Germany: multiculturalism is dead - long live multiculturalism, or maybe not, or whatever

For many Germans, October 2010 was an important month: they finally got to hear that multiculturalism had failed. And not just failed, but utterly failed!

Here is the Wikipedia entry: Angela Merkel told a meeting of younger members of her conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party at Potsdam, near Berlin, that attempts to build a multicultural society in Germany had "utterly failed", stating: "The concept that we are now living side by side and are happy about it does not work".

As the Wikipedia page authors and a host of brilliant researchers have said for a long time ideologies and policies vary widely.

Now, Merkel's understanding of the concept would appear to indicate a degree of separateness, slightly tempered by the inclusiveness of "we". "We" can argue about whether she wanted to be nice, whether it means nothing, but the fact is that critics of the concept of multiculturalism seized upon her statement and went into "no parallel societies" mode, which is nothing but a euphemism for voluntary segregation - not the kind in which one sector of a nation forces a minority into a segregated role through discriminating laws and the use of force.

The official policy of German government is "integration", or, in simple terms, you are here, so you need to follow our rules, our laws, and respect our culture, our values.

This doesn't sound bad at all, but the practical questions are interesting:
1) Who is "you"?
2) Does "respect the law" work in practice, compared to the natives?
3) What about the "rules, culture, and values"?
４）What happens when "you" don't comply?

No, the blogster will not list examples or answers.
And no, religion is not listed as a separate item, most of it can be put under "rules, culture, values", some aspects under "law".

If you take these four big questions and look for answers, you will find that different groups of "you" are treated differently.

Then draw your own conclusions.

Personally, the blogster feels that a country that became a nation state about 150 years ago should go easy on declaring multiculturalism an utter failure.