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Dienstag, 10. Dezember 2013

Berlin...der Raubtierkäfig, die Stadt ohne Herz

Berlin ist einfach klasse für junge Leute, so sagt man. Die Stadt sprüht vor Multi-Kulti, Liberalität und Vielfalt. Auch die günstigen Lebenshaltungskosten, angeführt von den für viele leistbaren Mieten, machen die Millionenmetropole mit ihren 3.5 Millionen Menschen attraktiv.

Doch all das ist nur die Sonnenseite. Die andere Seite wird von den Berlinern gerne unter den Tisch fallen gelassen:
Berlin, so wie ich es jedes Mal aufs Neue kennenlerne, ist auch eine Stadt, die einem Raubtierkäfig gleicht voller Glücksritter wie einst im Wilden Westen. Mit dem Raubtierkäfig von innen macht man Bekanntschaft über den rauen Umgang ihrer Bewohner miteinaner und die vielen Borderline-Charaktere auf den Straßen, für die ihre Emotionen gewaltsam eruptiv schießen zu lassen das Normalste auf der Welt zu sein scheint. Für Arme deshalb, weil diese City chronisch pleite ist und nur durch milde Gaben (oder auch Finanzausgleich genannt) aus dem reichen Süden Deutschlands künstlich am Leben gehalten wird. 

Diese Kapitale macht aus ihrer blanken Not eine Tugend und verkauft den Umstand ihrer Zahlungsunfähigkeit allen selbstbewusst als Qualität über ihren legendären Wahlspruch ihres Bürgermeisters: Berlin ist wahrlich arm aber sexy...jedenfalls wenn man ihr heruntergekommenes Flair, an dem besonders noch heruntergekommenere Künstler Gefallen finden, sexy findet. Armut war noch nie sexy. Es ist eher die in dieser Stadt omnipresent spürbare Aura der Verzweiflung der vielen Überlebens-Künstler, die einst und ständig nach Berlin ström(t)en um ihr Glück zu finden doch zumeist  ihre Hoffnungen in Berlins karger Erde begraben müssen/mussten. Fakt ist, dass in Berlin ein klaffendes Ungleichgewicht zwischen der verschwindend kleinen Gruppe der 'have' und den schier endlosen Massen der 'not-have', die zumeist in der Kreativbranche tätig sind. Anders ausgedrückt gibt es in Berlin zu viele Künstler und Kreative auf nur wenige potentielle finanzkräftige Käufer.

Vielleicht ist es die Anziehung aller Wehrdienstflüchtlinge, Gesetzlosen und Aussteiger aus den übrigen Regionen Deutschlands oder der Umstand, dass Ost-Berlin fast ein halbes Jahrhundert kommunistisch geprägt wurde und West-Berlin vom atheistischen Kommunismus der DDR eingekesselt war oder auch die Tatsache, dass Berlin die Hauptstadt der Verkörperung des Bösen (Drittes Reich) war, was in dieser speziellen Melange Berlinern seither gemeinhin Höflichkeit als Spießigkeit und Rücksichtnahme als Zeitverschwendung erscheinen lässt.

Diese Faktoren machen Berlin aus meiner Sicht zu einer Stadt ohne Herz, oder anders gesagt, zu einer Stadt, in der progressiv um jeden Preis alles erlaubt ist, Individualismus zum gnadenlosen Egoismus übersteigert wird und rücksichtslose Jugendkultur zur einzigen Kultur erkoren wird, worin der Stärkere den Schwächeren frisst und sich ihre Bewohner mit einem herzlosen Umgang miteinander arrangiert haben, deren höchstes Gut die individuelle Freiheit der Marke 'die Sau rauszulassen' zu sein scheint. An diesem Grundtenor des Asozialen, der Rauheit, Grobheit und Brutalität Berlins bzw. der sozialen Inkompetenz im Land des Mutterwitzes können auch die zumeist einem Moralkodex verpflichteten Deutschtürken der Stadt oder linke Kommunen, zu denen man nur als vegane Frau wirklich zugelassen und ansonsten nur herablassend geduldet wird, nicht viel ändern oder gar ausgleichen.

Ergo, wenn Sie nach Berlin kommen, ziehen Sie sich warm an, denn nicht nur der Berliner Winter ist brutal...

