The last word in the story of the 'great immigrant critic' Thilo Sarrazin, apparently, has not yet been said. Two German left-wing writers Matthias Thieme and Pitt von Bebenburg presented their 'response to Chamberlain', opposing Sarrazin's book with the original work 'Germany Without Foreigners'.
At one time, public opinion polls showed that Sarrazin's work, despite criticism from the top, found its admirers. More than half of Germans, it turned out, also believe that migrants are poorly integrated into German society and are outright 'freeloaders', preferring social benefits to wages. As a measure of influence, solutions to tighten migration policy were proposed.
Messrs. Thieme and von Bebenburg presented readers with a scenario in which the German government deports everyone who does not have a German passport. That is 7 million people. The radical right, of course, are happy, but what are the consequences for the country?
The scenario turned out to be apocalyptic. First of all, the state will lose a substantial share of budget revenues. Tax authorities will be short 50 billion euros. Entire industries will be threatened with extinction, primarily those that depend on cheap labor: catering, handicrafts, service sector. The country's GDP will shrink by 8%, crime rates will paradoxically rise, and German pensioners will have to postpone their retirement travels because the retirement age will increase.
And although migrants pay fewer taxes to the treasury than citizens, they also account for far less social spending. Besides, according to the authors, proportionally, migrants work more productively than Germans. The authors claim that crime will be 'reoriented' primarily towards the elderly and disabled, and the forced deportation of 7 million people will almost lead to civil war.
Daniel Cohn-Bendit, a representative of France in the European Parliament, a German of French origin, expressed his opinion on this matter. He believes that as a result of such developments, Germany would also suffer enormous political damage: 'There will be inconsistency with the provisions of the Lisbon Treaty. Sanctions will be imposed against the country. You can forget about German exports as a phenomenon.'
The authors consider the events outlined in their book unlikely. They believe: while many are impressed by Sarrazin's ideas, someone must bring people to their senses, preventing their rash actions.
Evgeny OLEINIK.
«Russian Germany»