Dialog International

The Myth of Nazi Gun Control

Tune into Fox News any time day or night and you will find frequent comparisons of President Obama to Adolf Hitler.  For just like Hitler, Obama wants to disarm the American people so that he can impose a Socialist/Fascist dictatorship.  The "Gun Control = Holocaust" meme is so pervasive that it is even invoked by Republican members of Congress. The premise is that Hitler was able to consolidate his power through implementing a gun registry, and then murder six million Jews by confiscating their weapons. It is an article of faith among American gun fetishists that "the first thing Hitler did was round up all the guns."

The myth of Nazi gun control was exploded already in 2004 by Bernard E. Harcourt in his article On Gun Registration, the NRA, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Gun Laws: Exploding the Gun Culture Wars (pdf warning) published in the Journal of the University of Chicago Law School.  It turns out, as Harcourt documents, that the Nazis relaxed many of the gun ownership restrictions that were put in place during the Weimar Republic (as required under the Versailles Treaty). And one could argue that the Nazi Party might not have successfully seized power if gun laws had been strictly enforced during the Weimar Republic, since Hitler had few problems procuring illegal weapons for his paramilitary troops such as the SA. 

It is true that after the Novemberpogrom of 1938 the Nazi regime expressly forbade Jews, gypsies, homosexuals and other "undesirables" from owning any weapons (Waffengesetz von 1938), but it is not clear at all that this had any significant effect on the persecution of Jews. And it is patently absurd to point to this as the cause of the Holocaust.  The Jews that were detained and then deported after 1938 tended to be older and less-well off; most Jews with any resources left Germany much earlier.  The deportation took place with the open or tacit approval and complicity of the vast majority of Germans; any act of armed resistance would have been completely futile.   In any case, most of the Jews who perished in in the Nazi death camps were non-Germans and not subject to the Waffengesetz. 

But don't expect any rational discussion of history to change the Gun Control = Holocaust hysteria.  There is a segment of white males in America who fantasize about using their AR-15 military assault rifles to mow down Obama's gay Muslim storm-troopers who will be coming to a neighborhood near you to take your guns. 

Review: Theodor Fontane Unwiederbringlich

Unwiederbringlich is one of five of Fontane's novels available for free in the Amazon Kindle store. The novel has been translated into English as No Way Back or No Return, but I prefer the more literal translation of the title: Irretrievable.  Written between 1887 and 1890, Unwiederbringlich is an elegant, finely crafted work of fiction - surely one of Fontane's best novels.  It is known as Fontane's "other" novel of marriage - the primary one being his masterpiece Effi Briest.  In Unwiederbringlich Fontane displays a mastery of the conventions and techniques of the 19th century novel - dialogue, letters, travelogue, even drama criticism - along with an almost modernistic psychological component of interior monologue. 

Unwiederbringlich deals with a troubled marriage. Count Holk and his beautiful wife Christine live in Holkenäs Castle on shores of the Baltic and outwardly seem to have a perfect life of privilege.  But after seventeen years of marriage there are clouds on the horizon and the happy days seem to be behind them. Their opposing natures - which no doubt brought them together in the first place ("opposites attract")  - is now the source of constant irritation.  Holk is a vital, good-looking, but rather superficial man, while his wife is a pious, brooding soul.  A child has been lost to illness, which weighs heavily on Christine; in general, she is obsessed with death.  Holk, on the other hand, is looking to realize some measure of happiness in his life, which is why he jumps at the chance to serve as a stand-in courtier in the Danish Court in Copenhagen (Schleswig was still under Danish rule at the time).

From this point the reader follows Holk to Denmark, while Christine recedes in the background, making her presence felt only through the occasional letter. Initially, it was hoped that a temporary separation would revitalize the marriage, and the couple could recapture their happiness through an intimate correspondence:

"Wie bei vielen Eheleuten, so stand es auch bei den Holkschen. Wenn sie getrennt waren, waren sie sich innerlich am nächsten, denn es fielen dann nicht bloß die Meinungsverschiedenheiten und Schraubereien fort, sondern sie fanden sich auch wieder zu früherer Liebe zurück und schrieben sich zärtliche Briefe."

(The Holks were very much like many married couples.  When they were apart, they were emotionally closest to each other. For not only did all the arguments and nagging vanish, but they were able to find their way back to their earlier feelings of love and wrote each other tender letters.)

Only this time  - and this is Fontane's brilliance - the letters have the opposite effect.  Holk tries to write breezy letters about his experiences in Copenhagen, but does a poor job of concealing his attraction to two of the women he encounters. Christine's letters chastise Holk for succumbing to the loose morals of the Danes, which only reinforces Holk's determination to pursue his own pleasure and dismiss his wife as an Eisberg. 

