Everything you say is true but obviously I am talking about the people putting their Schadenfreude on display.

Do you think Berliners are happy that the referendums they voted for are getting ignored? The current mayors party has the lowest approval ratings ever. The current chancellor of the same party is the most hated in German history.

And then come some big-shots here talking about how it's well-deserved that a city of 4 million people got hacked and who knows what data leaked.

Perhaps german culture is to blame, one of "Schadenfreude" and of "Verbieten" and of "Authority knows best" and no one seriously challenging those in "Authority".

Germany is still a very much top-down society where people get talked down to and only those with the right connections (i.e. financial or educational or heritage) get taken seriously.

Spend time in any english speaking place and you still - might - notice a difference how the media interacts with those in power and more importantly, how the media interacts with their audience. German media very much talks down to its audience and up to those in power.

P.S. What I learnt today is that the head of the BSI is Claudia Plattner and the founder of SAP is Hasso Plattner - Coincidence? Relation? ~~What a surprise! Again is this a sign that security is taken seriously or that connections count?~~ No relation, mea culpa.

Berliners know how to create change, as seen by history. They're currently not. Can we infer they don't want change?