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Old December 23rd, 2011 #1
Alex Linder
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Default German Mentality and Economy

Quote:
If you are really looking for an underlying cultural reason for contemporary German fiscal politics, a protestant work ethic that sees debt as morally wrong, a tradition of manufacturing feeding a distrust of anything that seems "conjured up" out of thin air and a strong middle-class belief in living within your means are more important factors than a single historical event, however traumatic it might have been.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisf...hyperinflation
 
Old December 25th, 2011 #2
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I am also a non-German living in Germany, and I laughed most of the way through this article... mostly because it is actually very accurate in many many ways. But also because I, too, have discovered that I often come across as critical and condescending by focusing on the (MANY MANY) differences between Germans and our culture. The truth is, however, as Georg has written, it is mostly the older folks, especially rural people and those with little exposure to anything besides the little "dorf" where they grew up. I have found that yes, on the one hand it can be incredibly difficult to get a German to loosen up and smile.... but on the other hand, once they do you will discover that they have the biggest and softest hearts you can imagine. And while they are incredibly crusty, rigid, negative,critical, nitpicking, resistant to change, and defensive people (generalizing of course) I have discovered that they are this way because it is the culture in which they have grown up. If you were always criticized and verbally taken apart, you would also grow a thick skin and begin relating to everyone else around you in the exact same way. If you were raised in a society where change was equated with uncertainty and instability, you would come to fear it too. If you were raised under a government which dictated to you every aspect of your life, beginning with mandatory schooling at the age of six (yes, mandatory, this is enforced by threat of police visits and possible removal of parenting rights) then you would come to view authority as the final ultimate word and you would submit yourself to something if you have never known any other way of seeing the world. I could say so much more if I didnt have to hurry all of a sudden, but lets just sum it up. Germans are EVERYTHING they are stereotyped to be, but Germans are also some of the most beautiful hearted people you will ever meet and the criticisms we heap on them is not anymore deserved than their stereotyping of us Americans in some of the demeaning ways I have heard.

http://www.expatica.com/de/life-in-g...ink_15895.html
 
Old December 25th, 2011 #3
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Bavarian joke about the Prussians:

Q - "What do you call a Prussian who hasn't got piles?"

A - "A pure and simple arsehole."
 
Old December 25th, 2011 #4
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DDR humour:

What's the difference between socialism and orgasm? With socialism you moan for a lot longer.

What's 20 meters long and has no teeth? The front row of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party.
 
Old December 25th, 2011 #5
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Wurst displays the typical stubborn nature of the German mentality never to admit to a fault. Attack Amero-british ways. Standard from. Self criticism is and never has been a part of the German character. Neither has irony and a sense of humour.
 
Old December 25th, 2011 #6
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But....

for every Yin there's a Yang.

- Because imho Germany's political centre of gravity is centre left it doesn't have a lawless underclass like we in Britain do. Germans are some of the widest travelled in the world. Almost every obscure place I travelled to I met fantastic Germans (bloody glad to have a rest from the Rools)

- Because business is regulated more in a social market there are still small independent retailers left in small towns. I'm thinking food here in particular. Still wonderful bakeries on every street corner. What nationality are the bakeries in Kathmandu and on the traveller trail? German!

- a wonderful sense of tradition and seasonality. spargel season and Christmas are two of my faves. Tomorrow is Martinstag which is still wonderful. Our traditions in Britain have been eroded by Americanisation and political correctness.

I've been here long enough to know there is a positive side, that overall the quality of life is higher here than in UK, esp for raising a family. But I feel entitled to have a good moan about the downside of Germany. This is TT after all.
 
Old December 25th, 2011 #7
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funny, today i was having one of those days where i had a low level of anxiety due to thinking a german could at any moment pop out of the human background to point out what i'm doing wrong at any given moment. no shit. been here 3 years and after having enough of these experiences for real, it can put me on a general level of alert, because there's nothing worse than you going about your day in a bit of daydreamy happiness to be ripped out of that place by some fucking pre-programmed idiot who's made it his duty to keep the country from falling apart - one minute detail at a time.

as such it made me think along the lines of goethe (OP) - i pretty much dislike germans except for the ones I know. Or otherwise, Germans as a group are wretched beings - rule-following, inconsiderate, jackass robots with a boring vocabulary and the inability to laugh at themselves and thus in general - but you somehow ignore those things in your friends. which makes it worthwhile to go on staying here.
 