Dr. Dr. Immanuel Fruhmann
Philosoph und systemischer Analyst

Freitag, 29. November 2013

Arab Spring, a symptom of the West loosing dominance over the rest of the world

Given that the whole Middle Eastern region was scattered for decades and in control by despots funded and supported by foreign powers in colonial tradition, in charge to stabilize the whole region for this foreign interest groups, organizing the exploitation and abduction of the vast natural resources in the Middle East to various countries in other parts of the world, the Middle Eastern countries were never really sovereign to put it mildly.

From a systemic socioeconomic point of view the Arab Spring just could rise like the phoenix from the ashes and spread throughout the entire region, because the West and the industrial developed countries in general were massively weakened through the still ongoing recent economic crisis beginning in 2007.

So due to the fact that the world's big economic powers such as the USA, Canada, EU, Japan, Australia, China, etc. and their political decision makers, and so the focus of the world leaders, were distracted by their severe internal/domestic problems which they had to solve in getting in control over their internal structural malfunctions. Without the still ongoing economic crisis from 2007 there would not have been an Arab Spring in my point of view.

So all of the fallen middle eastern dictators (in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and soon Syria) being just proxy governors for foreign powers over decades, who were brought down through the Arab Spring, would be still in charge and rule with an iron fist over their people if the influential foreign powers would not have stumbled over their homemade internal structural problems based on individual and corporate greed and the political elite lacking to balance the wealth to all parts of their societies. Due to this failure of the political elite of the economical developed countries within their own countries they lost the ability to control the Middle East despite their levers of historical grounded and economical and militarily backed structural violence.

Along with that socioeconomic analysis goes, that the Arab Spring is not just endemic or limited to the Middle Eastern countries in the closer sense but the Arab Soring is on the contrary an political export model spreading out over the entire region since its started in 2011 to all of the countries where Muslims worldwide, even to countries or regions where Muslims are just minorities.

So from my perspective it is most likely that the global media and the world attention will get drawn onto not just the Maghreb region and Middle Eastern region in a closer sense for sociopolitical change, where we already can observe this development of sociopolitical turmoil, but the Arab Spring will also spread out and hit and contage the Muslim populations and in the northern parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, Western and Central Africa such as Norther Nigeria, Senegal, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Cameroon etc. respectively. The conflicts in Mali and the Central African Republic are just harbingers for this sociopolitical flashover effect.

It is also most likely that the Arab Spring movement will spread out to Bangladesh, Myanmar, Pakistan, India, China, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia. In every of this countries it will show with different symptoms but it all will have the signature of Muslims getting confident and reaching for power and self-control and sovereignty. In some of this countries such as China with the two recent attacks, traced back to the Uyghur freedom movement in Xinjiang, it already has begun.

All this developments in recent history are systemic movements of sociopolitical change that could very soon lead to an more and more strengthening self-confidence of the Muslims all over the world....an development which is in the making as we read and write.

Dr. Dr. Immanuel Fruhmann 
Global Philosopher and Socioeconomic Analyst

Samstag, 5. Oktober 2013

sea level rising...it needs action now before it's too late

Imagine a world which is affected by risen sea level. The following map shows you which areas in the world are the hardest hit by an ongoing rising sea level. Reckless companies and business man just have interests in making profits and don't care wheather their actions have systemic effects on the environment and the less privileged on this planet. So let's take a stand against reckless corporate behavior, so the flooding of large parts of the most populated areas of the world is not becoming a reality in the near future. In the following map you can make it visible that even just a few meters are making a huge difference in the shape of our coast lines as we know them today.
To see if your region is affected in the first place, go to: http://flood.firetree.net/

Dr. Dr. Immanuel Fruhmann
Global Philosopher


Montag, 2. September 2013

Best to invest in...real growth rate

When it comes to real growth rate, the picture is a complete different one. In the following countries you can expect fast growth in a not yet stable environment, especially when it comes to democratization standards. The list of countries with high growth rates is long but I just point out the top 6: Qatar, Mongolia, Turkmenistan, Ghana, Panama, East Timor. The advantage of the following three is their official language: Ghana (English), Panama (Spanish) and East Timor (Portuguese). For the Western investor that marks a crucial advantage over the other countries.

Dr. Dr. Immanuel Fruhmann
Global Philosopher

For an extended list of the countries click on graph. A differentiated map is also to be found at the end of the list. 


