Day 2 on a bus
The second day did not have a good start. Not everything went the way as expected, however, it does not necessarily mean it was a bad day. On our way to the camp at
Neufeld Nord, because we did not get the right ticket, five people paid 300 euro fine to two “ticket inspectors”. Then, we took the right bus in the wrong direction. Just in one day, we almost learned all the lessons we could learn about the Munich public transportation (I hope I do not jinx it.)
I am not ranting. I am just writing.
However, if it were not all the mistakes, we might lose an opportunity to learn. While waiting at the bus terminus (we were in the wrong direction, remember?) we started to chat with the bus driver. More accurately, Dr. Hirschauer and Amy were chatting with him. It turns out that the bus driver is from Slovenia. Because of freedom of movement for workers in the EU, lots of workers from other states under EU treaty take jobs in Germany. The bus driver has been working here for six months and told us that he gets paid way much better here than in Slovenia even though his German is not that proficient. Besides, he has certain “stereotypes” about migrants from Africa based on incomplete and inaccurate information.
During about 10 mins’ conversation, one thing occurred to me which I have never thought of. I always take it for granted that the migration crisis in Germany is a German issue. Actually, there is a group of people who do not have a voice in the political conversation: workers from other EU countries in Germany. Maybe the political rhetoric that refugees in Germany are taking German people’s jobs away is hardly based on facts but sentiment. However, how about the interests of workers from other EU countries in Germany. Should the German government be responsible for their interests based on the identity of “European Union”? Some people argue that the migration crisis actually is an EU crisis (Bloomberg Surveillance, 2018), but my understanding of the nature of "EU crisis" is a little different. There is something promising behind the "crisis". The common rhetoric is that EU countries have to coordinate and take care of the conflicts of national interests, which is supposed to tear the EU apart. Nonetheless, from the bus driver's perspective, there is an EU interest, or “transnational interest”, i.e. all EU workers interest. If there is a future of EU with a higher degree of unification or even a Federation, this might be something that it can be built upon.
Of course, if nobody is taking anybody’s job, then this idea does not stand at all. Nonetheless, it is still something academically “fun” to think about.
Reference:
Bloomberg Surveillance (June 29th, 2018), “Varoufakis Says There's an EU Crisis, Not a Refugee Crisis”. Bloomberg. Retrieved from:
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