Old December 25th, 2011 #8
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Because they work more efficiently, probably..(I remember reading articles about this in Japan - where they were realizing that all these crazy hours didn't actually make them more productive..) I don't know - I'm an Anglo too - and there are lots of little things about krauts that grate. But I have to admit, somehow the place just works.. The companies make money despite crazy taxes and costs, the economy goes on, the society works despite the MASSIVE MASSIVE burden of the social state.. I often do think Anglos are from Mars, and krauts Venus.. But IMO that is a German thing, not Prussian.. My theory is, a big part of it comes from the language.. They are the way they are cuz they have to wait for the verb to come at the end of their sentences for the system to be rounded out..
 
Old December 25th, 2011 #9
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I don't recognise the Germany being described here. Apart from the fact that the Germans never admit to being wrong. I find the life quite laid-back and relaxed over here.
 
Old December 25th, 2011 #10
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One of the things I find amusing - if I might call it that - is how the things people say here to each other would get you punched back in blighty yet they are so non-violent.

[the general German feeling is that the British are maddening in their refusal to say exactly what they mean, compared to the way Germans express themselves]
 
Old December 25th, 2011 #11
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do I want to go back to Yookay as it is now? Like hell I do! But I still love a quality moan about Germany. Wurst you still have a load to learn about us and our irony and humour. Not everything we say is meant to be taken at face value. If a foreigner came to my country and told me Brits are violent, as a fault of Britain, I'd say too sadly true - I'd admit to our failings, indeed some journalists say we always run ourselves down. But self-deprecation is one of our traits. Germans do take themselves very seriously.
 
Old December 25th, 2011 #12
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Oh no, please not the old guest-worker fairy-tales again. So, let us at last dismantle all the myths around these “Gastarbeiter”-thing.

Everyone, who has worked here, inevitably collaborated in building. This is not in the least mentionable for anyone (apart from the “Trümmerfrauen”) but a banal finding.

By the “reconstruction” of GER after the war one mean something else entirely.

The Guestworkers didn´t enable the enonomic-miracle but exactly the other way round. GER was able to offer employment opportunities, because of the economic boom . And these jobs were paid very well. For their labour the GWs were paid to the same tariffs as their German colleagues. In the mining they received zillions of subsidies for saving these workplaces. The GWs had the same rights like all employees and the same access to all institutions. In addition to it Turks enjoy the privilege that they can (non-contributory) co-insure, permanently in Turkey living family members in their health insurance. This is a privilege only for Turks (and Yugoslavians) NOT for Germans. As a sideline, the Guestworkers find in GER living conditions, they not even permitted themself dreaming about in their primitive Homecountries. Furthermore the GWs have transferred a big share of their money home and propped thereby the economies of the homecountries considerably.

The prosperity in our country weren´t collapsed without the GWs. We also were not choked in the dirt without the GWs.

And regarding to the turkish GWs. The first Turks came to GER in the early 60s. GER never wanted non-European GWs and bowed reluctantly, only because of foreign-policy reasons, to the solicitation of Turkey, which was urgently depend on a relief of its employment market, and also didn´t want to rank behind Greece. Finally, till the recruitment-ban in 1973, all in all less than 10 000 Turks were enlisted. That these number has increased on meanwhile 3 000 000 is the biggest scandal in the history of the Federal Republic.

So please stop building up such a bugbear. The GWs were never treated like subhumans like the blacks in America and we never colonised their countries. Coming to GER was very profitable for all of them. Actually you should think that from this side there will come a “Thank You”. But there´s one thing that all foreigners in GER have in common, cause a lack of humility.

By the way, the GWs were enlisted against the will of the german people, at the insistence of the economy, which the politicians yield to.

But now, last but not least the reasons for the german economic miracle:

1. The german industry, post 1945 was, next to the US-industry the most modern in the world.
2. The adoption of US-practices in mass production and mass sales.
3. The Korean War.
 
Old December 25th, 2011 #13
Alex Linder
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Oh no, please not the old guest-worker fairy-tales again. So, let us at last dismantle all the myths around these “Gastarbeiter”-thing.

Everyone, who has worked here, inevitably collaborated in building. This is not in the least mentionable for anyone (apart from the “Trümmerfrauen”) but a banal finding.

By the “reconstruction” of GER after the war one mean something else entirely.

