It's time to build...

This week, I initiated a somewhat heated discussion based on some metrics about Germany. It all started with a chart which indicated that Germans in average work the least hours across all OECD countries.

I had predicted that this post would result in a sh*t storm... I had also predicted what kinds of arguments people would use. They would come up with hundreds of excuses why German's work more part-time, how the system does not incentivize people working more, and that it is healthier to balance work and life. I could go on and on.

Let's say all of these people are right and I am wrong... what is the implication of that? The one thing that none of them can make a case on is that working less is actually supportive to our economy.

In terms of economic growth we have been at the bottom across Europe for the past 5 years. There are no signs that this will change anytime soon.

And yes, there are many systematic reasons incl. our bureaucracy... but it is also due to people's lack of will to work. Mathematically it is very simple... If we have a lack of skilled workers that is significantly hurting our economic growth, then it could be partially resolved by each person working a few more hours per week. Simple.

It could also be addressed with each person taking less sick days per year... This is the list that we as Germans lead. In no country across the globe, do people miss out on more working days due to being sick, than in Germany.

So on the one hand, we pretend that working less hours (we work the least number of hours) is good for health, on the other hand, we are also the country with the highest number of sick days per person. Does that make sense to you? It does not make any sense to me!

On top of that, our GDP growth has almost stalled, our infrastructure is getting worse and worse, our PISA ranking (how well our students do) is below average, and we are seeing the rise of a very right-wing party... So everything is fine in Germany... or is it?

It's interesting how people in a society take themselves, their individual choices, and their actions completely out of the equation and believe that everything should be handled by government. It's like kids who believe everything should be taken care of by mom and dad.

I have news for you... A society is shaped by everyone every day. We need good government, but that is not enough. More importantly we need good people that are willing to build.

As a society, as individuals we need to step up... we need to build. It's not enough - and even debatable - whether our government should take on €400 billion in debt. Money has always been the simple answer... You have problem, throw money at it.

I firmly believe, money won't fix anything... because what we lack is not money, we lack the people that are willing to build.

There are countless construction sites on German roads and highways. You know what they all have in common? No one is working there. No matter whether it's during the day or during the night, one barely sees people working at the construction site and fixing things.

Is money going to help with that? No... because we lack the people that can and want to do this type of work.

Same thing in almost every sector. Would it be great to have more money pouring into the healthcare space? Yes... I firmly believe that doctors and more importantly nurses should get paid higher salaries. But even if we did, would this move the needle? I believe it won't because most people are not willing to wipe someone else's butt, which is something that nurses have to do on a regular basis.

Construction sites, hospitals, schools, military... the list goes on. In all these areas we lack people that want to work. We lack people that are willing to show up to work consistently (without taking 24.9 sick days a year) and do a great job.

We lack people that want to build Germany and make something out of it that we feel proud of handing over to the next generation.

And yes, our political leadership is terrible... but they are also a terrible excuse to use. We live in a free society. Freedom has a cost... that cost is responsibility. It means that we are all responsible for making our society better.

Each of us contributes to this in a different way. Some build companies, others work in those companies. Some become teachers, others are students. Some work in healthcare, others take care of themselves so that they do not need as much care. No matter what we do, we should aim to do it in the best way possible.

There is plenty of stuff to be built... plenty of work to be done. And yes, we can say that we want to optimize for work-life-balance - which by the way is a terrible concept because it implies that work is not part of life - but then we should also be OK with lowering our standards of living.

If we all want to work part-time, then this should be possible for all professions incl. doctors and nurses. One of the people commenting on my post asked me whether I would rather want to be treated by a doctor that works 30 hours per week or a doctor that works 45 hours per week.

First of all, 45 hours per week is not a lot of work. It is a normal amount of work. It leaves you with plenty of time for family, sports, and other commitments. Second, if all doctors in Germany would work 30 hours per week, we would need significantly more doctors than we have today... and we have a shortage of doctors already. Where are these doctors supposed to come from?

Some truths in life are very simple... one of them is from nothing comes nothing. This is why I write these articles.

Many of us have been told that government can and will take care of everything... it won't. I am not saying that we do not need government. I am not one of those libertarians. We need good government e.g. as it should ensure the rule of law through police and courts. But government was and is not supposed to be fully comprehensive insurance.

If we want a strong Germany... strong economically, strong morally, strong culturally, strong in terms of health, etc. then it is us who have to work for it. If we don't put in the work, if we don't start building... that vision of Germany won't come true.

Before closing, I want to share a final story. I was having a conversation about the war in Ukraine with a friend. From day one of that terrible war, it was my perspective that Germany should not send any weapons and instead be the mediator for peace... because if we take sides and cannot act as the mediator, other countries would have to play that role... we might not like that.

Now, my friend was vehemently arguing for Germany not only sending weapons, but also sending troops... similar to the British Prime Minister who said "troops on the ground and planes in the air".

At one point I ask him: "You want to send troops, right? You have two sons... one is 14 the other is 12. If that war continues and we send troops, four years from now, your oldest son would have to go and fight. Would you be OK with that?"

He looked at me completely baffled and said: "No... of course not! Why would my son have to fight? We have our military... they should go."

I put my hand on his shoulder, looked him in the eye, and said: "You know those young men and women, are someone's child, too. You are OK with them being sent to war, but you don't want your own family to be impacted by that? It is always easy to ask others to make sacrifices... risking your life is the ultimate sacrifice. In a fair society, we should not expect from anyone anything that we are not willing to do ourselves."

I could literally see how his brain was absorbing what I had just said. He looked at me and said: "You are right... this war needs to end. We must ensure that not only our kids, but no one loses a loved one."

Ask yourself... what sacrifices are you expecting others to make? Do you expect the doctor and nurse to be working on a weekend or during the night so that they can take care of your emergencies? Do you expect the taxi/Uber driver to be driving when everybody else is having a great time? Do you expect fresh bananas to be in the supermarket on a Saturday morning? Have you ever thought how many people are involved in making those bananas available to you?

What is your contribution to society? How can you get your work done in the best possible way? In what other ways can you contribute?

Life is not about consumption... life is about creation. None of us will look back at the age of 90 and say, I had a fantastic life... I watched so many shows on Netflix. But if we build, if we create, we will look back and be proud of our contribution... and it does not even take until we are 90, we will feel that sense of pride at the end of every working day. We will feel that growth at the end of each week. And we will be role models not only for our children, but for humanity.

From Nothing comes Nothing!