In German the phenomenon is summed up in one word: Besserwisserei, a know-it-all attitude, which the Germans themselves admit is somewhat of an engrained cultural trait.īut it’s increasingly clear that one country’s allegedly evidence-based Besserwisserei is another country’s intolerable smugness.

Whether the field is migration or manufacturing, fiscal policy or renewable energy, Germans increasingly believe that they, and they alone, know best, at least judging from the attitude newly on display everywhere from newspaper columns to parliamentary speeches to barroom chats over beer. Their country slipped to fourth in this year’s poll, behind Switzerland, Canada, and the United Kingdom, but that seems unlikely to do much to dim the self-confidence of a country enjoying a surging economy and growing international cachet. But for a growing number of Germans, the important thing was that it offered confirmation of their own self-image. The poll relied on criteria measuring entrepreneurship, power, public education, and quality of life, among others.

OOne year ago, Germany was named the “best country” in the world, according to a poll by the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

Overbearing grounded download