Stern: Americans "Could Care Less About the Rest of Humanity"

(UPDATE: Stern has responded to pressure from our site and changed the headline. See our open letter to Stern magazine: online regarding this.)

This is what Stern magazine online wrote about the USA in its introduction to a series the magazine has been actively running on American history since 2002:

"The History of the USA: No nation has ever dominated the globe like the USA. And its people could care less about the rest of humanity." (circled below)

Stern's selection of the Bush photo depicted (above-right) is no accident. They've done the same at least one other time. Note how a US flag is always in the background.

Really? Is that why the USA sacrificed the lives of hundreds of thousands of its sons and daughters to liberate Germany from National Socialism? Is that why the United States spent billions to defend and rebuild West German democracy for decades on end? Is that why the United States helped Germans to establish the very democracy that guarantees German journalists the freedom to make outrageous, dehumanizing and sweeping anti-American statements like the one above?

And let us examine the record for yet more evidence the American people "could care less about the rest of humanity.":

• US Massive Tsunami Aid to Asia
• US Pledges Billions to Fight AIDS in Africa
• Bush Plans to Double Aid to Africa
• US Defends Tens of Millions of Muslims in Kosovo, Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq
• US Strongly Supportive of Israeli-Palestinian Peace Efforts

And we know how much our multilateralist, holier-than-thou 'old European' friends love humanity so much more than anyone else. They would have left Saddam Hussein in power, they did nothing in Rwanda, were impotent in the Balkans until the US acted. They continue to stand around and do nothing but talk as African nations like Sudan and Somalia implode. And in another great service to humanity, Schroeder and Chirac recently sought to lift the EU arms embargo on China. Here's a simple question: Is anyone else sick and tired of elitist European "journalists" like the people at Stern lecturing us about how the USA doesn't "care about the rest of humanity"?

Now for some bad news: This won't end anytime soon. Stern's readers can't go without a steady diet of America-baiting. Hatred is a part of their ideological existence and they expect the magazine to deliver the goods. So the financial motivation to print hate is enormous for Stern. It is one of the foundations of the publication's monetary existence...and no magazine can exist without an income.

Update: Die Welt and SPIEGEL ONLINE are reporting that Germans "want to donate little or nothing to victims of Hurricane Katrina." Both publications report that up to Friday the 9th, the Red Cross had only collected 790,000 EURO ($980,000) in all of Germany. That is less than Celine Dion donated to the Red Cross relief effort by herself! It is also less than rappers P-Diddy and Jay-Z are donating jointly. That is over five times less than Starbucks and Chevron have already pledged individually. Just further evidence that Germans care so much more about humanity than Americans!

Note: Be sure to check out our most recent post on Stern's coverage of Hurricane Katrina including all of the most recent updates. For those of you unfamiliar with "Stern", it is Germany's best-selling political weekly magazine. (Article by Ray D., hattip T_R)

Comments

[fuchur]

@Niko

"And when STERN editors only got so much space they have to 'select' which stories to run. It's just happenstance that almost always they end up running the anti-American stories, right? "

Wrong. Stern simply has ALL of its 'series' running on its website. Apparently they´re ordered chronologically, and due to limited webspace the older ones are kicked off the site.

[Bella]

As far as the Aid that foreign governments have pledged to help Katrina's victims, it appears that the state department and office of homeland security are having turf wars. A plane load of communications equipment (satellite phone and the like) has been sitting on the tarmac in Stockholm for 9 days because our Government can't get it together. This is a systemic problem and while it doesn't look good we were not singling out the Germany.

Let there be no doubt the help is very much appreciated!! And many thanks to THW, those guys are doing an excellent job pumping water out of New Orleans.

[Tom Penn]

Regarding Katrina, I don't care for the dime-counting and political back-biting. All aid is very much appreciated as we recover our dead and help the survivors rebuild their lives.

Most Americans know who our friends are: freedom-loving people around the world who stand by our side, wish us their best, and treat us as friends. May we always be worthy of them.

[Clavinca]

Many people in western Germany have forgotten all about the help they got from America after the second world war. Without Americas help, it would look just like eastern Germany today. Well, maybe a little bit better but not much...

[Helian]

>>”Really? Is that why the USA sacrificed the lives of hundreds of thousands of its sons and daughters to liberate Germany from National Socialism? Is that why the United States spent billions to defend and rebuild West German democracy for decades on end?"

“Ah - so fighting for its own interests is called "caring for others" today. I will remember that.”

You see a lot of this these days. You might call it the “Ban the Word Gratitude Campaign.” It comes from all the usual cynics who infer the same blackness in the hearts of others that they see in their own. You can always rationalize ingratitude. No matter how selfless or noble the deed, sophists will always be able to demonstrate “logically” that it was merely well-camouflaged selfishness. I don’t doubt that we Americans could just as easily rationalize away our greatest historical debts, and any need to feel gratitude towards our benefactors. Psychologists could write tomes (and probably already have) exploring the selfish motives that “actually” inspired heroes like Lafayette, von Steuben, Kosciusko, and Pulaski to risk their lives and fortunes for our freedom. Anthropologists could probably fill scholarly journals exposing the “selfish” motives of the German heroes of 1848 who came to America and laid down their lives in our Civil War to extend the blessings of liberty to all. I, for my part, will not read the psychological tomes or scholarly papers. I will always remember the sacrifices these and many others made for my country and the principles she stands for, and I will certainly feel disgust and humiliation if any of my countrymen ever have the abject ingratitude to rationalize their gifts to me and my country as “selfish.” For our worthy readers in the “Ban the Word Gratitude Campaign,” who can understand nothing that is not inspired by the most ignoble of motives, I point out that my attitude, itself, is not entirely noble or selfless. It’s very simple, really. If someone does something for you, it’s wise to feign gratitude, even if you lack the capacity to actually feel it. After all, it’s in your own interest. People aren’t normally too motivated to help abject ingrates the second time they get in trouble.

