In particular, Merkel warned that in the near future German citizens will have to come to terms with a reduction in pensions, since by 2030 there will be only two working people for every pensioner (in the 1950s, six working people supported one pensioner). In February 2012, a discussion forum called 'Dialogue on the Future of Germany' was launched on the Internet on Merkel's initiative. As it turned out, users were more interested in the possibility of starting an 'open discussion about Islam' than in the problems of the pension system.
The topic of the current online video conference was a kind of response to the wishes of voters. Only instead of Islam, Merkel preferred to discuss general issues of integration. The chancellor's interlocutors were six residents of Germany who are well acquainted with the life of foreigners, including a police officer from Hanover who recruits young people from immigrant families for law enforcement agencies.
At the very beginning of the discussion, answering a question sent by email, Merkel explained that for her successful integration means 'feeling at home', 'perceiving Germany as a homeland', 'sharing common values' and 'working together for the future of Germany'.
To the provocative remark of the police officer, whose parents were refugees from Libya, that many foreigners in Germany now do not want to integrate and prefer to use social benefits, Merkel replied that, in her opinion, no one wants to live on unemployment benefits. Even if a young unemployed person seems satisfied with life, it is only an external impression. In fact, he simply does not know how to fit into society.
Furthermore, Merkel noted that it is necessary to abandon clichés. As an example, the chancellor cited an actor of foreign origin who complained at the traditional 'Integration Summit' that he was only offered roles as a drug dealer and a criminal, while he would like to play a mayor. Merkel also added that she would like to see people from immigrant families in the position of chief physician in a hospital or head of a police station.
Social worker Ismail Ener, who organized the Mitternachtssport club in Berlin's Spandau district, where teenagers do sports in the evenings instead of hanging out on the streets, summed up the evening. At the end of the discussion, Ener said: 'He who wins the heart will also win the head.' Therefore, according to the social worker, for successful integration, immigrant children must feel that they are welcome in Germany.
It is worth noting that the serious tone of the discussion contrasted with the comments of users on the Internet. For example, one commentator asked whether there were any foreigners in Merkel's ancestry? Another drew a swastika, a third gave a link to his page on the World Wide Web. The most popular comment before removal was a remark by a 22-year-old resident of Hamburg that Muslim immigrants still do not want to integrate.
Sergey Tokarev,
«Russkaya Germaniya».