[johniegrad]

When I was younger, the last thing I thought would happen would be to witness the demise of Western civilization because people would reproduce themselves.

[Track9]

News flash: They’re all really small and their hands are tinny.

[GeronL]

Can’t afford hobbies? Doesn’t the EUSSR fund midnight basketball? Oh right, all their spending money is going to bailout other countries.

[RoadTest]

This whole subject is analyzed brilliantly in the book “America Alone” by Mark Steyn.

[GeronL]

Can’t afford hobbies? Doesn’t the EUSSR fund midnight basketball? Oh right, all their spending money is going to bailout other countries.

[rbg81]

And how many of those “German” children are really ethnic Germans?

[Tax-chick]

It would be interesting to know what “can’t afford to finance hobbies” means, exactly. Can’t afford a library card so the child can read? Can’t get a pair of shoes so he can run? No pencils and paper so he can draw? How about cooking - they’ve got no flour, stove, or pans?

Or does it mean that there is some specific hobby in which a child might be interested, but the family cannot afford the costs for that activity? Well, duh. We can’t afford rodeo or competitive ice skating for all our children, either.

[Repeal The 17th]

“...German households can’t afford to finance hobbies for their children...”
-
My hobbies as a lad?
Pretending a stick was a gun and playing cowboys and indians.
Making a fort out of hay bales.
Daming up a sandy creek.
Making a house out of a big corrugated box.
Fishing.
Reading.
Baseball in the cow lot.
“Red Light”, “Simon Says”, and “Hide-And Seek”.

None of those things cost any money.

[Fresh Wind]

Hobby stamps. Social justice requires that the government hand out hobby stamps to the disadvantaged yoots.

[Jack Hydrazine]

They might not be able to afford hobbies but they can certainly afford that great German bier!!!!!

[VanDeKoik]

Stargazing is a pretty cheap hobby. Some star maps and a pair of binoculars.

Drawing needs only some paper and a pencil.

Model rockets?

I’m not exactly sure what these wonder hobbies are that are so out of reach.

[ken21]

.

[onedoug]

Nevil Shute´s No Highway had a lot to say about a lot of stuff,
child rearing and aircraft engineering being just a couple.

[AZLiberty]

As a percentage of the overall population, Germany has fewer children than any other country in Europe. Only 16.5 percent of the population is younger than 18 years of age. In other European countries, like France, Great Britain and the Netherlands, those figures are over 20 percent. In Turkey, almost one-third of the country's population of more than 72 million people is younger than 18. The countries in Europe with the smallest populations of children are Germany, Bulgaria (16.7 percent) and Italy (16.9 percent).

Reminds me of Donald Rumsfeld: "As you know, you go to war with the Army you have. They're not the Army you might want or wish to have at a later time."

If it comes to it, Germany will be going to war with an infantry of pensioners.

[bwc2221]

Soccer is the #1 sport in Germany. Assuming fields are available, why doesn't the German government make an investment in youth soccer leagues?

We Americans may not find it exciting, but the equipment cost to parents is minimal: ball ($25), shin guards ($20), shoes ($40), a couple pairs of shorts, tee-shirts and socks and a game uniform ($75).

[bwc2221]

Having been there, I can say that Hamburg is the seediest of German cities (kind of like the Detroit or Cleveland of Germany). One area of the city has prostitutes in storefront windows. If a woman isn’t in the window, she’s busy earning money to pay for her kids’ hobbies.

[ViLaLuz]

I grew up poor and had plenty of hobbies. My favorite was collecting Monarch caterpillars and raising them into butterflies. Didn’t cost a penny.

[nevergore]

Is das wienerschnitzel broken?

[GoodDay]

“...German households can’t afford to finance hobbies for their children...”

That statement is an example of pure "entitlement mentality."

[Waywardson]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-3X5hIFXYU