This is the newest Spiegel title for it's slam on the US. For anyone who has kind of sat around and viewed Spiegel over the past two decades....you might note in almost every edition, there is a article that tries to cast a long shadow over the US, it's business structure, it's political structure, it's education system, it's medical structure, it's agricultural sector, and it's beers (we might not argue with that analysis).
The truth is....if any dedicated Spiegel journalist was given a task to write up the mandatory Spiegel slam on the US and they actually said something positive....I suspect they'd be fired or sent to write Bavarian agricultural articles in the future.
The simple truth is that Spiegel has an enormous task. It must render judgement....ever constant...over the US. This judgement must be in a fashion that only a educated German could deliver. The problem with America? It simply isn't capable of running its government, it's society, or it's culture.
It's kind of like reading a blitz of articles on the Green Bay Packers on a Monday after their big win or their big loss. There will be forty national sports writers who dwell on the quarterback situation, the team's dismal draft choices, or the way that the coach ran the game. Everyone will read the articles and be this secondary individual sitting in a LazyBoy recliner admiring their expert and his precise wording of how things worked terribly and the team should improve....even if they won.
Who reads Spiegel? This is the fascinating thing about the magazine. Walk through a German village and ask the butcher if he reads it....and the answer will be no. Ask the car mechanic....and he'll say no. Ask the plumber....and he'll say no.
Spiegel is typically read by well educated Germans....who naturally attended university and are quite bright. They will always let you know that as well. They will quote from Spiegel...like some religious folks would quote from Bible. Typically, you can ask them questions which Spiegel didn't cover....they freak out that you know something that went beyond Spiegel's gifted writers.
Should you worry about these anti-American slams by Spiegel? No. It's actually worth reading a couple of paragraphs of the article so you kinda wonder on the things missing from the text. It's like looking at a black & white version of the Mona Lisa....with some wonderful grays mingled into the picture....then remembering that a dozen other colors would fill out the entire picture and really make it complete.
Now, certainly....I don't want to insult the Spiegel folks because this is really the only 4-star magazine that gifted and educated Germans read. Otherwise, they might start picking up the Bild or the London Telegraph....and that'd be a bad thing.
So, for you Spiegel folks....keep up the fine work. If you notice....we haven't exactly fallen over ourselves because of your comments. In fact, if you wanted to take them up a notch....why not draft up an anti-American article on NASCAR, NCAA football, Delta airline attendants, septic tanks, or Johnny Cash? I suspect your readers would like some fresh criticism of America because you keep talking over the same general sixteen topics.
And the American dream? Well....it's a funny thing....some Germans pack up every year, and go for the American dream....even living in Texas and driving a eight-cylinder pick-up. Heck, some Germans (like Konny Reimann) get so successful in Texas, that they become a legend back home in Germany...then they start to sell their own salsa version....and start speaking German with a Texas accent. Don't know why they'd do a crazy thing like that....especially in a failed country....like you guys say.
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