Germans hanker after barrier

Declaration of interest. I was involved in a former [to me] diocese's link scheme with an eastern German KirchenKreis. However, my main interest here is in the way that the research is [mis?]intrepreted. We are told, "Only 3% of people who originated from East Germany said they were very satisfied with the way that German democracy worked." Well to make that work we need to know what the comparable percentage would be from the west; and note we are given only the 'very satisfied'. I would not be at all surprised to discover that under 10%, possibly under 5% in the west and other democracies would say they were "very satisfied" with the way democracy worked. I'm a believer in democracy, in that I think it the least bad form of government. I'm 'somewhat satisfied' with how our democracy works because I think it needs reform, but that's not to say I'm hankering for totalitarianism.

And again, 'ware of interpreting this: "The poll by the Forsa institute showed that 73% of those from the east believed that socialism was a good idea in principle, but had been poorly implemented. Over 90% argued that they enjoyed better social protection during the GDR era." I suspect that you'd get a lot of sympathy the world over with that sentiment. The argument, I think, is over wthether it can be impelemented and/or how effectively. Even died-in-the-wool capitalists will pay lip-service to the idea that it's a good idea in principle: it's the "but" that's significant and that impacts on the social protection issue: an argument that is continuing to this day the world over.

What is a bit more disturbing, but perhaps not totally surprising is this: "less than 5% of relationships in Germany are between east and west Germans, suggesting the a social and cultural divide still exists." But even here let's be wary of alarmist interpretations: think for a moment; probably the same could be said between many Scots and English, Geordies and Londoners, Northern Irish and East Anglians ... French and English (!). Again we'd need comparative figures for relationships between the different Laender to have a better idea of the significance of this figure.

Lies, damned lies and statistics. It's because of this kind of statistical illiteracy that people say and believe that.

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