Sarrazin: Is it a storm in a teacup?

Germany does away with itself

So I thought, I would join the bandwagon and give a piece of my mind on the reaction to Sarrazin’s masterpiece. For those of you who have had your head buried in the sand for the last month, Mr Sarrazin, former board member of Bundesbank (I will come back to this point later on) has published a book called “Germany does away with itself.” The book and the man himself have caused a bit of furor in Germany. His book has become a bestseller and still remains sold out. The same could not be said about his position on the Board of Bundesbank and in the SPD Party though.

You could say that Sarrazin’s book and the man himself is like Marmite – you will either love it or hate it! For those of you who don’t know what Marmite is, it’s this awful concoction which you have on toast.  As you can see, I am one of those people who does not like Marmite. The same cannot be said about Sarrazin’s book as I have not had the pleasure of flicking through the figures yet.  But as I am curious to see what all the fuss is about, I have ordered the book. By the time I do get a copy of his book, I wonder if all the fuss will have died down, and whether Sarrazin will still be a member of the SPD Party.

So going back to the man himself, I have to say I was surprised when I first heard about the contents of the book and the position that Sarrazin had. It would be unthinkable for someone from the Bank of England to be allowed to publish such a book, even if it was their own personal opinion. It looks as though Bundesbank felt the same, as Mr Sarrazin has kindly packed his bags.

On the other hand though, I have to give the man credit, as he has got everybody, from your local grocer to your leading politician speaking about this topic. The topic is Integration. It is something which affects not only Germany but all European countries even the UK in my opinion.  I am not saying that the UK is a bed of roses, but I do still feel that it is ahead of Germany when it comes down to integrating foreigners.

Like any human being, Sarrazin has a habit of generalizing:  Being a foreigner myself, I would not say it is only Muslim immigrants who are unwilling to integrate, people from English-speaking countries who have also spent a while in Germany, still only prefer to mix with other fellow expats and whose knowledge of the German Language only amounts to “Danke schön” and “Entschuldigung.” Furthermore like any human being even though we would all hate to admit this point, Sarrazin sees stereotypes as a matter of fact. I myself come across this on a daily basis: I was born and brought up in London.  My parents come from India. I run a language school and I am the leading English teacher at the school. When I however mention this to somebody, 99% of the time, regardless of their age, there is a look of bewilderment due to my roots and my name in itself. The fact that I was born, brought up, educated in the UK, seems to be very often disregarded.   I could go on, like many people have done in the past few weeks in analyzing and dissecting today’s society, but hopefully I’ve given you enough to chew on.

Whatever you may think about Sarrazin, there is a grain of truth to what he is saying. What matters now, is what will happen now in Germany and not to Sarrazin. Will we act upon his arguments, so that they will not be published again in 10 years and become another bestseller. Hopefully the next time, the title will be less confusing.

Ritu Marwaha, Institute4Languages