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Thanks for your input! Your question is indeed not easy to answer. To give you my perspective on these aspects, I should mention that I grew up in Germany. In Germany, social networking primarily takes place through associations. If you come to Germany as a foreigner, the best thing you can do is join a sports club. When I think about how I joined back then, without a smartphone or the internet, it was mostly by coincidence—running into someone at school or in the neighborhood who was already active in a club. The schedules were always strictly fixed, so there was no need for organization via group chats or social media. One thing that stands out to me is the importance of volunteerism. In Germany, the majority of civil protection services, including the fire department and disaster relief, are managed by volunteers. Professional firefighters are actually a minority. I joined the youth fire department at a young age, and I stayed because it was simply what we always did. We regularly organized big festivals, and many people attended. These events were a great way to get people excited about what we were doing, and often, they would say, “Hey, I want to do this too!” I'll check out the movie, and I’ll also read Bowling Alone, which is mentioned in this context. It all sounds like structural problems that we also face in Germany. Civil protection services are increasingly struggling with a lack of new recruits, which aligns with the themes of the movie. People often say they don’t want to commit too strongly to one thing anymore. |