VW Scandal: Time for German Industry to Abandon Its Arrogance

Written on October 2nd, 2015 in politics Comments Off

Published on Spiegel Online International, by Armin Mahler, Sept 30, 2015.

Arrogance and complacency are widespread in Germany industry, with Volkswagen becoming just the most recent example. For the German economy to remain healthy, fundamental changes are necessary.

The best commentary on the Volkswagen scandal came courtesy of former CEO Martin Winterkorn himself, well before he resigned last week. “Arrogance and complacency are the worst things that could happen to us,” he said. The quote does not come from in his recent video message, where he attempted to apologize for the company’s self-destruction. Rather, it is from an interview with SPIEGEL that took place exactly a year ago. And he meant it merely as a description of a hypothetical danger. He didn’t yet realize that the worst had already long since happened.

A belief in their own invincibility is widespread among Germany’s captains of industry. When it comes to reaching the goals they’ve set for themselves, they will resort to any means necessary … //

… How will German manufacturers survive the competition when there is now serious doubts about their basic competence, and the reliability of the German engineering they like to trumpet overseas. That its trustworthiness is gone, its reputation ruined, will damage not only Volkswagen but will take its toll on the entire sector and indeed Germany’s entire industry.

It will also take its toll on the general public, whose identity is so closely bound up with the strength of the economy and the solidity of German products. Germans don’t see themselves as a nation of cheats. Others might be – chief among them the Greeks, according to popular opinion, on whom the Germans like to look down.

There, too, though: It is time to say goodbye to arrogance.

(full text).

(My comment: I presume the Amrricans knew about this scandal since a moment, but their elite prefered wait to make it know until a global attack against Germany has to weaken this country definitively – Heidi).

Links:

Podcast: World Weekly with Gideon Rachman, 10.07 min, on Financial Times, Sept 30, 2015: Germany’s chancellor Angela Merkel is facing an array of problems ranging from the scandal at Volkswagen to the arrival of up to a million refugees in the country. Gideon Rachman discusses the extent of Germany’s difficulties and whether it amounts to a crisis with Stefan Wagstyl and Andy Sharman;

on Voltairenet.org, by Thierry Meyssan, Sept 30, 2015:
Let’s unite against the project by Al-Qaïda and Daesh;
Unissons-nous contre le projet d’Al-Qaïda et de Daesh;
Vereinigen wir uns gegen das Al-Kaida- und Daesh-Projekt;

UN serves world leaders ‘landfill salad’ to highlight food waste, on Russia Today RT, Sept 28, 2015;

CANADA: Green Party Platform includes livable income, on Basic Income Earth Network BIEN, by Denis Flinn, Sept 28, 2015;

Im neuen SPIEGEL: Geheimdienste … Gespräch mit Thriller-Autor Frederick Forsyth, im Spiegel Online, von Johannes Saltzwedel, 25. Sept 2015: Menschenjagden, Sprengstoffanschläge und serienweise politische Morde mitten in Westdeutschland, und die Täter lässt man laufen? Ja, das gab es, und zwar mit Wissen der jeweiligen Regierungschefs, wie meine Kollegen Sven Röbel und Andreas Wassermann berichten …;

La déflation est le pire cauchemar pour les États-Unis, dans Voltairenet.org, par Ariel Noyola Rodríguez, le 23 sept 2015;

The Anwar al-Awlaki File – from American Citizen to Imam to Terrorist to Drone Killing, on the National Security Archive, by Scott Shane, Sept 15, 2015;
Book: Objective Troy, a Terrorist, a President, and the Rise of the Drone, by Scott Shane, Sept 2015;

Memories of Our Continent’s Darkest Period, on Spiegel Online International, Interview conducted by Horand Knaup and Christoph Schult, Sept 14, 2015: Austrian Chancellor Faymann discusses Germany’s reaction to the refugee crisis, his disappointment in Hungary’s response and his idea of sanctions for Eastern European countries that aren’t sharing the burden;
Special Pages with related articles: European Refugee Crisis; and German Energy Revolution;

Deutsche Putin-Trolle trollen deutsche Medien zu ihrer Berichterstattung über Russland, 5.09 min, von Deutschland+Russland am 16. Juli 2015 hochgeladen;

Putin erzählt über die Welt der Zukunft ohne US-Herrschaft, 3.55 min, von Deutschland+Russland am 11. Juli 2015 hochgeladen … Ausschnitt aus Pressekonferenz zum BRICS-Gipfel. Quelle ist Russia Today;
Special Page UN GA70, with related articles;

Americans trash about 1/3 of their food, worth $161bn – USDA, on Russia Today RT, Feb 25, 2014 – United States Department of Agriculture USDA;

Websites:

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