An American Furry in Germany

I've been reading a lot of Ayn Rand lately--and by a lot, I mean Atlas Shrugged. One very long book... fortunately it only took me one month to finish the whole thing. This whole tumultuous month, while I've been moving back to my hometown, preparing for a semester in Germany, and going through one existential crisis after another, I've been reading Ayn Rand. Scary, I know. Turns out that I didn't like it now as much as I did when I was young and impressionable (in high school), and now I disagree with a lot of it--but not all. I can't blame her for it; she grew up in communist Russia, and although she escaped from it, her entire philosophy is a reaction to it. Not to mention her writing style is more like propaganda than decent fiction--I guess you can never truly escape your roots. But her basic premise is only slightly flawed, and along the way to taking it way too far, she makes a lot of good points. So I think I've learned a few things.

But this post isn't about Ayn Rand--it's about Germany. Again. I think I've figured out their underlying premise.

You see, nothing is free in Germany. I know we have the saying "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch" (tanstaafl, for short), but we don't really mean it. We get ketchup free, water free, bread and butter, free refills, etc. I haven't gone to a doctor, but I bet they don't even give out little lollipops here. In Germany, nothing is free--tanstaafl.

But reality is like that, isn't it? We only say that because it's true--you can't get a free lunch, you can only get someone else to pay it for you. America is ruled by corporations that have realized that buy people free lunches can be a good business practice. It's not immediately obvious, but people will give you more money if they have the choice, instead of being nickle-and-dimed out of it. If you change their reality, and don't charge them for 2 cents worth of ketchup, they'll order 50 cents more worth of fries! If you give them a plastic bag that costs 1/100th of a cent for free, they'll do all their shopping at your stores! And so America is gradually slipping away from our hold on reality. Either that, or we were founded with a national mentality firmly outside of reality--either way, the result is obvious. Disneyland, Ronald McDonald, The Brady Bunch, all-you-can-eat, etc. Each asks for nothing but your money, and offers you nothing but a brighter and more perfect fantasy. Isn't it nice to escape reality for a while?
Don't get the idea that I'm saying one is better than the other--I've tried to avoid doing that. I'm certain that there is a difference, and I have a pretty good idea of its nature, but I'm not yet certain which is "better"--of if one can be better. Germans as a people tend to have a more bleak worldview--the cost of accepting reality. Is it worth rejecting reality, at least in part, if it makes you happy? Or is it our "duty" to keep ourselves firmly rooted in reality--I mean, look what the American way of life is doing to the world. Seeking individual happiness would seem to be a good enough meaning of life, but when everyone does it, it turns out it's not sustainable. But for what should life be sustained, if not happiness? It's certainly a quandary. Maybe I need to figure out what premises I'm working from--if any really exist.

This got off topic fast, but suffice it to say that the Germans have a very realistic worldview. This makes them at once less fun, and more responsible. So if you want to lay back and enjoy life, go to America. If you want to prolong life, and I mean all life on earth, I'd suggest Germany.