German society divided and devoid of utopias

The new Shell Youth Study reveals that most German youth are content and optimistic about the future, unless they come from a socially weak environment. Proof that the social divide is growing, writes the leftist daily die tageszeitung: "Good education and a secondary school diploma you can be proud of are the key to success. But in Germany getting that still depends to an embarrassing extent on one's social background. In no other country does an unjust education policy so manifestly keep disadvantaged youths from participating in society. ... Where is the common ground that is the foundation for peaceful social cohabitation? For the most part one looks in vain among today's pragmatic youth for social utopias or a common project. Instead we are seeing a retreat into private life. Three quarters of all respondents want to found a family, almost the same number hope to have children one day. The nuclear family as the last utopia? In a society that has little to offer precisely those from socially weak backgrounds, this seems to be the first refuge people turn to."

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