The Vanishing Act

A pile of Debts - 

And the Remainder of what could have been your Education!

Lots of churches, lots of erotic shops and lots of gambling palaces – Saarbrücken (literally: Saar – Bridges) and Las Vegas seem to be closer than expected and yet, culturally, they couldn’t be further apart. Although it’s a West-German city, the French influence is felt keenly. From the Eclairs at the train station or the German-French school and University to the traces of French accent wafting around every passerby in the streets, Saarbrücken seems quite Francophile. But all that cannot deceiven even the most casual of viewers, the Bundesland is actually not that far away from bankrupcy. 

After World War II the region was occupied by French troops and fell under French control until 1955, when a referendum rejected the Saar Statute. The Saarland was reintegrated into the Federal Republic of Germany. When at end of the last century the grand old industries - coal and steel - were endangered the federal government pushed lots of tax money into save-the-day-schemes. In the end, the mines were closed down and the government is buried under a pile of debts. Now that is not exactly a pleasant situation for a government, but they would have tried to keep calm and labour on. Then came 2008, Lehman Brothers went belly up and this side of the pond Angela Merkel fed the tax payers’ money into the leaking banks to prevent systemic failure. The gamblers in Armani suits were bailed out by the little people. After the banks burned through billions, the Euro crisis hit Ireland, Greece, Spain, Portugal etc. and again money was needed to bail out entire countries. Of course for Ms. Merkel and her conservative government this was a precarious situation, especially in 2013, the election year, unlike our good allies in the US the European Union can't just print more money, so austerity measures were implemented and expenses cut down. Again, in Germany politicians oriented themselves westward and implemented a debt cap into the German constitution. Because let's face it Democrats and Republicans bitching about rising the debt ceiling was not as strong enough deterrant for Germany's Teflon-Chancellor. Consequently, the ministers in the Saarland need to tighten their belts - starting with the budget for education.  

Before the year 2020 is out the university budget will be cut by roughly 100 Million. 2000 people marched through Saarbürcken to openly protest against austerity measures in education but the federal government remains true to their consolidation plans. Saarbrücken is not alone with its plight, in Spain thousands of students were in the streets to demonstrate against cuts in the education budget, cuts that were mandated by the European Union. 

Ironically it was this very same institution whose goal (Agenda 2020) is to increase the "number of young adults who have completed tertiary education"  to at least 40 %, that awarded  a 16-year-old girl from Pakistan with the prestigious Sakharov price for her courage in the fight for a universal right to education. Malala's story moved politicians and their voters alike. The 2000 in St-Johanner Market Square Saarbrücken didn't even make the headlines. The icon who stood up for education and was shot down by the Taliban, called her award a light of hope for 57 million children without the chance to learn even the most basic skills of reading and writing.  Of course compared to their desolation German, Spanish, English - European students are complaining on a high comfort level, but the EU prides itself in their humanitarian outlook on a roundabout education of high quality. Others might call them delusional, especially after the Bologna Mess. She paints the vision a Europe as the bringer of hope in a world shrouded in darkness, but a home the lights seem to have gone out long ago. When bailing-out the gamblers in the stock market is the top priority, the praise European Parliament President Martin Schulz heaped on the "survivor, hero, and exceptional young woman" leaves a bitter aftertaste. Europe as a collective and Germany, the self-proclaimed land of thinkers and poets, in particular, seems to be quite shot-sighted. 

I genuinely hope Malala will battle on. I wish strength in numbers was all it takes to move mountains, but even after waves and waves of protests reality in Europe, notably in Germany, Spain, France and Great Britain, has proved to be different. They say my generation has not goals, no causes to up. We were declared the lost generation of the 1980s but has anyone ever dared to think, that it's not disinterest or complacency. Thousands of European students have marched on their respective capitals and witnessed first-hand banks trump education. Apparently they hold the more compelling arguments and economy afloat. Students are just our future.