[Kolokotronis]

“It seems to me that the Germans tend to look to the state as the font of good and to the individual has the potential for trouble.”

One would think that history would have taught them otherwise!

[nathanbedford]

Yes, it is counterintuitive. When I ask my neighbors about this seeming inconsistency, I get only blank looks. It has not occurred to them.

In thinking about this, I think the cultural sources of it go back to Bismarck who cut a deal with the German nation that they were to get the social safety net and the state was to get foreign affairs and the commitment for good and orderly behavior. So far, both sides have delivered apart from the "Hitlerzeit" which is generally seen as an aberration.