The Guestworkers didn´t enable the enonomic-miracle but exactly the other way round. GER was able to offer employment opportunities, because of the economic boom . And these jobs were paid very well. For their labour the GWs were paid to the same tariffs as their German colleagues. In the mining they received zillions of subsidies for saving these workplaces. The GWs had the same rights like all employees and the same access to all institutions. In addition to it Turks enjoy the privilege that they can (non-contributory) co-insure, permanently in Turkey living family members in their health insurance. This is a privilege only for Turks (and Yugoslavians) NOT for Germans. As a sideline, the Guestworkers find in GER living conditions, they not even permitted themself dreaming about in their primitive Homecountries. Furthermore the GWs have transferred a big share of their money home and propped thereby the economies of the homecountries considerably.

The prosperity in our country weren´t collapsed without the GWs. We also were not choked in the dirt without the GWs.

And regarding to the turkish GWs. The first Turks came to GER in the early 60s. GER never wanted non-European GWs and bowed reluctantly, only because of foreign-policy reasons, to the solicitation of Turkey, which was urgently depend on a relief of its employment market, and also didn´t want to rank behind Greece. Finally, till the recruitment-ban in 1973, all in all less than 10 000 Turks were enlisted. That these number has increased on meanwhile 3 000 000 is the biggest scandal in the history of the Federal Republic.

So please stop building up such a bugbear. The GWs were never treated like subhumans like the blacks in America and we never colonised their countries. Coming to GER was very profitable for all of them. Actually you should think that from this side there will come a “Thank You”. But there´s one thing that all foreigners in GER have in common, cause a lack of humility.

By the way, the GWs were enlisted against the will of the german people, at the insistence of the economy, which the politicians yield to.

But now, last but not least the reasons for the german economic miracle:

1. The german industry, post 1945 was, next to the US-industry the most modern in the world.
2. The adoption of US-practices in mass production and mass sales.
3. The Korean War.
 
Old December 25th, 2011 #14
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Like I said before, just watch the Germans and let them amuse you. Important is... do not identify with them, keep your distance, but smile. Don't let their handshakes steer you off course... a handshake in Germany means nothing. You may be the next to get sidewalled. From experience, don't trust them. They are a very strange people. 20 years has confirmed that for me. One thing in life that does not lie is experience, it is there, it happened, and it is very personal. I could write novels about the Germans, of course not in their favour,... always smile and be polite, but keep your distance. Never trust a German, they would rather call the cops than go to bed knowing their own brother or sister smokes pot. It's not their fault as individuals, it's handed down from the government, and driven into their skulls, and Germans being as they are..... need a leader, need rules, need someone to show them the way,... being small and narrow minded as they are, would not hesitate to cause you problems. Be friendly, but keep a distance. Germans are not to be trusted, never. They would sell their own mother if they thought it would give them some advantage. Experience does not lie, it just drives the sad facts home,.. Been there... got the T-Shirt.. and it sucks. Today? I let them amuse me, and keep my distance. When a German offers me his hand,.. I always ask him why. That kind of throws them off course. Never let them get you down, when you do that,... in effect you are going down to their level. That is in itself absurd. Put up your guard, fend them off, they are not offering you anything good. Gather experience, and build your judgment, be objective, be fair, and I'll bet that you leave this country. Nothing has changed here since the days of WW2, they smile, they try to put it behind them, but little has changed. Germans are afraid or the government and the police. They will do exactly as told, they are spinless. They need a leader today, as much as they needed a leader 70 years ago. Observe them and come to your own conclusion.

http://www.justlanded.com/deutsch/De...rman-Mentality
 
Old December 25th, 2011 #15
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Sweden is a country which has been at peace for the last 200 years. It is also a country with a history of a farmer society, and this is what Åke Daun, Swedish professor in ethnology, means is the main reason for why in fact Swedes in general are quiet and shy.

"During the time of farmer society, life was difficult and poor for many people. One had to fight for survival. The tough climate and the short cultivation season required planning and storage for the winter. In this society there was no time for expressing feelings. It was about hard manual labor starting at a young age. Long conversations did not occur. People just briefly talked about work."

- Åke Daun (translated from Swedish)

The fact that people lived with their families only, on a farm, made them less social with other people.

