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Germany
Germany

German People, Pols And Papers Rally Against Far-Right Movement

Among counter-protestors in Cologne where Pegida was likened to Hitler
Among counter-protestors in Cologne where Pegida was likened to Hitler
Bettina Strenske/London News Pictures/ZUMA
GermanyGeopoliticsSourcesWORLDCRUNCHCountries
Patrick Randall

The Pegida movement's weekly Monday night protests against the "Islamization of Europe" were supposed to rally Germans to their cause. But it now appears to be having the opposite effect, as counter-demonstrations have sprung up around the country.

"Pegida flops outside of Dresden," Tuesday's German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung’s declared, citing the eastern city where the movement was born in October. There were still a notable 18,000 people Monday night in Dresden to denounce immigrants and Muslims, with some 3,000 people marching against what Die Weltcalls the "citizens of rage."

But the Pegida movement is facing a boomerang beyond Dresden. Across the whole country, counter-protests promoting a message of tolerance were far stronger than the original demonstrators. More than 22,000 anti-Pegida demonstrators rallied in the cities of Stuttgart, Münster, Hamburg, Cologne and Berlin.

To protest what is widely perceived as a racist and extremist movement, the Cologne Cathedral and Berlin's famous Brandenburg Gate and television tower on Alexanderplatz switched off their lights.

Siegessäule, Brandenburg Tor, Kölner Dom, Berliner Fernsehturm: Deutschland schaltet #Pegida das Licht aus! Gut so! pic.twitter.com/NnExDbq7Rv

— Sebastian Jabbusch (@SebJabbusch) January 5, 2015

"The Victory Column, Brandenburg Gate, the Cologne cathedral, the Berlin television tower: Germany is switching off its lights against Pegida! Good!"

This follows a series of statements by German politicians over the past few weeks urging citizens to take to the streets to rally against the far-right movement. On Tuesday, the tabloid Bild published a three-page criticism of Pegida, penned by 50 well-known Germans, including former Chancellors Helmut Schmidt and Gerhard Schröder.

Bild's front page Tuesday, "No to Pegida!"

"The Pegida protests appeal to muffled prejudices, to the hatred of foreigners and intolerance," Schmidt wrote. "Germany must remain open and tolerant. Therefore a clear No to Pegida."

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble also wrote that "slogans can't change facts: Germany needs immigrants, and we need to have (open) hearts for refugees in need." The general manager of the German national soccer team stressed that many national players who won the World Cup last summer had foreign roots.

A Pegida protester holds a banner calling for ""potatoes instead of doner kebab"" in Cologne Monday — Photo: Bettina Strenske/London News Pictures/ZUMA

Around 200 right-wing demonstrators marched in Cologne against what they consider the "Islamization" of Europe — Photo: Bettina Strenske/London News Pictures/ZUMA

Meanwhile, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung underlines the absurdity of the concept of German identity the Pegida demonstrators claim, pointing out that the typical German Tyrolean bacon could soon be imported from the United States.

A counter-Pegida demonstrator with a poster calling for "human rights instead of right-wing humans" — Photo: Bettina Strenske/London News Pictures/ZUMA

Online, the fight against Pegida is also growing. Hundreds of thousands of people have signed an online petition against the movement and a "No Pegida" hashtag has spread across Twitter, from various countries and languages.

Don't repeat your history, say no to pegida, Germans! @#nopegida

— Shaviera Indriyati (@shavisapi) January 6, 2015

FM #Steinmeier cont'd: In GER,we know how much we can benefit from the exchange with foreign cultures. Thus,we are not afraid. #NoPegida 2/2

— GermanForeignOffice (@GermanyDiplo) January 6, 2015

Germany, you rock! I don't feel this often but right now I am f***ing proud of my country! #StopRacism#NoPegidahttp://t.co/z4lKHW5qVM

— Marcus Fischer (@marcusfischer) January 5, 2015

I’m very proud of all the brave citizens that are on Germany’s streets protesting against racism. #nopegida#nobärgida <3

— Jan Lehnardt (@janl) January 5, 2015

Lassen wir Zahlen für Vielfalt und Toleranz sprechen: Petition gegen #pegidahttps://t.co/OjACYn9qHg#nopegida

— Christiane Kliemann (@Schnecken_Post) January 6, 2015

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Society
Parenting

What's Spoiling The Kids: The Big Tech v. Bad Parenting Debate

Without an extended family network, modern parents have sought to raise happy kids in a "hostile" world. It's a tall order, when youngsters absorb the fears (and devices) around them like a sponge.

Image of a kid wearing a blue striped sweater, using an ipad.

Children exposed to technology at a very young age are prominent today.

Kelly Sikkema
SocietyEL ESPECTADORSourcesfeatured-postColombiaCountries
Julián de Zubiría Samper

-Analysis-

BOGOTÁ — A 2021 report from the United States (the Youth Risk Behavior Survey) found that 42% of the country's high-school students persistently felt sad and 22% had thought about suicide. In other words, almost half of the country's young people are living in despair and a fifth of them have thought about killing themselves.

Such chilling figures are unprecedented in history. Many have suggested that this might be the result of the COVID-19 pandemic, but sadly, we can see depression has deeper causes, and the pandemic merely illustrated its complexity.

I have written before on possible links between severe depression and the time young people spend on social media. But this is just one aspect of the problem. Today, young people suffer frequent and intense emotional crises, and not just for all the hours spent staring at a screen. Another, possibly more important cause may lie in changes to the family composition and authority patterns at home.

Firstly: Families today have fewer members, who communicate less among themselves.

Young people marry at a later age, have fewer children and many opt for personal projects and pets instead of having children. Families are more diverse and flexible. In many countries, the number of children per woman is close to or less than one (Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong among others).

In Colombia, women have on average 1.9 children, compared to 7.6 in 1970. Worldwide, women aged 15 to 49 years have on average 2.4 children, or half the average figure for 1970. The changes are much more pronounced in cities and among middle and upper-income groups.

Of further concern today is the decline in communication time at home, notably between parents and children. This is difficult to quantify, but reasons may include fewer household members, pervasive use of screens, mothers going to work, microwave ovens that have eliminated family cooking and meals and, thanks to new technologies, an increase in time spent on work, even at home. Our society is addicted to work and devotes little time to minors.

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