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The third advent weekend passed that gave several opportunities to visit some of the local Christmas markets.

At Lüntenbeck House the hosts offered more than sausage, potato pancake and hot chocolate with amaretto.

Also the Kasper, the German correspondent of Mr. Punch, acted out in the afternoon and enjoyed children and adults. After the question of my wife, who is Kasper, Luo You googeled: One origin of the character you can find in British annual village fairs. „Mr. Punch and Judy" is a famous puppet play to enjoy the spectators. If Mr. Punch throws his baby out of the window, struggles with his wife, kills all authorities and let out all his aggressions, he becomes a character the oppressed masses can identify with.

I remembered also this kind of puppet theatre sunday evening, when I watched the so called “motor sport” telecast GRIP at the German tv channel RTL II, that I also like to call asshole tv.

A big part of this telecast contained the ambitious and malicious destruction of three second-hand-cars. So the vehicles lost all of their remaining utility value. Eg the anchorman slitted all four tires of the Opel Astra - shown in the picture above - to total the car on the rims.

For many people in the world those cars could support incredibly their living standard and save their economic existences. Now they were just destroyed to catch for some moments the attention of the spectators and fill the minutes between the commercials.

How the German society deals with values, that were once created by the sweat and the efforts of its members, reflect the media as well as the visible reality. Enough people need more sublimation of their aggressions than to watch “Mr. Punch“ and so called „motor sport telecasts“ including the warning in good fun “Don´t follow our example!” of the smirking Matthias Malmedie.

On the way home at the suburban train station in Wuppertal was almost all broken: the ticket machine, the clock at the platform, the train indicator. The wind protection of the benches was missing. At the platform of the “non smoking” station” the cigarettes ponked, in the train the broken toilett spread its ugly smell. Graffitis covered the seats and the inner walls of the cars.

Employees except thefrustrated train driver in his closed cabin, that shocked passengers could tell their complaints, were missing. At least the doors of the car were working and the train was almost on time - a very rare case in this country. Well, the broken ticket machine allowed a free ride. Otherwise the ticket fares reached almost the British level, means unbelievable expansive especially in comparison to the offered service. I really wonder what we pay for.

So, this is Germany: The working people create value, whereon the entrepeneurs and chief executives like Mr Mehdorn or Mr Demant (27.661 employees of Opel in 2006, 46.000 in 1996) accuse them that they ask for too much money and recommend them better to ask for social support ofthe government.

Next the created values were destroyed by media, in reality or simply by the decision to let them deteriorate (eg the railway infrastructure). The people who created those values got no chance to use them in a suitable way.

Destruction and deterioration are also financed by the working people either

- by the products that they buy and whose companies pay the advertisement of the tv channels like RTL 2 or

- by the social transfer that allows the hooligans to buy the beer and the aerosol cans or

- by the just raised fees for transport or

- by the increased car use because the public transport is inacceptable in relation to safety, service and cleanness or

- by the privatization of the railway company that is equivalent of the waste of public resources in favour of the benefit of few accounts.

Thus I´m not amazed that the former prime minister of the North-RhineWestphalian state, Mr Steinbrück, once cutted extremely my salary and raised my working hours. Later he raised the taxes to reduce my real earnings. Somehow the increasing negative circle of creating and destroying values must be financed.

Seemingly the economic circle in Taiwan moves in the right way. Clean stations - above Tzoying 2004 - with a lot of employees for service inTaiwan, Japan, Hongkong and China, like in Germany 30 years ago, are the normal situation. Reasonable fares cause a good use to capacity. Safety and missing malicious mischief ingratiate the public transport. Instead of complaining about the high expanses by vandalism and malicious mischief the Taiwanese railway administration employs many workers, that do not possess a high income, but show a great working discipline and satisfaction. They create an atmosphere of community and responsibility, that is missing in Germany and displaced by demotivation, frustration and undamped aggression. Paradise Taiwan?