Mentalities of Swedes and Germans

Comparing the two mentalities with each other based on the previous texts, we find that German mentality is more about working hard and achieving something, compared to Swedish mentality. For example, when we were in Germany, I noticed the Germans being more committed to an assignment they were given than we Swedes. Further, I found the Germans in our age very similar to us young Swedes. Our exchange partners thought we Swedes had a closer physical contact between the genders, compared to them. Things like sitting in each other's lap, hugging and massaging each other is, to the Germans, a sign of a close relationship. For the Swedes, this is considered just being a nice thing to do. Even here you can see a tendency of liberal "don't-really-care" mentality in the Swedes, whereas the Germans act by a stronger unwritten policy, their code.

It is very hard to define an overall mentality of a country whose history has literally divided its inhabitants. However, as I mentioned earlier, every country has something basic in its mentality code, something that generally every inhabitant possesses. In Germany's case, its population is somewhat strict and organized. Swedes are shy and avoid conflicts. This is information gathered from a survey which a classmate, Ida Kjellberg, and I handed out.

http://www.freewebs.com/jonasfenn/in...er/Page352.htm
 
Old December 25th, 2011 #16
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Zelic hails German mentality

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24 March 2011-SBS EXCLUSIVE: Philip Micallef

In 1992 Australia’s golden boy Ned Zelic, then a promising 21-year-old playmaker who had the world at his feet, got his first taste of Bundesliga football with his new club Borussia Dortmund.

Zelic had just made the giant step of leaving Sydney Olympic for the bright lights of Europe.

He knew only too well that German football would be a hell of a tough nut to crack.

What came as a major shock to his system was the intensity behind every tackle, the fierce determination of all the players and their desperate will to win.

"I could not believe it. It was war," Zelic, now 39, told The World Game.

What made this episode most remarkable was the fact that Zelic actually had just taken part in a game at training.

Welcome to German football, Zelic thought as he recovered from a practice session that was as bruising and competitive as any proper game he had ever played in.

Zelic, who is now a television pundit with SBS, is in Germany to take part in a social match involving ex-players of Dortmund, for whom he played until 1995.

Next week he will travel to Monchengladbach to watch Australia take on Germany in a much-expected friendly match on Wednesday morning (AEDT).

The Socceroos face an enormous task against the Germans who only nine months ago slaughtered them 4-0 in a FIFA World Cup match in Durban.

Germany is arguably the greatest football country in Europe, having won three World Cups, three European Championships and many club tournaments.

As the Socceroos prepare for battle, Zelic was able to give an insight into the German mentality and explain why they are so strong and hard to beat.

"Training was like a real game and was the biggest shock for me," Zelic said.

"Coming from Australia, I thought it was unbelievable, how seriously they took their training. Every minute of every session.

"Players would argue on the field and in the dressing room and go home in a bad mood after a loss at training.

"The competition for places was just incredible. Nothing’s changed. They’re still the same and that might explain why the Germans are so good at what they do."

Zelic said the overriding impression he got from playing 194 matches for Dortmund, Eintracht Frankfurt and 1860 Munich was the serious way the Germans went about their business.

"They are so efficient and professional about their football and they are seeking perfection all the time," he said.

"Another thing that struck me was how they reacted to wins and losses.

”They never get carried away or paper over any cracks after a victory because there are always things the coach is not happy with so they examine the match thoroughly and try to do even better in the next game.

"Players’ heads never drop after a loss either because it is not in their blood. There are no dramas, they just work harder to do better in the next game."

Zelic said German footballers are generally bred on the philosophy that winning is all that matters and if they are going to finish second they might as well finish last.

He also said that the Germans believe that because they usually do not have the natural skills of the Brazilians, Argentines or Spaniards they must compensate with a show of temperament, character and ambition.

"They all set themselves really high goals and they are drilled early on as juniors that winning is everything and second is nothing. All they want is to be number one," Zelic explained.

"They’ve always been disciplined and athletic and had a team ethic but now they are beginning to focus on the individuals, as the last World Cup showed quite clearly.

"There are other factors that shape the German mentality. For example, Germans are prepared to go through the pain barrier to win a match because they just hate losing.

"Ok, Germans are not the only ones who do this but there are different levels to it and you’ll find that the Germans are on the highest level."

Zelic said the mentality of a typical German footballer is best illustrated by his ability to hold his nerve in a penalty shootout.

A shootout is seen as a lottery by most pundits worldwide but try telling that to the German national team, which has hardly ever lost on penalties since they were introduced in the mid-1980s.

"To win a shootout you need mental strength and the Germans have it in abundance," Zelic said.

