Germany 2005: Tolerance for Anti-Semitism, Sympathy for Anti-Americanism, Skepticism Towards Capitalism

Matthias Doepfner, Chief Executive of German publisher Axel Springer AG, is one of the most vocal critics of the new political agenda that is so widely shared in German politics, the media and the public: tolerance for anti-Semitism, sympathy for anti-Americanism, skepticism towards capitalism. Our translation of his brilliant piece "Europe - Thy Name is Cowardice" was one of the all-time favorites for this blog's visitors (more than 20.000 on a single day!).

In his commentary in the Sunday paper "Welt am Sonntag" on May 8, 2005, Doepfner wonders whether Germans are truly liberated:

The sum total of what we learned from World War II is, “War? Never again!” More important lessons would have been, “Fanaticism? Never again!” and “Racism? Never again!” and “Dictatorship? Never again!” In light of this historical background, German tolerance for aggressive anti-Semitism in the parts of the Middle East is astonishing, since supporting Israel and the security of its citizens should be a given. German sympathy for anti-Americanism before and since the war in Iraq is remarkable, since friendship towards the Americans, to whom we owe Germany’s reconstruction and independence after 1945 as well as the 1990 reunification should be a tenet of common decency. But Germans’ deep-seated skepticism towards the free market, towards capitalism, is most irritating.

The docudrama “Speer and Him” has a scene, set in the basement of a brewpub, in which Hitler enthuses his unemployed and despairing listeners with one main thesis: “Materialism must naturally be overcome by idealism.” This fine-sounding promise started it all – and its power to fascinate lives to this day. Groups at the political periphery take advantage of its power. Pride in one’s nationality slips over the edge into nationalism when patriotism turns into xenophobia and social responsibility turns into socialism when seeking justice turns into mad demands for total equality. The issue of whether National Socialism is rightist or leftist is only superficial – a matter of painting it’s façade black or red.

The 8th of May was the day of Germany’s defeat, a defeat that many considered a liberation by the Allies. However, it wasn’t a real liberation. We must liberate ourselves. Only the future will tell if we’ve truly accomplished that self-liberation.

(Translation by Hartmut Lau)

Comments

[Tom Penn]

Great piece. Thanks for sharing it. Maybe these articles will get some people thinking.

"We must liberate ourselves." This is always true. All that any outside force can do is to help provide the opportunity.

[xixi]

Auf Weidersehn Deutschland.

[Pamela]

>> “Materialism must naturally be overcome by idealism.” This fine-sounding promise started it all

drek. What was the inflation rate in Germany at the time? I don't think 'materialism' was the problem.

>>Pride in one’s nationality slips over the edge into nationalism when patriotism turns into xenophobia

Where DOES one begin? Nationalism is the disease resulting of patriotism become xenophobia. Therefore nationalism is xenophobic.
Ok, I'm going to take a pass here as my German sucks, and put this down to the cultural/linguistic differences between the American use of 'nationalism' and the German, somewhat like the differences between 'conservative/liberal'. But I will say this: Even in the German context of the term, nationalism was not and is not the problem. Totalitarianism was and is. And if you think that the EU is the redemptive political construct
because it is 'benign' and 'supra-national', not only have you mis-diagnosed the problem, you've set yourselves up for another war - probably civil.

>>We must liberate ourselves.
Try facing the truth.

Niko, get that translation up here.

[Doughnut Boy Andy]

OT:

This is really bad. George Lucas really knows how to sell in Europe.

http://film.guardian.co.uk/cannes2005/story/0,15927,1484795,00.html

"The republic is crumbling under attack from alien forces. Democracy is threatened as the leader plays on the people's paranoia. Amid the confusion it is suddenly unclear whether the state is in more danger from insurgents, or from the leader himself.

It sounds more like a Michael Moore polemic than a Star Wars movie. But George Lucas, speaking as his latest epic was given its world premiere at Cannes yesterday, confirmed that Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, could be read as a parable about American politics.

When he conceived his series of films in the 1970s, he says, he was thinking about Vietnam and Nixon, investigating "democracy, and how a senate could give itself over, could surrender itself to a dictator"."

Shame i was looking forward to it

[Will]

Mr. Doepfner, I've got an advice for you. Why don't you try to capitalyze on the considerable ignorance of my (German) countrymen by establishing a right-wing newspaper that counters all the IDIOTIC liberal BS that drips off my TV screen.
The newspaper "Welt" not only on this board but also in the German public is incorrectly regarded as a right-wing publication but that isn't justified in the least, it is not -I repeat myself NOT- an equivalent of the New York Sun or the Washington Times just like the CDU is NOT a right-wing party even though this website repeatedly suggests that.
Maybe it would help to turn the perennial loss-maker
WELT around if there were any news in it, just a thought.

And the whopper of Doepfner's comments is the suggestion of "sympathy" towards anti-American views.
That's not "sympathy", Mr.Doepfner, that's hardcore anti-Americanism.
There is a reason why Michael Moore sells more copies of his books in a country of 80 million than in the U.S.

[Angie Schultz]

Ok, I'm going to take a pass here as my German sucks, and put this down to the cultural/linguistic differences between the American use of 'nationalism' and the German...

A few years ago I was living in Sydney, Australia. I had a Japanese office mate. At a department meeting, the senior staff were discussing ways to get the Australian taxpayer to fork over money for some of our projects. Australia has much to be proud of in this particular field, so one fellow suggested that we appeal to Australians' nationalism.

Afterwards, my office mate asked me if I thought it was true that Australians were "nationalistic". I said sure. He said, "Oh, very bad."

