victims of needing to pay for that - and you watch at what can only be described as a most explosive developement. I cannot rule out in principle that in 20, 30 years things blow up over here.