Rich and poor – the inequality gap (2/3) | DW Documentary
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Published 2018-12-12
Christoph Gröner does everything he can to drum up donations and convince the wealthy auction guests to raise their bids. The more the luxury watch for sale fetches, the more money there will be to pay for a new football field, or some extra tutoring, at a children's home. Christoph Gröner is one of the richest people in Germany - his company is now worth one billion euros, he tells us. For seven months, he let our cameras follow him - into board meetings, onto construction sites, through his daily life, and in his charity work. He knows that someone like him is an absolute exception in Germany. His parents were both teachers, and he still worked his way to the top. He believes that many children in Germany grow up without a fair chance. "What we see here is total failure across the board,” he says. "It starts with parents who just don’t get it and can’t do anything right. And then there’s an education policy that has opened the gates wide to the chaos we are experiencing today." Chistoph Gröner wants to step in where state institutions have failed. But can that really ease inequality?
In Germany, getting ahead depends more on where you come from than in most other industrialized countries, and social mobility is normally quite restricted. Those on top stay on top. The same goes for those at the bottom. A new study shows that Germany’s rich and poor both increasingly stay amongst themselves, without ever intermingling with other social strata. Even the middle class is buckling under the mounting pressure of an unsecure future. "Land of Inequality" searches for answers as to why. We talk to families, an underpaid nurse, as well as leading researchers and analysts such as economic Nobel Prize laureate Joseph Stiglitz, sociologist Jutta Allmendinger or the economist Raj Chetty, who conducted a Stanford investigation into how the middle class is now arming itself to improve their children’s outlooks.
Part 1: • Inequality – how wealth becomes power...
Part 2: • Rich and poor – the inequality gap (2...
Part 3: • Money and power – how much influence ...
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All Comments (21)
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The dude is an engineer at Siemens and he can’t afford a home. That’s sad!
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I’m such a documentary addict and I can’t believe I’m just discovering this channel now. This is TOP notch documentary filmmaking. I’m shook
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This is pure gold. Such detailed study and its presentation should be an example for all the people who claim to be media.
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The end is the important note. Even Groner is a player in an even larger game. Honestly, he wields little power, it's his investors and people who "manage" multiple Groners who wield the power. I don't think we've recognized the multilevel marketing scheme that is our economy yet.
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So they basically said they send their kids to boarding school so they don't have to be parents through the week.
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In boarding school, "all the children are treated the same". But of course, at 3,000 Euros a month, all the children are treated like rich kids.
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The "the poor girls organized a dance performance to say thank you to the older millionaire" part made me uncomfortable.
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'They have the power' smiles mischievously.
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Please do similar videos in the future. Thanks
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It’s very interesting to see Groner and the old money. The old money had much more time to relax and enjoy themselves. Their money bought them time for their family and future generations. On the other hand, Groner seems to be working himself to death to make money for said old money that invest in his company. It’s interesting to see that even for the wealthy there is a difference in class. With Groner being lower class while the old money family being upper class/ ultra rich. Great documentary
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I worked as an interior designer for a woman who was given hundreds of thousands of “play money”, by her lumber baron husband, to dabble in her hobby (business) of home decor. Thus, kept her quietly busy / entertained, while he screwed around behind her back. Such equality. Such wonderful ethics and high moral ground.
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At least he was willing to be interviewed!
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Gröner: "...because id like to live here myself..." Lol 😂😂😂 as if
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Woah, Germany's problem schools look like really expensive international school's in my country, Sri Lanka. Really shows the inequality between countries I guess. Being on welfare in Germany is probably better than being middle class in Sri Lanka.
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I just love how straight honest in his words he is and most Germans, they don't sweet things as most Americans do, they just speak reality and only truth even its annoying to hear, not going around in a circle to avoid hurting your feelings, more of this, please.
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"Old poor people, you've already lived most of your life in suffering, what's the point of helping you now?"
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The mentality of a property millionaire... Buy a piece of property for as cheap as possible, make any repairs if needed as cheap as possible, charge 3 times what the actual payment for the loan payment is, put as little as possible into the maintaining of the property, hopefully sell the property later for 5 times what was invested but will settle for 3 times as much. Buy a piece of property for as cheap as possible, tear down all structures if any, rebuild with a "better" structure, charge each renter 3 times the rate for a smaller space, do as little as possible to maintain the property, earn 20 times the loan payment amount, hopefully sell the property for 10 times the investment but will settle for 5 times the amount invested. Then people wonder why fewer and fewer people and businesses are able to grow and thrive financially.
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Never fail to open my mind more and more after watching DW Documentary. Feels like taking lecture in Europe tough the body stay in Asia. Thank You 🙏
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"Can I get everyone's attention" .... a summary of this man lol
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So he gives his attention to his assistant every day.
