Читать книгу American Democracy in Context - Joseph A. Pika - Страница 44

As a German, how would your values compare with those of an American? In a survey conducted in 2006, both Americans and Germans were asked whether people should take more responsibility for themselves or whether the government should take more responsibility to see that everyone is provided for. The response gap was telling: Sixty-six percent of Germans thought that the government should take more responsibility while 41 percent of Americans agreed with this sentiment.^a Why?

^a Inglehart, R., C. Haerpfer, A. Moreno, C. Welzel, K. Kizilova, J. Diez-Medrano, M. Lagos, P. Norris, E. Ponarin & B. Puranen et al., eds. 2014. World Values Survey: Round Six—Country-Pooled Datafile Version: www.worldvaluessurvey.org/WVSDocumentationWV6.jsp. Madrid: JD Systems Institute.

Classical liberalism, with its doctrine of giving individuals as much room for independent decision making as possible, never caught on as strongly in Germany as it did in the United Kingdom and its former colonies. As a result, as a German citizen, you are less suspicious of government activity and less anxious about wanting to preserve your own individual sphere of choice from government regulation. You are neither bothered by very detailed governmental supervision of people’s lives nor by rules such as barring stores from opening on Sunday or requiring that all trash must be sorted into multiple categories.

Another value that is fairly distinctive comes from Germany’s experience with Hitler and World War II in the 1930s and 1940s. Tired of tumult and defeat and knowing that many neighboring countries have blamed Germany for committing terrible crimes during that war, you are suspicious of military action. You are also wary of nationalism based in emotion, which was a hallmark of the Nazi regime.

This reluctance to pursue military options and suspicion of nationalism shows up in opinion surveys. Only 24 percent of you said you were “very proud” of your nationality compared with 56 percent of U.S. citizens who were asked the same question. When asked whether you would be willing to fight for your country in the event of war, only 41 percent of you said “yes” compared with 57 percent of Americans.^b

^b Ibid.

As you look across the Atlantic, you realize that though you have many things in common with the people of the United States, there are also differences, which sometimes condition the relations between your country and theirs. You find that Americans often do not understand why Germany will not contribute as much as the United States would like to common military efforts, for instance. But on the other hand, you yourself find it hard to understand why Americans are reluctant to be regulated by governments and international organizations in the cause of helping to slow down global warming.