Tag / Germany
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Rivers, Free Cities, And Condominiums
In some parts of the world you can be in two countries simultaneously. The section of the Moselle river that follows much of the border between Luxembourg and Germany isn’t owned by either country, nor is it divided along the middle—instead it is shared by both sovereign nations. The border is more of a permeable…
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When “Women’s Rights” Justify Racism: Collective Punishment after Cologne
Women’s bodies should not be loci of political and moral debate and, yet, here we are. The recent string of sexual assaults in Cologne have understandably triggered backlash – but not against patriarchy or even sexual assault, mind you, but against refugees and non-white foreigners in general. Sexual assault is, without question, disgusting and reprehensible…
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Syrian Refugees And European Opportunism
Many politically conscious Americans have by now seen satirist John Oliver’s recent show on the European refugee crisis. I was personally thrilled to see that he covered the topic, since—despite global telecommunications—quality reporting on the crisis has had a little trouble crossing the pond, leaving most Americans uninformed. However, after watching Oliver’s segment, I can…
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Another Europe
The 2008 financial crisis threw European economies into turmoil and caused state debt to rise precipitously. The bureaucracy of the European Union in Brussels concluded that righting economic imbalances required indebted governments to implement harsh “austerity” policies. European states needing financial support or debt relief from the rest of the Eurozone were thus ordered to…
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Germany: The Hypocrisy of Republican Economic Policy
BY ARI MOSES The Republican Party frequently condemns the Democratic Party for deficit spending, but what alternate economic policies do they have in mind? According to members of the party, Republicans want austerity measures and wish to cut financing for most social programs. Yet, they praise the German economic system; Representative Joe Wilson extolled the…
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![Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou (Photo by Vasilis Filis, Wikimedia Commons)]()
Greece Ruins Everything for Everybody
For those of you just joining the ongoing Greek debt/Euro crisis currently unfolding, here’s the abridged version: For years, Greece employed excessive public spending and unchecked debt growth to a blatantly unsustainable degree. Greek public culture grew around this expectation, to the extent that state dependence on employment and tax evasion were the norm. Then,…
