We Are Strangely Different And Strangely Alike
Young Germans are growing up in a land which is being entirely made over from the one in which their mothers and fathers have lived. Standards change in every land from generation to generation, but no nation except Russia has been so completely turned upside down since the World War as Germany.
Because of the present uncertainties and difficulties no one knows from day to day what may happen in government or business. Most people are poor and worried and thousands are out of work. It is very hard for many young men to get a start in life because of the scarcity of money and the great unemployment. Manufacturers are saving money by taking boys of sixteen at a very low wage rather than trained young men a few years older so that those who have spent time in apprenticeship to a trade have difficulty finding work. If young men lose their jobs by any misfortune they have a terrible struggle to find others…
But although life is difficult at the present time and an atmosphere of anxiety hangs over the country, yet everybody is working with cheerful patience and courage to create the new Germany. They have come back wonderfully form the years of disaster, and most people, except the conservative die-hards, are glad that they have the opportunity to go forward as a progressive modern nation.
They look to us in America for many things, admiring our skill in sports, our freedom of opportunity, the youthful daring spirit of our country. There is a great kinship between the races, for in both there is vigor and vitality and readiness for adventure.
We are strangely different and strangely alike. For instance, young Germans are more serious than our boys and girls, they take both joy and trouble more heavily, and the circumstances of their live accentuate this. They could learn from us to be more lighthearted and happy-go-lucky. The German student, Klaus Mehnert, was impressed with the philosophical way his American comrades dismissed disagreeable or troublesome things which happened to them with the light phrase “It’s just too bad.”
On the other hand, we could learn from that very seriousness which makes them think of something else in life besides having a good time. They really enjoy discussion and the exchange of ideas, and they care for music and books which have real beauty. We could learn, too, form their simplicity and their capacity for enjoying themselves without spending much money.
It is perhaps true that German boys and girls care more for ideas and less for material things than we do. That does not mean, however, that they are at all priggish. On the contrary, they are sensible and straightforward and eager for fun. They are rather more gentle and quiet than our boys and girls and have more formal manners.
As a rule, however, Germans are almost too much inclined to orderliness and obedience to authority. It might be a good thing if our inclination to break away from rules could be shaken up with their conformity, and thus a better balance obtained for both.
Emotionally young Germans differ greatly form our boy and girls. They are much more romantic and not ashamed to let it be known, or to express their feeling and ideas without self-consciousness.
-excerpted from Young Germany by Anne Merriman Peck (1931)