GDP - real growth rate - Ranking

Best to invest in...purchasing power parity

According to this graph-ranking, which implicates the GDP purchasing power parity, the following countries are best to invest in when it comes to stable growth.
Here you can easily see that the USA is still ahead of China followed by India, Japan, Germany, Russia just to point out the top 6. Regarding to working language the Western investor has a clear advantage in the United States and India due to English as the official/working language of these countries.

Dr. Dr. Immanuel Fruhmann
Global Philosopher
For an extended list of the countries click on the source-link. A differentiated map is also shown at the end of the list.


Sonntag, 11. August 2013

Showdown around Snowdon

The recent developments have shown that one man (Edward Snowdon) can cause a new "ice age" between the USA and the Russian Federation, just because of the fact that he gets temporary asylum in Russia. That marks a turning point in the relations between these two countries which were not even best friends before the Snowdon-incident occurred. It becomes obvious how different these two countries are and how much they are still in rivalry. The economical bonds between Russia and the USA will not be in peril through that but the "Showdown around Snowdon" signalize more a political and diplomatic issue. Of course in the long run an economical negative outcome can derive from this tense situation but albeit this fact, the USA and Russia are to dependent on each other economy-wise and need each other as a sales market for their resources and products. And none of these two countries wants to deepen the economic crisis which hold the world still in its grip. Russia still relies strongly on its only real resource, it's vast amount of natural resources, and the USA will further try to make the world belief that its image of the land of the free and of boundless opportunity is still real and active.
So for the months to come I don't foresee any stark changes in policy for the economies of these two countries who are so dependent on the thrive of their economies, not to loose ground on the battlefield of global markets, its players and dynamics.

© by Dr. Dr. Immanuel Fruhmann
Global Philosopher

Freitag, 2. August 2013

Vienna, the Most Liveable City in the World

Vienna is the most liveable city in the world, according to the Mercer study which is published every year. For the last years, Vienna holds this top rank. Whoever comes to Vienna for work or for leisure, will soon realize (that means see and feel) that Vienna is holding this rank for some reason. The public safety is high, as well as the cleansiness, and quality of water, which comes directly from the center of the Austrian alps thanks to the realization of an ambitious aqueduct-project built in the 19th century to provide fresh alpine water to the citizens of Vienna. You have green rolling hills beginning on the outskirts of the city center.

And most of all it is a very good spot to do business and for making money. Vienna is located in Central Europe on the the cross-roads between East and West, North and South in Europe. The infrastructure level in Vienna is top-notch and you can set up a business much more easilier than in Germany. Therefore many German companies have moved to Austria to avoid the burecratic hussles in Germany.

So if you want to combine a very safe, clean and economically properous and stable business environment with an international and high end 'arts & culture feel' then move with your company to Vienna or invest in this beautiful city or just experience this jewel with your spouse or fiancée. Just as Billy Joel has put it in his famous song: 'Vienna waits for you'...

© by Dr. Dr. Immanuel Fruhmann
Global Philosopher


Mittwoch, 26. Juni 2013

About Doing Business in Berlin and its Mentality

Having had the opportunity to do business in Berlin many times, from a psychogeographical standpoint I observed different phenomenological qualities existing in Berlin. On the one hand Berlin, as the biggest city in the German speaking countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg), is an eclectic and multicultural metropolis with many different aspects, but on the other hand as a feeling person I experienced not just the big intellectual sphere which is cultivated in Berlin over centuries but also a huge amount of strong erruptive emotions coming from its people, in terms of rudness and harshness and an explosive way of expressing emotions to each other.


That led me to the conclusion that in Berlin there is a huge open space for different ideas, discussions and debates, making it a great place for open minds and creative people wnating to have as least mental limits as possible, but this huge open intellectual space deriving from being the prefered metropolis of German emperors aside Vienna as the Austrian emperor metropolis, Berlin is filled with one of the most raw, blunt, brute and reckless behaviour by its residents I have ever experienced. In this Berliner mentality politness, respectfulness and thoughtfulness as well as niceness seem to seen by the Berliner as uptightness, limitation to the strongest form of individualization I have ever experienced.

