are complicated. There are two Berlins, they know about each other. Contemporary Fairy tales are told. If you work hard you will get to go to University, get a good job, meet someone you like and live happily ever after. On the other hand if you dont work hard you will struggle your whole life long. In the past couple of days I have seen both the people eating lobster in KaDeWe and the hungry beggers outside. The last time I went to a supermarket I was confused by the two queues outside. If you have money you can walk right in. If you need to get the pfand money from the bottles you have gathered you are in the other queue. I feel that In berlin just as much as in Edinburgh this is only gooing to get worse.
This is not all about money though, there needs to be a systemic change. Global greed is allowing a tiny minority of people to live in luxury which the rest of the people look on in wonder or horror. We need a new fairy tale for our troubled times. The rich overlords have for too long peddled us the same story. This allows them to absolve any personal responsibility towards those less fortunate. Neither socialism nor capitalism is the answer but there is a need for systemic change from the bottom up with wealth sharing as a key goal.