I was sympathetic to the German certificate fetish, and am not skeptical that the inconvenience caused by the practice is not outweighed by positive considerations. In the world of undergraduate admissions I feel that, ultimately, results are influenced by a combination of exaggeration of activities and deliberate misrepresentation. Furthermore in applying for jobs many jobs seek people with experience in x or ability to perform y, which is not easily demonstrated. Maybe the German system is over the top, but I also believe the American system has flaws which the German system corrects. I am not sure how unusual the observations made in the German neighborhood article are. Depending on where you live in America, there may exist a strong, unwritten code of conduct, although possibly not as universal as in Germany. The article about the lack of German patriotism in Germany brings back memories of a discussion from 101 about the absence of right-wing politics, further right than moderate. My explanation last semester: that right-wing politics that aren’t moderate exist but historical considerations prevent them from being classified as such, or that elements exist but isolated from a coherent strongly right-wing platform, seems vindicated by the article. I don’t believe that Germans don’t love Germany or that the underlying cultural principles have undergone a significantly larger transformation than they have in America during the time; people are just afraid to publicly pronounce them. (Except for Hartmut who has no problem cracking jokes at the French) Sam Engel