"That’s why they are so much ahead of everyone else in that department."

http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/news/...rman-mentality

[Do we begin to approach the culture and mentality of a White subset capable of defeating the jew, in Zelic's description of this 'German mentality'? How does this mentality contrast with that we find among the conservatives and Southerners from which our WN culture, for the most part, originates?]
 
Old December 25th, 2011 #17
Alex Linder
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Zelic hails German mentality

55Comments

24 March 2011-SBS EXCLUSIVE: Philip Micallef

In 1992 Australia’s golden boy Ned Zelic, then a promising 21-year-old playmaker who had the world at his feet, got his first taste of Bundesliga football with his new club Borussia Dortmund.

Zelic had just made the giant step of leaving Sydney Olympic for the bright lights of Europe.

He knew only too well that German football would be a hell of a tough nut to crack.

What came as a major shock to his system was the intensity behind every tackle, the fierce determination of all the players and their desperate will to win.

"I could not believe it. It was war," Zelic, now 39, told The World Game.

What made this episode most remarkable was the fact that Zelic actually had just taken part in a game at training.

Welcome to German football, Zelic thought as he recovered from a practice session that was as bruising and competitive as any proper game he had ever played in.

Zelic, who is now a television pundit with SBS, is in Germany to take part in a social match involving ex-players of Dortmund, for whom he played until 1995.

Next week he will travel to Monchengladbach to watch Australia take on Germany in a much-expected friendly match on Wednesday morning (AEDT).

The Socceroos face an enormous task against the Germans who only nine months ago slaughtered them 4-0 in a FIFA World Cup match in Durban.

Germany is arguably the greatest football country in Europe, having won three World Cups, three European Championships and many club tournaments.

As the Socceroos prepare for battle, Zelic was able to give an insight into the German mentality and explain why they are so strong and hard to beat.

"Training was like a real game and was the biggest shock for me," Zelic said.

"Coming from Australia, I thought it was unbelievable, how seriously they took their training. Every minute of every session.

"Players would argue on the field and in the dressing room and go home in a bad mood after a loss at training.

"The competition for places was just incredible. Nothing’s changed. They’re still the same and that might explain why the Germans are so good at what they do."

Zelic said the overriding impression he got from playing 194 matches for Dortmund, Eintracht Frankfurt and 1860 Munich was the serious way the Germans went about their business.

"They are so efficient and professional about their football and they are seeking perfection all the time," he said.

"Another thing that struck me was how they reacted to wins and losses.

”They never get carried away or paper over any cracks after a victory because there are always things the coach is not happy with so they examine the match thoroughly and try to do even better in the next game.

"Players’ heads never drop after a loss either because it is not in their blood. There are no dramas, they just work harder to do better in the next game."

Zelic said German footballers are generally bred on the philosophy that winning is all that matters and if they are going to finish second they might as well finish last.

He also said that the Germans believe that because they usually do not have the natural skills of the Brazilians, Argentines or Spaniards they must compensate with a show of temperament, character and ambition.

"They all set themselves really high goals and they are drilled early on as juniors that winning is everything and second is nothing. All they want is to be number one," Zelic explained.

"They’ve always been disciplined and athletic and had a team ethic but now they are beginning to focus on the individuals, as the last World Cup showed quite clearly.

"There are other factors that shape the German mentality. For example, Germans are prepared to go through the pain barrier to win a match because they just hate losing.

"Ok, Germans are not the only ones who do this but there are different levels to it and you’ll find that the Germans are on the highest level."

Zelic said the mentality of a typical German footballer is best illustrated by his ability to hold his nerve in a penalty shootout.

A shootout is seen as a lottery by most pundits worldwide but try telling that to the German national team, which has hardly ever lost on penalties since they were introduced in the mid-1980s.

"To win a shootout you need mental strength and the Germans have it in abundance," Zelic said.

"That’s why they are so much ahead of everyone else in that department."

http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/news/...rman-mentality

[Do we begin to approach the culture and mentality of a White subset capable of defeating the jew, in Zelic's description of this 'German mentality'? How does this mentality contrast with that we find among the conservatives and Southerners from which our WN culture, for the most part, originates?]
 
Old December 25th, 2011 #18
Alex Linder
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How Silent Night Reflects the German Mentality

Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira
The German mentality has the presupposition that everything sacral is accompanied by much calm and recollection. We see the full application of this when it comes to the celebration of Christmas.

