Today, Germany is commemorating the reunification of the two countries 35 years ago. While many believed in recent years that the two countries had grown together, I think that there is much more that separates us than unites us. Wages in the east of Germany are still significantly lower than in the west. Many areas are structurally poor and there is a lack of jobs. These may also be the reasons why right-wing extremist parties are gaining massive support there.
But this is not intended to be a treatise on the state of Germany, just a few thoughts that occur to me spontaneously on this holiday. Therefore, only two songs from East and West that are more closely related to reunification.
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I never imagined, as a teenager and into my early 20s, that I'd ever see Germany unified. The fall of the Wall did briefly seem to offer some hope, but I recall a good friend of mine, who was a great student of political history, warning that unless the East quickly became as wealthy as the West, and wasn't just there to be exploited, then problems would emerge. Sad to say, he was right.
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