Liberty vs. Egality in Germany

This German article in NZZ reports what may amount to a coming seachange in German politics, namely an apparent reversal in the secular trend of increasing preference of egality over liberty, as it was rather obvious in the last couple of years. Particularly relevant is the change in young people from East Germany: in 2003, 34% of under thirtysomethings thought they are responsible for their own success or failure, which compares favourably to 1996 where the same figure was 28%. In the whole country, the preference changed from 42% )1996) to 50% (2003). In the printed edition of the newspaper, there was a chart which showed the trend reversal much more clearly. It is a pity it is not online.

This is great news - let's hope it will be confirmed by political action!