Week #22 and #23 in Germany

Yesterday I went up to see Baden-Baden with a friend. It was really nice to get out of town for a few hours. I have only left Offenburg two other times since my arrival. Once to Strasbourg in November and once to Munich for the New Year. I also saw the Weihnachtsmarkt in Gengenbach, but that was only a few minutes away. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see many of the touristy sites, but I still had a lot of fun hiking up to see the old castle ruins from the 13th century. The view of the city was beautiful.


Over the past few weeks, I've noticed how trusting the people here are. The other day I was walking downtown, and I passed through an elementary school playground. Back home, I know the playground would be fenced off, and any adult walking through would look suspicious. Perhaps a kid would even yell out "stranger danger!" But here, the kids were out playing and didn't even notice me. Another interesting trust point is that most of the stores put some of their goods outside on the street. The idea is that people will see what the store has to offer, and then come in to purchase more. The American in me wonders how many thieves have gotten off with special sale goods. The last overly trusting thing that irritates me at times is the train system. Of course there are "Schwarzfahrer", people who don't purchase a train ticket, but overall, people, such as myself, are quite honest and purchase a ticket for their journey. Of the last 7 train trips I have taken, not once was there a ticket inspector to ensure everyone had paid for their travel. It always makes me feel like I wasted my money, which brings up an interesting morality argument: If nobody was there to make sure you obey the rules, would you still obey them?


For me, the mere threat of the possibility that an inspector will come along is good enough reason for me to still buy a ticket every time. But what prevents anyone else from breaking the rules? If there was nobody watching, would you pay for a ticket or the goods that are left unattended on the street? What's to stop someone from taking a child from that open playground? Are Americans really so much more corrupt than Germans that we have to constantly police everything? What I really want to know is how can we create a culture of honesty and, more importantly, does it really work?