August 10, 2010: It appears that a German "Geert Wilders" has arrived on the scene. The man being compared to the Dutch politician known for his anti-Islam views is Thilo Sarrazin, a member of Germany's federal bank (Bundesbank) board of directors. Sarrazin, a former finance minister for the city of Berlin, has made controversial comments in recent years, but none so controversial as some made in a speech in June near Darmstadt.

According to Sarrazin, Germans are becoming dumber on average by natural means. As proof for his statement Sarrazin referred to the educational level of immigrants from Turkey, the Middle East and North Africa. The educational standard of those immigrants is generally lower on average than the educational level of Germans. With their higher birth rate than the German birth rate, those immigrants with less education are gradually becoming a larger portion of Germany's population, thereby diluting the overall educational level of Germany's population.

Sarrazin has followed up on his speech with a book titled "Deutschland schafft sich ab: Wie wir unser Land aufs Spiel setzen" ["Germany is eliminating itself: How we put our country at risk"]. In the book Sarrazin criticizes Muslim immigrants for being unwilling to integrate fully into German society, and he points out the additional costs paid by German taxpayers for this group of immigrants. Sarrazin's opinion on this subject hasn't changed much since September 2009, when he said in an interview that he did "not have to recognize anyone who lives at the expense of the state that he rejects, does not provide for the education of his children in a reasonable manner and continually produces new little girls wearing a head covering."

Sarrazin's viewpoint is definitely not politically correct in today's Germany. Chancellor Angela Merkel said parts of his June speech were "dumb", and there have been calls for Sarrazin's expulsion from his party, the Social Democratic Party (SPD), and for him to be removed from the Bundesbank's board of directors.

Others, however, see Sarrazin's comments and book as a welcome opening to discuss subjects that have been off limits in Germany for years. The controversy over his comments has helped Sarrazin's book, though, which is already being promoted as a bestseller even before it appears on bookstore shelves.