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"We called for workers but humans came."

Reader comment on item: The Mundane Origins of Germany's Huge Turkish Population

Submitted by Romanis, Nov 3, 2016 at 05:49

"Wir riefen Arbeitskräfte, und es kamen Menschen" in English "We called for workers and humans came." is the most famous proverb in German political discussion on Turkish immigration to Germany. It is supposed to describe the naive attitude driving German immigration policy during the 1970s and 80s.

For decades, Germans pretended that the guest workers would sooner or later leave when the demand for their work would decrease. That did not happen. As a German I recommend reading or watching books or reports about Thilo Sarrazin. In 2010 he published the most succesful non-fiction book in German post-war history named "Deutschland schafft sich ab." (Germany does itself away) in which he describes the negative economic consequences of immigration from predominantly muslim countries. It created a huge and very heated debate that lasted for months and which ultimatley cost him his position as a member of the executive board of the German central bank (Bundesbank).

A main feature of Sarrazin's work is that he accurately and rigidly backs up his arguments with huge amounts of statistics on economic, social or educational success, dependency on social welfare, criminality statistics etc. During this time in 2010/2011, polls showed that a majority of Germans agreed with many of his positions. His own party however, the social-democratic SPD wanted to throw him out of the party.

A rather rare report in English on Thilo Sarrazin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fA4tWheo5Y

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Reader comments (35) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
11961 a strange reversal of 1941 [145 words]mythNov 10, 2016 04:17233922
1"We called for workers but humans came." [231 words]RomanisNov 3, 2016 05:49233771
migrants in German prisons [97 words]mythNov 8, 2016 05:36233771
Question about those Turks who stayed [46 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
MikeOct 31, 2016 04:46233728
a very old generation of German politicians [178 words]mythNov 5, 2016 06:39233728
"Never buy a car from a Turk!" [280 words]JoeOct 30, 2016 22:51233723
Islam: The Future Religion of the West [575 words]Iftikhar AhmadNov 5, 2016 13:43233723
1valueless value judgements [1737 words]Mohammed Waza Khiddif id'UllahNov 8, 2016 04:45233723
2migration stream flees islamic countries [71 words]mythNov 8, 2016 05:03233723
1Islam Taslam and GB will never by a Muslim country [117 words]dhimmi no moreNov 8, 2016 14:23233723
wrong [30 words]JoeNov 8, 2016 20:49233723
1Mass Immigration Sign Of Dangerous Weakness [294 words]DaveOct 30, 2016 18:22233715
1Immigration [755 words]Iftikhar AhmadOct 30, 2016 13:32233708
language in Germany different from other European countries and the small role of Islam for Turks [182 words]mythOct 31, 2016 06:58233708
Not Unintended Consequences - Assimilation is a Western Word Never Allowed in the Orient [311 words]M. ToveyOct 31, 2016 11:21233708
Democracy and secularism in all countries but Islamic countries [138 words]PrashantOct 31, 2016 22:47233708
2shock horror [1377 words]Mohammed Waza Khiddif id'UllahNov 5, 2016 01:33233708
2Re: The Mundane Origins of Germany's Huge Turkish Population [142 words]Bill NarveyOct 30, 2016 10:25233707
why Turks?! [16 words]ThiagoNov 3, 2016 15:19233707
1How Germany spotted Turkey and needed so many [374 words]mythNov 5, 2016 05:47233707
3The German-Turkish flag image [62 words]DavidOct 30, 2016 09:13233705
3Fully Agree [43 words]Michael Hanni MorcosOct 30, 2016 18:33233705
1this particular German-Turkish flag does demonstrate assimilation [146 words]mythOct 31, 2016 07:11233705
2Turks in Germany. [178 words]VIRAJOct 30, 2016 03:06233701
3They will Never Assimilate [29 words]Michael Hanni MorcosOct 30, 2016 02:40233700
Jihad [805 words]Iftikhar AhmadOct 30, 2016 15:52233700
a bilingual contribution to German [178 words]mythOct 31, 2016 07:31233700
1Defining a Just Cause - and What is Not. [402 words]M ToveyNov 1, 2016 11:51233700
2If you ever wondered what Muslim schools in the U.K are like, read-skim his comment [89 words]anonNov 2, 2016 17:28233700
1we agree [101 words]Mohammed Waza Khiddif id'UllahNov 5, 2016 01:44233700
1it's OK [126 words]Mohammed Waza Khiddif id'UllahNov 5, 2016 01:50233700
2Ibn Manzur's Lisan al-Arab tells us that Jihad means Holy War and a Mujahid is a terrorist holy warrior [407 words]dhimmi no moreNov 7, 2016 14:03233700
2Jihad means Holy War as per Ibn Manzur's Lisan al-Arab and teaching Arabic to our dear Iftikhar [168 words]dhimmi no moreNov 8, 2016 14:04233700
3Delusions [83 words]dhimmi no moreNov 8, 2016 14:12233700
re: a bilingual contribution to German [65 words]AlexelaNov 12, 2016 04:02233700

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