In Japan, apparently, "nationalism" has a different construction placed on it.

This does not, I point out, keep the Japanese from being nationalistic, in the way Americans would recognize.

Perhaps it's the same in Germany. They still have it, they just don't want to call it that.

[WhatDoIKnow]

I believe anti-Americanism and scapegoat-ism will be present for a long time in the German psyche. What will vary is the intensity of those resentments. The hope is that they will not influence (too much) decision makers.

The US bashing in the German media has escalated to unseen levels before the US elections. After the elections there was no de-escalation to be noticed. Rather, the US bashing, even though not so aggressive anymore, is now given regular "maintenance" shots, thus still keeping the general animosity towards the US at historic high levels.

Saying that this is a very sad situation is a huge understatement. It is clear that while the economical ties between the US and Germany will remain strong, the relationship that those two countries once enjoyed will be clouded by distrust for a long time to come. The Germans nowadays distrust strong capitalism(which, by the way, is the one that brought them the prosperity they've been enjoying!). The US distrusts Germany's ability to adapt to the new economical and security challenges because Germany, in its present shape, is simply unable to meet those challenges.

Right now there is no other economical system that can be as successful as capitalism(with all its faults). Germany seems to have forgotten this. There are also no signs that Germany will be changing course and become a more responsible partner on the international arena. We can only hope that the rift between the two countries will not deepen even further, but with a Germany eager to position itself as a world player regardles of the consequences, nothing can be taken for granted.

I have a friend who was, and still is, a nice, reliable guy. When we were students though, he had one peculiarity. If we happened to be in the company of some girl he was interested in, he became a different person. He would make fun of the rest of us, he would even be mean, just to draw attention to himself and stand out. He was very annoying, but he just couldn't help it. Bashing good friends, who he knew wouldn't retaliate, was for him an instinctive tactic to grow in the eyes of others. I would say Germany behaves very much like this. The thing is that what is excusable for a simple person is not excusable for a responsible nation. My friend eventually outgrew this behavior. I think Schröder and Fischer should meet him.

The faith in the state, so omnipresent in Germany, has been built over decades and will not go away so easily. I think that a real conservative TV station, radio station, newspaper wouldn't have a very bright future in Germany. It would probably have a strong, but rather small audience. Still, it would be better than nothing. I don't expect any miracles coming from Germany, I just hope that they will not stand too much in the way of the ones willing and able to make a difference in the world. It would be really unfortunate if all they did was to resort to French-style obstructionism.

[jaba the tit]

Appeasement not an option?

http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewWeb&articleId=9622

[Lou Minatti]

OT (but related to Germany), is anyone else receiving a tremendous amount of spam today similar to this, all related to the NPD? I've received 20+ messages, all in German, in 3 different e-mail accounts. Whoever has a beef with the NPD appears to be blasting these messages throughout the world. In fact, it appears to have hosed their server.

From: snip @aol.com
To: snip
Date: Mon, 16 May 2005 17:18:10 UTC
Subject: 4,8 Mill. Osteuropaeer durch Fischer-Volmer Erlass

Lese selbst:
http://www.npd.de/npd_info/deutschland/2005/d0405-13.html

Neue Dokumente:
http://www.rp-online.de/public/article/nachrichten/politik/deutschland/87647

Botschafter in Kiew beschwerte sich noch 2004:
http://www.rp-online.de/public/article/nachrichten/politik/deutschland/85735

Traumziel Deutschland:
http://www.berlinonline.de/berliner-zeitung/archiv/.bin/dump.fcgi/2004/1221/politik/0009/index.html

Kanzler erleichtert Visaverfahren für Golfstaaten:
http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/vorab/0,1518,349262,00.html

Ohne Deutsch nach Deutschland:
http://www.aufenthaltstitel.de/zuwg/0618.html

Vorbildliche Aktion:
http://www.npd.de/npd_info/deutschland/2004/d1204-24.html

[Pamela]

Lou Minatti:

Is this what is happening to you (via LGF)?
http://news.com.com/Sober.Q+spreads+hate+messages+in+German%2C+English/2100-7349_3-5708588.html?tag=nefd.top

[Lou Minatti]

Pamela,

I can't say for sure since the c/net article didn't include a sample of the e-mails, but it may be the cause. However, the spams I received never had any attachments. Regardless, the attack appears to be over now.

[Joe]

My humor post for the month.

Why the French are the worst company on the planet, a wry take on France by two of its citizens, dredges up all the usual evidence against them. They are crazy drivers, strangers to customer service, obsessed by sex and food and devoid of a sense of humour.

But it doesn't stop there, boasting a breakdown, nation by nation, of what in the French irritates them.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Britons described them as "chauvinists, stubborn, nannied and humourless". However, the French may be more shocked by the views of other nations.

For the Germans, the French are "pretentious, offhand and frivolous". The Dutch describe them as "agitated, talkative and shallow." The Spanish see them as "cold, distant, vain and impolite" and the Portuguese as "preaching". In Italy they comes across as "snobs, arrogant, flesh-loving, righteous and self-obsessed" and the Greeks find them "not very with it, egocentric bons vivants".

Interestingly, the Swedes consider them "disobedient, immoral, disorganised, neo-colonialist and dirty".

But the knockout punch to French pride came in the way the poll was conducted. People were not asked what they hated in the French, just what they thought of them.

"Interviewees were simply asked an open question - what five adjectives sum up the French," said Olivier Clodong, one of the study's two authors and a professor of social and political communication at the Ecole Superieur de Commerce, in Paris. "The answers were overwhelmingly negative."