Germany's curiously absurd Hartz IV social benefits regime has taken the worst of other countries "make the poor do something for their benefits" and given satire boundless new topics.
While companies in the UK have been successfully shamed into dropping out of the "free labour" programmes that mask as assistance to job seekers, little true protest seems to be found in Germany. Courts even sided with job seekers in the UK. The sad thing is that the UK courts refused to call obviously compulsory labor "forced labor".
Some ridicule, sure, or even lists of the "top 6 most bizarre 1 Euro jobs" in the German Huffington Post a few days ago.
ex-PFC Wintergreen of Catch 22 fame may be the true inspiration behind mindless work schemes, like having young people build canoes which may not be used to go out on the water.
Unfortunately, the article does not say what happens to the finished canoes. Are they at least used as giant planter boxes in the proud merchant marine city of Hamburg, Germany?
German technical and training service provider DEKRA is, according to the Huff Post, very creative in finding work for the 1 Euro folks. One project, for instance, required the workers to assemble a 5000 piece jigsaw puzzle to ensure that no pieces were missing.
In Berlin, Germany's capital, transit advisers on the 1 Euro per hour regime were given the job of showing transit riders how to correctly insert money into ticket machines.
We would sooooo love to quote a famous German slogan about "Arbeit...." but we show restraint. If you don't know the slogan, we'll send you a copy for just 1 Euro! Ask for our paypal account.
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