The Germans celebrate Christmas, for example, different from the Italians. You know that there is a tradition in Italy for each church and neighborhood to have a Crèche and to compete to make it the most beautiful. If we look at the Manger scenes in Italian churches or cities, the figurines have very emphatic attitudes and gestures.


Above, the Italian figurines, filled with exuberance. Below, the German nativity, meditative and calm




Thus, the Divine Infant lies in the Manger with His arms extended toward Our Lady. Our Lady bows over Him with an expression of overwhelming tenderness, manifested in gestures. St. Joseph is either jubilant or almost weeping from emotion – as expansive as possible. All the personages in the scene are so expressive that they seem on the brink of speaking.

This fits well with the Italian mentality that believes religious emotion must express itself with great vivacity, an exuberance that must be represented with warmth – the warmer the better.

This is the opposite of the German conception of Christmas Night. For something to be sacral, the Germans think that it must make a profound impression. Because it is profound, it should not be showy or external, since the deepest fathoms of the soul must be expressed through silence and recollection.

While for one mentality the gesture and word constitute the apex of expression, for the other the summit of expression is a type of silence and stillness, which reveals the deeper aspects of soul. Through silence, the soul demonstrates its incapacity to express the richness of what it feels.

It shows a position of soul that is more meditative than active, more recollected than expansive, a position that leans toward philosophical and theological reasoning. It is not, however, a cold and scientific calm; on the contrary, it is profoundly tender. It is such an unfathomable tenderness that the Germans choose to be silent rather than to talk.

Therefore, some peoples express their eloquence by word and gesture, and others by silence and recollection. Among the Germans, a song will often begin serenely, the voices singing pian pianino [slowly and lightly], and then begin to crescendo until they end in grandiose Wagnerian notes. However, the Latin temperament – of which the Italian is the most characteristic – prefers the music to begin with it greatest vivacity.

Which of the two is best? I understand that the Italians will choose the one way, and the Germans the other.

What is the Brazilian position? It would be to understand both positions perfectly and admire one as much as the other. This is the stance – as a Brazilian – that I take. In our way of understanding Christmas, we would speak a little less than the Italians and would be a little less silent than the Germans. But, regardless of our personal preferences, we admire the regional varieties through which God desires to be adored by each people. We contemplate the beauty of this grand diversity.

Imagining the scene…

I do not know whether the Italians have a most expressive Christmas song. I know many French carols that are very beautiful, but none are as beautiful as Stille Nacht, or Silent Night, which has become the Christmas carol par excellence throughout the world.

So, let us prepare ourselves to appreciate this song by imagining a German Christmas night. How does a German understand Stille Nacht?

http://www.traditioninaction.org/rel...ilentNight.htm
 
Old December 25th, 2011 #19
Alex Linder
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How Silent Night Reflects the German Mentality

Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira
The German mentality has the presupposition that everything sacral is accompanied by much calm and recollection. We see the full application of this when it comes to the celebration of Christmas.

The Germans celebrate Christmas, for example, different from the Italians. You know that there is a tradition in Italy for each church and neighborhood to have a Crèche and to compete to make it the most beautiful. If we look at the Manger scenes in Italian churches or cities, the figurines have very emphatic attitudes and gestures.


Above, the Italian figurines, filled with exuberance. Below, the German nativity, meditative and calm




Thus, the Divine Infant lies in the Manger with His arms extended toward Our Lady. Our Lady bows over Him with an expression of overwhelming tenderness, manifested in gestures. St. Joseph is either jubilant or almost weeping from emotion – as expansive as possible. All the personages in the scene are so expressive that they seem on the brink of speaking.

This fits well with the Italian mentality that believes religious emotion must express itself with great vivacity, an exuberance that must be represented with warmth – the warmer the better.

This is the opposite of the German conception of Christmas Night. For something to be sacral, the Germans think that it must make a profound impression. Because it is profound, it should not be showy or external, since the deepest fathoms of the soul must be expressed through silence and recollection.

While for one mentality the gesture and word constitute the apex of expression, for the other the summit of expression is a type of silence and stillness, which reveals the deeper aspects of soul. Through silence, the soul demonstrates its incapacity to express the richness of what it feels.

It shows a position of soul that is more meditative than active, more recollected than expansive, a position that leans toward philosophical and theological reasoning. It is not, however, a cold and scientific calm; on the contrary, it is profoundly tender. It is such an unfathomable tenderness that the Germans choose to be silent rather than to talk.

