If a Der Spiegel cover is any indication of the mood in Germany, then Europe's largest country is on the verge of an explosion. Several weeks ago, the newsmagazine highlighted the country's growing income inequality in a cover story on "the divided nation." The cover photo showed a couple in a gilded room with a dozen other people stooped in a claustrophobic cellar below them.
A week later, the magazine featured the "uprising of the 'Wutbuerger' " — a new German term combining the words for "rage" and "citizen" — to describe people mad as hell about the political status quo. The headline screamed "You guys up there are just lying to us all" over a paint-spattered image of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
A yawning wealth gap and a voter rebellion nobody wanted to admit existed aren't unique to the United States. Across the industrialized world, the middle class is finding it increasingly difficult to make ends meet, while the losers of globalization are channeling their aggression into fringe politicians who know who's to blame. Modern Germany, a paragon of social peace and political moderation, is no exception.