[amiexpat]

>>”Really? Is that why the USA sacrificed the lives of hundreds of thousands of its sons and daughters to liberate Germany from National Socialism? Is that why the United States spent billions to defend and rebuild West German democracy for decades on end?"

“Ah - so fighting for its own interests is called "caring for others" today. I will remember that.”

Uh, Zyme?
The Russians also acted 'in their own interests' in Eastern Germany..
who got the better deal - east or west Germany? or are you one of those idiots who think the DDR was paradise?
I don't expect gratitude, I expect a little perspective.
The US could have implemented the MOrganthau plan, but it didn't.
The US could have plundered West Germany, but it didn't.
maybe it was in American interests to do so, but don't you think it a little strange that its two arch enemies in World War II (60 years is NOT that long ago) are now the second and third largest economic powers in the world? The Americans helped with that (the Japanese and Germans busted their butts on rebuilding too and can be damn proud of it), but the evil Amis were in a position to keep that from happening. Instead they allowed (yes and did help) the two societies to rebuild prosper and flourish.
maybe it was 'self interest' but there is a concept called 'enlightened self interest'.

I really don't think the USSR was QUITE so generous with the Warsaw pact.. and they were also acting 'in their own interests'.

You say it was an 'occupation' and not a 'liberation'.
Geez the Germans really have suffered under the American 'occupation',
haven't they? They have suffered SO much that when their occupiers want to leave, the locals say 'NO PLEASE DONT GO'.
They have suffered so much that they are the 2nd (or is it third) largest economy in the world. As I said, much of that is due to German elbow grease sweat and hard work, but the Amis certainly could have prevented it now, couldn't they?
The Kurds are being 'occupied' right now by the Americans..
and yes there are problems, but by and large they love American 'imperialism'.

Mark Twain once said.. if you give a starving man something to eat and a starving dog something to eat, there is one difference.. the dog will not bite you..
after seeing germany's behavior the past few years, I think Mark Twain was a pretty good student of human nature.

But to be honest having met many Germans and more than a few Kurds, I really don't think in 50 years the Kurds will be QUITE so hateful as the Germans are.

as I said before, Zyme, you really are a piece of work.

[Mitch]

David, maybe a better translation of "And its people could care less about the rest of humanity" would be "and they won't do what we tell them to."

[tankerboy]

Last week, my wife was given free clothes and discounts for others by the NKD in Parsberg. She was in the NKD to buy clothes for her parents that were flooded out in New Orleans. I think your average German is not an idealogue. Don't get hung up on the views of their politicians. My response to people complaining about the negative views of German politicians and media would be "So what?". What impact will it have on anything that matters? I have a Chihuahua that barks a lot but it doesn't hurt when it bites. I am more concerned about my neighbor's Schafer Hund that doesn't bark but always gives me a mean look. The last 60 years have turned the Germans into a bunch of grass eaters which is a good thing. Germans killed roughly 350K Americans in the last century. This makes Osama bin Laden look like an amateur.

[playertwo]

ok, isnt it "couldN"T" care less"?
have the scribblers class really left the planet or what?
I care so little that I COULDNT care less, now that the sternspielgel idioten have barked maybe they know the typo would give them an out?

its just this simple. rich people are cowards and the US is an easy target. its like a child attacking its mother because it knows that nothing bad will really happen to it because the mother HAS to love it or look like a bad parent.

its called a back handed compliment dave!!!

I once heard a comedian say that going to war with Canada (or Germany etc) is like "take our kid to work day".
When they do something right its like "what a good little soldier you are!!"

Americans know we take on more than our share and we like it. Its the dark secret of modern foreign affairs. The Euros act pissed but can then spend the money they save on their pig wives and bloodthirsty "rent-a-minorities" (that act so stupid, but will jump on a plane in a second to go on vacation back at hell-hole-of-the-week").
Its all a scam perpetrated by super rich pampered children that will never have to grow up.
and the bottoom line: if you didnt care Dave, no one would...

Do I care what suburban housewives in Birmingham worry about? (I'm here in Detroit)
No.
Why?
Because they live in a dream world and don;t deserve my concern.

We Americans are made up of all the people in the world that come here. we have this innate "rescue" reflex where we can make up for anything we lack by helping others. We just dont worry about how the morons got themselves stuck in the tree, that part doenst matter to us. Maybe it should, or maybe it shouldnt. Millions of dollars are headed to the Big Easy and years of employment were created by the hurricane (SPELLED: G-O-D!!. Thats the big picture everyone misses.

Reggie Bush plays for the Saints. Where? In a newly rebuilt superdome paid for by taxpayers that live in Idaho or Eugene Oregon.
Do you hear one eurosnob bringing any of that up?
No, they just ant the cheap shot because they are spoiled opportunists that think we can't see them for what they are.

Oh, but we do...

When you remover the hated from the haters, they will hate themselves.
Europe has no more hills to climb. compared the life they were leading just fifty years ago, they are set for life.
do you think they will ever give credit for that? What with all the guilt and ingratitude they have shown? Its just not human nature, let alone German nature( whatever that is... national character is a racist myth, however flattering,right?).

Thanks for keeping an eye on these clowns, it is interesting, but a pinch a salt, bro!