When it comes to the economical situation in Berlin the city's official motto 'arm aber sexy' ('poor but sexy') promoted by its mayor Klaus Wowereit has a certain kind of influence on its people respectively shows how the decades of communicsm influenced the mentality. Every time when I had to do in Berlin I experienced a peculiar trait existing in the mentalities of many Berliner. Within the city of Berlin I always sensed a cultivalted resentment against money, capital and ambition from its selfconfident residents used to be part/surrounded by communicst values. So I always found this resentment to be contraproductive when doing business in Berlin.

In my point of view Berlin is compareble with New York City in many ways especially when it comes to the intellectual sphere and the degree of individualization, but Berlin is a more Russian and - due to its close border to Poland - Polish kind of NYC with a more harsh wind blowing into the face of its residents when people of Berlin get together than in other cities in the German speaking countries.

Therefore sensitive and polite souls will probably feel strange in Berlin facing this typical Berliner mentality. By the way I have met several nice, friendly, polite and hearty Berliner but as a matter of fact all of them where coming from somewhere else but not originally from Berlin just trying to get along with the harsh, rude and almost aggressive Siberian wind 'cultivated' in Berlin.

© by Dr. Dr. Immanuel Fruhmann
Global Philosopher

On Self-Organization and Social Unrest

My assessment is that the long tradition of violence and intimidation against the own people through regimes of several dictatorships around the world, is not prevailing anymore, because from a self-organizational point of view a critical mass of people in the developing countries received education throughout the times of thriving economies and therefore invested in their minds to reached a certain level of evolution of their individual consciousness as well as their collective consciousness as a society, now demanding more as their oppressive regimes are willing to give them. Therefore the people are not willing anymore to obey blindly and feel intimidated by their oppressive regimes. So from an psychological standpoint they are not willing anymore to back the 'ego-games' or projects only flattering and bolstering the egos of their dictators or so-called presidents. Instead the critical mass of now awakened/awakening people, who invested in their education through the last decades, more and more prefer to stay in selfreference and not being oppressively governed in constant alloreference as they were used to be.

Belarus is Europe's Last Dictatorship

There are many pseudo-democracies in the world, but Belarus is definitely Europe's last dictatorship proper. Or have you observed any signs of civil society coming from Belarus recently? So far as I observed the case of Belarus, its 'president' Lukashenko rules 'his' country more and more authoritarian since he came to power in 1994. When putting Belarus into the spotlight, it becomes obvious, that in Belarus as Europe's last rock-bottom autocracy in the backyard of Russia, the Lukashenko led regime just could afford to trample on the human rights of its people, and with that holding back the development of Belarus into a 'open society' (as Karl Popper in 'The Open Society and its Enemies' has pointed out), because of its good relations with its big brother and protector Russia as well as Belarus' natural resources and its location as a transit country for Russian oil and gas to Europe.


Samstag, 22. Juni 2013

Turkey as Europe's Emerging Market

Turkey is THE emerging market at Europe's gate to Asia. Even though Turkey is not the only emerging market in Europe, keeping in mind the emerging markets within the EU such as Poland (with its 38.383 million people according to the CIA factbook), Turkey with its 80.694 million people (according to the CIA factbook) is definitely the biggest market per capita. That makes Turkey Europe's largest emerging market. The recent uprising in the Turkish society (May-June 2013), lead by many Turks who not only want to have economic development but also personal freedoms and a democratic society to live in, I see systemically interlinked with Brazil, with its 201.009 million people (according to the CIA factbook) another important emerging market.

Freitag, 21. Juni 2013

Now Vienna surpassed Hamburg by 51.000 inhabitants!

The results of the German Census 2011 has been published on May 31th 2013 and represents the feeling of many people that Vienna (with its 1.757.353 inhabitants according to "Statistik Austria") is the second largest metropolis in the German speaking countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg), right after Berlin (with its 3.292.365 citizens, according to the newspaper "Berliner Morgenpost"). 

This makes Hamburg (with its 1.706.696 people according to the newspaper "Welt") the 3rd largest city in the German speaking countries and Munich the 4rd largest city (with its 1.443.112 inhabitants according to Munich City Officials). Cologne (with its 1.005.775 citizens according to the newspaper "Express") ranks 5th slightly above the one-million mark.

The 5 cities in the German speaking countries with more than a million citizens are as follows
  1. Berlin: __________   3.292 millions
  2. Vienna/Wien: _____  1.757 millions