Despite his good looks and impeccable manners, Holk is ill-suited for he court. The princess values humor and sparkling, witty conversation above all else, and Holk has too much "German earnestness" to be the ideal courtier.  The object of his infatuation - the beautiful, clever lady-in-waiting Ebba Rosenberg -  is a shrewd judge of Holk's character:

"Er ist moralisch, ja beinah tugendhaft und schielt doch begehrlich nach der Lebemannschaft hinüber."

(He is a moral, even virtuous man, but he is envies the playboy lifestyle.)

Ebba's criticism doesn't stop her from seducing Holk - more out of boredom than anything else. 

The act of adultry, followed by a harrowing fire scene, would have tragic consequences.  Holk completely misreads Ebba's intentions, and returns to Holkenäs Castle to end his marriage with Christine in one of the most dramatic scenes in German fiction. 

By the time, several years later, Holk and Christine attempt to reconcile and renew their marriage vow, Christine, in her suffering and devout faith, takes on almost saintly qualities.  She is practically worshiped by the town folk:

"Alle hielten Körbe in Händen und streuten Blumen über den Weg, einige aber, die dem Ansturm ihrer Gefühle nicht wehren konnten, warfen die Körbe beiseite und drängten sich an Christine heran, um ihr die Hand oder auch nur den Saum des Kleides zu küssen. »Sie machen eine Heilige aus mir«, sagte die Gräfin..."

(They were all holding baskets in their hands and tossing flowers on the path. But some, who couldn't contain their emotions threw their baskets to the side and pressed forward to kiss Christine's hand, or just the hem of her dress. "They're making me out to be a saint," the countess said.)

And when the countess drowns herself in the Baltic, the transfiguration is complete. Christine is angelic in death, the death she had longed for from the beginning:

"Der Ausdruck stillen Leidens, den ihr Gesicht so lange getragen hatte, war dem einer beinah heiteren Verklärung gewichen, so sehr bedürftig war ihr Herz der Ruhe gewesen."

(The expression of pure suffering, which had marked her face for so long, had given way to an almost blithe transfiguration, so desperate was her heart for peace.) 

In typical Fontane fashion, the novel does not judge Holk too harshly for his tragic misteps.  Indeed, Holk is depicted sympathetically throughout much of the novel, while Christine is drawn as a bit over the top in her sentimental piety.  And the reader senses that Fontane is more attracted to the gay opulence of the court than to the spartan dreariness of Holkenäs Castle. It is this ambiguity which makes Unwiederbringlich such a pleasure to read nearly 125 years after it was written.

Unwiederbringlich takes place against the backdrop of the conflict between Denmark and Prussian, which eventually erupted into war in 1863.  The events in the novel take place long before the war, but the political tensions are much discussed and I had difficulty in following all of the intrigue.  But it has peaked my curiosity to read more about this fascinating history.  Fontane himself was an expert on the history and wrote Der Schleswig-Holsteinische Krieg im Jahre 1864 - which I've put on my reading list.

Americans Less Healthy, Die Younger Than Germans

The National Research Council released an alarming report on the health of Americans.  America ranks at or near the bottom among affluent democracies in a number of key health areas, including infant mortality and low birth weight; injuries and homicides; teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections; prevalence of HIV and AIDS; drug-related deaths; obesity and diabetes; heart disease; chronic lung disease; and disability. In terms of life expectancy, American men and women die younger than any European country. See chart (pdf warning). 

Clearly, America's gun culture plays a role in the early death statistics: 

Besonders erstaunlich ist, dass sich an dem schlechten Abschneiden kaum etwas ändert, wenn man nur weiße, nicht rauchende US-Amerikaner mit College-Ausbildung, gutem Einkommen und Krankenversicherung betrachtet. Die Forscher fordern jetzt eine nationale Diskussion über die Ursachen. Dass 69 Prozent aller Morde mit Schusswaffen begangen werden, zeigt eine Verbindung zu der aktuellen Diskussion zum Thema Waffenbesitz.

(It's especially surprising that the poor statistics hardly change when you look at just white, non-smoking Americans who have a college detree, good income and health insurance.  The researchers call for a national discussion concerning the causes. The fact that 69% of all murders are committed with firearms points to a connection with the current discussion concerning gun ownership.)

 

Undoubtedly, there are regional differences as well.  I spend a great deal of time in New York City, where people are generally much more physically fit since they walk everywhere and take public transportation.  Also, New York has one of the lowest murder rates thanks to strict gun control laws.  The situation is very different in places like Mississippi, where morbidly obese men and women have gun racks on their pick-up trucks that they drive to fast-food outlets..

 In most places, a report like this would provoke a national outcry and much hand-wringing. How can we help our fellow citizens?  But the United States is not like most places.  Here, Republican politicians vow to repeal the Affordable Care Act - aka "Obamacare" - which would provide insurance coverage to 30 million additional Americans.; the gun lobby will block any meaningful restrictions on firearms; Coca-Cola launches a multi-million ad campaign to reassure the public that is sugar-laden products are "health food".  And if you should be a victim of gun violence, or die from some disease caused by eating unhealthy food - well, that's too bad.  You're living - or rather dying -  in the Land of the Free, my friend. 

