From the article: "products of enlightenment in the West — democracy, the nation state, public education", and "The truth is that the concept of reason needed 2,500 years and the vehicle of Christianity, and a lot more, to come to the visible changes that happened in Europe in the past 500 years: the Reformation, the age of reason, the Enlightenment, and the scientific revolution."

I think the author just doesn't get it. Christianity was a primary enemy of reason throughout 2,000 of those years and democracy, the nation state, and public education as collectivist ideals are the opposites of the enlightenment.

The author may propose some interesting conclusions and argument, but he's not pro-freedom nor writing from reason and logical rationality. It wasn't the culture of Europe, but just the opposite--the escape from that cloying and freedom destruction culture, that led to the founding and experiment which led to what was America.

I beg to differ about the Amish, khalling.

I think they represent exactly the kind of society that Thomas Jefferson envisioned. The Amish ALL work, and they trade value for value. If they were atheists perhaps you would view them in a different light...because under that condition they would be nothing more than an in vivo agricultural version of Galt's Gulch in AS.

Further, you can go on and on all you like about how enlightened Germany's refugee intake program is, but reality and history say that there is no way in hell those people coming in abruptly and by the millions are going to immediately become literarily proficient in the language and assimilate into the existing culture. To say that defies logistics and reality.

Self-destructive belief systems do NOT change over night, and sufficient numbers will cling to the old ways (including Sharia) and the German culture will be significantly and probably detrimentally impacted--especially women's rights.

History (one of my degrees, btw) has shown that this happens over and over. Emigrants in those kinds of numbers WILL change the culture.

Besides, Germany is already in the process of breaking contractual long-term leases and turning older people out of their lifetime homes to make space for these immigrants. Eminent domain for long-term leasers. Do you agree with that? Do nations need to take in people for whom they have NO lodgings without disenfranchising their own native born? Please. I'd like an answer.

You noted that the emigrants, "must speak German." So, if they do NOT learn German will they be deported? No, and they are not going to become fluent in German nor are they going to completely assimilate western style government.

Germany's process includes a multi-month course in civics and german culture. You must be able to speak german.
Although, culture is a tricky thing. For instance, I do not think the Amish represent the foundations our country was built on (not meaning to pick on the Amish, just pointing out that American culture is perceived differently by different groups). In some ways Chinatown represents more of that cultural american spirit than downtown.
I empathize with the writer, but in some ways, he chooses himself as a winner with some caveats and all other Indians as surely losers.
I am often reminded of this scenario. I had several friends who built their houses or purchased houses that were up on the mountain overlooking the city. These were the same people who lobbied against and circulated petitions for, not letting other private property owners sell their land to a development farther up the mountain. It would ruin the "natural setting." There is somewhat of a privileged point of view the author takes and we are to indulge him because he basically says that nobody else is wise enough to change their thinking when presented with opportunity. History shows this is not the case. The first step for any migrant to grasp when coming to the US, is that individual lives are important. The "I.". That's huge for a second world or third world dweller to understand coming to a first world nation. There is plenty of that individualist thinking left in the US and the most important idea to get across to new immigrants, IMO.