Germany and the State

An article in Spiegal about why the State is heavier in Europe than it is in America.
...for Germans, after two world wars and the collapse of almost every religious certainty, the welfare state has become a spiritual necessity, which can be reformed but not revolutionized without damage to the collective soul.
The argument that the state is somehow the doctor that heals a nation wounded by Hitler and the Nazis is difficult to understand. I myself believe that in spite of its deeper traditions, Europe can be as conservative as America. It just is not.

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