The author seems very confused and unable to understand cause and effect. Moreover, lauding the US system - the dysfunction that gave the world the sniveling whining infantile moron Trump not once but twice - is hardly a winning argument. The problem for the West in general is its failure to prioritize the right sorts of education, but again the USA is far worse than Germany. Most of its innovators come as immigrants because US primary and secondary education is abysmal. Only 10% of PhD students in STEM subjects were born in the USA, for example. So the author needs to stop being so parochial and be a bit more mindful of the fact you can't use a horrifically dysfunctional nation (the USA) as an example of what Germany should aspire to.