Wednesday 13 February 2008

One for Cologne - # 08/16

April of http://koelnjournal.blogspot.com/ Cologne DP has a taste for pictures of structures, which I also rather enjoy.

So this one is dedicated to Germany (a country I know well) and Cologne. It is the support structure for the London Eye. I read that Berlin is about to open a bigger wheel, and soon Dubai and Singapore will have gigantic wheels that will make ours look tiny.

April wrote a very downhearted comment on the decay and the vandalism suffered by German Railways. Germany is not alone in this! What's wrong with Europe? Was it always so bad? Or have we been living in a short period between 1945 and 1965 when things were in fact NOT normal?

So the question is: What's wrong with the support structure of European society?

6 comments:

  1. Hi C - back after a hectic week of work-type stuff, so apologies for lack of comments and feedback. This image (VG btw) and the comments are just the sort of thing to get me ranting/agreeing, but I have to desist this time

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  2. Hi Chuckeroon - good to catch up again with all your great posts!!!

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  3. Can you please give me a couple of months to give my reply?

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  4. I like your industrial-looking post.

    What's wrong with society? Not just European Society. I think it begins at home. The family unit has been split apart and the value system has been abolished and the idealism of the human race is shattered every time a whale is destroyed by a Japanese fishing fleet or a harp seal is clubbed or a giant teak tree falls to the chain saw. It is this "give me" society that has ruined life as it once was. My opinion, of course.

    Happy Valentine's Day.

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  5. The photo: that's just the way I like it, thanks for dedicating it to Cologne. (B.t.w. the last time I was in London, 'the eye' was lying beside the Thames and they couldn't get it raised ;-)
    I like the colours here as well as the diagonal lines and the technical touch.

    What is wrong? I feel a bit like Peter (need more time) and I completely agree with Abraham, that lack of values, the "first-me" attitude, the elbow-society, the attitude: the community has to do something for me. "We live in a greedy little world. - Ka-ching - Shania Twain"

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  6. Its all relative mind you - I think if someone accustomed to "Network South East" or whatever god forsaken names they have these days went ot Germany they would find the rail system a delight. I only had a brief trip recently, but even coming from Switzerland I found the public transport in Rhine-Westphalia pretty good.

    Why does degradation happen? It's complicated, but like Abe and others, somewhere deep down it has to do with values. People that mock Switzerland should think twice about it.....

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