In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move.
- Douglas Adams
Today was another day that sorely reminded me to apply for American citizenship as soon as possible. Don’t want to be a German no more. My wife and my son are American citizens, and just for that fact alone it makes sense to change from permanent residence status to citizenship. Another measure to calm me down should be to stop reading German newspapers. Okay, what is this all about…?
Yesterday – Sunday, March 21, 2010 – Barack Obama wrote yet again another chapter in American history after winning the battle for an overhaul of the nation’s health system that would provide medical coverage to tens of millions of uninsured Americans. I have to admit, I am not familiar with all the details of the overhaul, and I am not making a case pro or contra the reform. Honestly, I am just in awe by the accomplishment. I remember watching the televised discussion between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon as part of a history show on one of the numerous cable channels. That discussion took place in 1960, some fifty years ago, and, if I remember correctly, one of the addressed problems was a much needed health care reform. All presidents, at least since John F. Kennedy, have more or less failed to accomplish that task. There is no blame; it just emphasizes the magnitude of yesterday’s achievement.
Naturally, yesterday’s vote is today’s news all over the world. And yes, there are apparently some unresolved issues, and the Republican party will do their best to point them out, but this is nothing compared to what you read in one particular German newspaper. I am referring to the online version of the Spiegel magazine, the German equivalent of, for instance, Newsweek. Reading the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Spiegel Online has become one of my regular morning activities, and it is especially interesting comparing articles referring to the same topic such as American health care reform. The major difference between the established American newspapers and Spiegel Online is that German journalists don’t feel any obligation whatsoever to hold back their personal – not, mind you, political – views, and these views are primarily and constantly antagonistic in nature, even if it concerned the second coming of Jesus Christ. Yesterday it was about the devastating consequences of Obama’s potential failure to push the vote to victory. Today it is about the devastating consequences that come with the reform.
I was ready to write a flaming response to their article on the health care overhaul vote, but I cautioned myself and first read some comments that were already posted. I realized, it takes more than a few written lines to convince my fellow Germans that America is not a bad country. It is funny, but every German I met over here, and who lives permanently in the US, loves this country, including the good, the bad, and the ugly. It is like being infected by a virus – in the best sense of the word. The German language has adopted American terms one-to-one, like recycling, midlife crisis, flatrate, leasing, manager, service, and many more. Germans love blue jeans and American movies, but, still, America is a bad country. Sorry, but I don’t get it.
Some time ago I developed a list of three questions that I present to fellow Germans who claim they know enough about the United States of America to criticize it. These questions are: 1. What is the official language of the United States (There is none; that would be discrimination – Get’s them all the time), 2. Who was Jackie Robinson?, and 3. What does it mean when somebody tells you he or she is 5 feet 12 inches tall?
Okay, now it is time to log on to the website of the United States Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services and download the appropriate forms. I will find a way to come up with the $700 it will cost me. After all, this will be the best investment I have ever made in my entire life.
Supplement March 30, 2010
All of my posts on this blog are posted pretty much immediately on Twitter, Reddit.Com, Digg.com, and, most the times, on Facebook. That method creates a good amount of hyperlinks to my web site and some good traffic. It also inevitably invites comments from all around the world – provided somebody is interested in my blabbering.
Well, somebody did find this very post through Reddit.com and couldn’t help to comment, “not really a compelling argument to leave the country though…is it ?” Okay… Let this sit for a little while…
So my answer, after thinking about the comment for several days, was, “There are several answers I had in mind, but none of them would be polite. I can only advice to read the article again… more carefully this time.”
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Germans Don’t Like American Health Care Reform
In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move.
- Douglas Adams
Yesterday – Sunday, March 21, 2010 – Barack Obama wrote yet again another chapter in American history after winning the battle for an overhaul of the nation’s health system that would provide medical coverage to tens of millions of uninsured Americans. I have to admit, I am not familiar with all the details of the overhaul, and I am not making a case pro or contra the reform. Honestly, I am just in awe by the accomplishment. I remember watching the televised discussion between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon as part of a history show on one of the numerous cable channels. That discussion took place in 1960, some fifty years ago, and, if I remember correctly, one of the addressed problems was a much needed health care reform. All presidents, at least since John F. Kennedy, have more or less failed to accomplish that task. There is no blame; it just emphasizes the magnitude of yesterday’s achievement.
Naturally, yesterday’s vote is today’s news all over the world. And yes, there are apparently some unresolved issues, and the Republican party will do their best to point them out, but this is nothing compared to what you read in one particular German newspaper. I am referring to the online version of the Spiegel magazine, the German equivalent of, for instance, Newsweek. Reading the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Spiegel Online has become one of my regular morning activities, and it is especially interesting comparing articles referring to the same topic such as American health care reform. The major difference between the established American newspapers and Spiegel Online is that German journalists don’t feel any obligation whatsoever to hold back their personal – not, mind you, political – views, and these views are primarily and constantly antagonistic in nature, even if it concerned the second coming of Jesus Christ. Yesterday it was about the devastating consequences of Obama’s potential failure to push the vote to victory. Today it is about the devastating consequences that come with the reform.
I was ready to write a flaming response to their article on the health care overhaul vote, but I cautioned myself and first read some comments that were already posted. I realized, it takes more than a few written lines to convince my fellow Germans that America is not a bad country. It is funny, but every German I met over here, and who lives permanently in the US, loves this country, including the good, the bad, and the ugly. It is like being infected by a virus – in the best sense of the word. The German language has adopted American terms one-to-one, like recycling, midlife crisis, flatrate, leasing, manager, service, and many more. Germans love blue jeans and American movies, but, still, America is a bad country. Sorry, but I don’t get it.
Some time ago I developed a list of three questions that I present to fellow Germans who claim they know enough about the United States of America to criticize it. These questions are: 1. What is the official language of the United States (There is none; that would be discrimination – Get’s them all the time), 2. Who was Jackie Robinson?, and 3. What does it mean when somebody tells you he or she is 5 feet 12 inches tall?
Okay, now it is time to log on to the website of the United States Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services and download the appropriate forms. I will find a way to come up with the $700 it will cost me. After all, this will be the best investment I have ever made in my entire life.
Supplement March 30, 2010
All of my posts on this blog are posted pretty much immediately on Twitter, Reddit.Com, Digg.com, and, most the times, on Facebook. That method creates a good amount of hyperlinks to my web site and some good traffic. It also inevitably invites comments from all around the world – provided somebody is interested in my blabbering.
Well, somebody did find this very post through Reddit.com and couldn’t help to comment, “not really a compelling argument to leave the country though…is it ?” Okay… Let this sit for a little while…
So my answer, after thinking about the comment for several days, was, “There are several answers I had in mind, but none of them would be polite. I can only advice to read the article again… more carefully this time.”