The German model is now clearly out-of-date
Angst and despair have reached such a level in this country that the natives have now enlisted Heidi Klum to cast a new one - a new German model, that is.
As you may or may not know, the so-called German model is an economic term used to describe post-war (West) Germany’s way of using innovative industrial relations, close relationships between financial and industrial sectors and vocational training to cultivate what was for many years economic prosperity. The unions are organized at an industry level and co-exist with so-called “work councils” at plant and company levels; these unions are still relatively strong but are generally reluctant to strike. Vocational training, with an emphasis upon specialized apprenticeships, is still required for a large number of occupations here and contributes to a certain degree of rigidity and Germany's famous bureaucracy.
At any rate, none of this seems to work anymore and Ms. Klum, a famous German model herself, now appears to have become the figurehead of a popular movement to cast (metaphorically speaking, of course) “Germany’s next Topmodel”.
In this show (as I have been told because I would never watch anything like this personally of course), tons of gorgeous German women parade around in front of some dorky jury and the girls who don’t get picked start heulen (crying) and the hottest ones win to come back for the next round.
It is a radical new method, for sure, but in this troubling era of increasing globalization, an open mind and a little flexibility is the least we can expect.
Ich glaube, ich fange auch gleich an, zu heulen.
Deutsche Kommentare? Ich bitte darum!