Therefore, some peoples express their eloquence by word and gesture, and others by silence and recollection. Among the Germans, a song will often begin serenely, the voices singing pian pianino [slowly and lightly], and then begin to crescendo until they end in grandiose Wagnerian notes. However, the Latin temperament – of which the Italian is the most characteristic – prefers the music to begin with it greatest vivacity.

Which of the two is best? I understand that the Italians will choose the one way, and the Germans the other.

What is the Brazilian position? It would be to understand both positions perfectly and admire one as much as the other. This is the stance – as a Brazilian – that I take. In our way of understanding Christmas, we would speak a little less than the Italians and would be a little less silent than the Germans. But, regardless of our personal preferences, we admire the regional varieties through which God desires to be adored by each people. We contemplate the beauty of this grand diversity.

Imagining the scene…

I do not know whether the Italians have a most expressive Christmas song. I know many French carols that are very beautiful, but none are as beautiful as Stille Nacht, or Silent Night, which has become the Christmas carol par excellence throughout the world.

So, let us prepare ourselves to appreciate this song by imagining a German Christmas night. How does a German understand Stille Nacht?

http://www.traditioninaction.org/rel...ilentNight.htm
 
Old December 25th, 2011 #20
Alex Linder
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Simple Mentality for Great Success

“ Yes. The German Mentality is all about concentration and discipline.
You have to fight in the game for 90 minutes or more. That is the German Mentality”
- Berti Vogts, German football great

“Why should I adopt the German mentality?”

“What is so special about their (Germany) mentality?”

“Everyone develops the kind of mentality that suit him/her”

“I don’t think the German Mentality can change anything”

“Forget about it. You can’t tell me to adopt another’s country mentality. What about me own country’s?”

“Is it only the Germans That has good mentality?”

The ‘critics’ in your head might give you one of these messages when
reading the headline and the beginning quote by Berti Vogts.

Look my dear, Listen up!

Don’t allow those critics to close you mind to what I’m about to tell you.

“Germany is not the most glamorous country. The people are not the most wonderful people.
Neither is their mentality the most success- attractive minds in the world”.

YOU ARE YOU RIGHT.
But…
OPEN your MIND and listen up!

The German mentality is subtle and unique, so well connected to the attainment of all life accomplishments.
The kind of mentality we all need to sky-rock and bullet-proof our way to great and greater achievements.
The mentality that accompanies with a binding POWER and FORCE that can break any yoke of failure and struggle.

(Please re-read the beginning quote once or twice before proceeding)

Adopting the German Mentality is developing two outstanding habits,
which is CONCENTRATION and DISCIPLINE, then mixing it up with
DETERMINATION (fighting till the end).
(Know this formula well)

CONCENTRATION is the vital habit we all need for achievement.
Without concentration problems and circumstances will distract and knock you off your feet.
Concentration eliminate a whole lot of FEAR.
Concentration is focusing or putting you mind deeply on what you are doing.
Avoid distraction of any kind. Don’t allow anyone push you around.
KEEP YOUR FEET on achieving you goal and purpose.

DISCIPLINE. If you don’t discipline yourself enough you will be enslave by your emotion.
Lack of self-control can destroy any good dream.

Discipline is STANDING ALONE on the thing you know to be true, when the world
is trying to confuse and deceive you. (Read it again).
Discipline is SAYING NO even when everyone (including your inner critics)
tells you to say yes.
It takes a lot of overlooking, forgiving, sacrifice and effort to become discipline.

Evaluate very thoughts and words before talking ACTION.

Don’t do things because you FEEL LIKE do things because you NEED TO
and you know the REWARD of it.

PLUS DETERMINATION. You have to fight in the game for 90 minutes or more. That is the German Mentality.
Never say NEVER until they blow the final whistle. There is still HOPE for you no matter the situation. There is always a way out.

Don’t give up (Don’t commit suicide). There is no problem without a solution.
You only fail when you QUIT.
Try to see the end. The end is not failure, but SUCCESS.

Adopt the GERMAN MENTALITY today.

To your Success. Love Ya!

Rufus Yamoah
Success Teacher

Note:This article is culled from SUCCESS WORLD . Rush to read other dizzling articles that will change your life!

http://www.stevepavlina.com/forums/p...t-success.html
 
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