 

Right-Wing Weekly Junge Freiheit: Natural Gas Fracking Could Save US, Sink Germany

Anti-Americanism is a hallmark of both the left and the far-right in Germany.  The völkisch-national Berlin weekly Junge Freiheit has always been hostile to the United States and its powerful influence on postwar Germany.  Recently, the paper noted with some satisfaction that the US is in decline - in part due to the influx of dark-skinned immigrants - and that this represents a chance for Germany to exert its "sovereignty" by approaching up and coming authoritarian super-powers - such as Russia and China. 

"Von kommenden Schwellenländern ist statt dessen die Rede, vor allem von China. Und es würde sich auch für die deutsche Politik, so sie denn souverän wäre, die Frage stellen, ob man nicht auf den Verfall des Hegemons reagieren könnte, statt mitgerissen zu werden. Ob man nicht also neue Freiheiten nutzen könnte, zum Beispiel um geopolitische Fühler in Richtung Rußland und China auszustrecken. Hierüber ließe sich trefflich diskutieren."

For Junge Freiheit and other right-wing Germans, America is a multi-cultural nightmare, where Jews and other ethnically inferior groups mix freely with Aryans.  Here they echo the views of Adolf Hitler, who referred to Americans contemptuously as a "mongrel race".  And this has had a pernicious influence on Germany, which itself is in danger of succumbing to Multi-Kulti. Thus America's alleged demise is a chance for Germany to rediscover and embrace its own pure ethnic heritage and culture.

But there are clouds on the horizon which threaten this racial idyll.  The discovery of huge natural gas reserves in America, along with the controversial "fracking" extraction technique could rescue the American "hegemon":

Landbesitzer, Gasindustrie und Bauunternehmer wittern jedenfalls schon Morgenluft. Ein Jobwunder könnte in Gang gesetzt werden, wenn sich die USA anschicken, zum weltgrößten Gasproduzenten aufzusteigen. Die USA könnten sich auf diese Weise finanziell sanieren, ihren Lebensstil aufrechterhalten und hätten außerdem noch das schlagkräftigste Militär und den Dollar als Leitwährung in den Händen.

(Property owners, the gas industry and construction companies are excited by this opportunity. This could lead to a miracle of job creation and the US could become the largest producer of natural gas in the world.  Through this the US could rehabilitate its financial situation, maintain its lifestyle, and retain the most powerful military, along with the dollar as the leading currency.)

If America succeeds in its quest to become the world's energy superpower, this would spell doom for Germany:

"Somit stellt sich Frage, was überhaupt noch getan werden kann, wenn der Fracking-Coup gelingen sollte und diese Lebensweise noch 100 oder 200 Jahre weiterlaufen würde. Und nicht mal eine Klimakatastrophe dieses Zerstörungswerk aufhalten könnte, worüber sich hiesige „Konservative“ sogar noch freuen. Nun, die große nivellierende Maschine wird wohl unser wirtschaftlich absteigendes Land gänzlich umpflügen, die Pflugschar noch tiefer in die Erde treiben, bis jeder traditionelle Restbestand kleingehackt worden ist. Und alles im Namen von Freiheit und Individualität. Der Deutsche, so man ihn überhaupt noch identifizieren kann, findet sich dann als trendgesetteter Amerikaner dritter Klasse wieder."

(So this leads to the question about what can be done if the "fracking-coup" succeeds and this way of life will go on for 100 or 200 years. And not even a climate catastrophe can stop it, which would please our so-called "conservatives" here.  So the great leveling machine will no doubt plow up our country, leading to economic decline, and the plow will plunge deeper into the eary until every traditional cultural relic is chopped into pieces. And all this in the name of freedom and individuality. And if the German is to have any identity it will be as a third-class American trend-follower.)

I have to say, as an American, that I am excited about this prospect of new "Thousand Year Reich."

 

Jakob Augstein a "Top Ten Anti-Semite"

According to the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Augstein, publisher of Der Freitag, son of Der Spiegel founder Rudolf Augstein, and himself a Spiegel-columnist, is one of the world's top ten anti-Semites, along side other personalities like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and groups such as Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood (see the list- pdf). BY including Augstein on this list, the Wiesenthal Center has made a big mistake; it diminishes the Center's important work and demeans the concept of "anti-Semitism".  There is nothing "anti-Semitic" about any of Jakob Augstein's writings.  Like many Liberal thinkers within Israel, Augstein has been highly critical of Israel's settlement policies and the positions of Bibi Netanyahu.  His criticism of Israel - still something of a taboo in Germany - has enraged LIkud apologists, who are eager to excoriate Germans for any hint of ant-Semitism. 

In this case, the Simon WIesenthal Center has overreached, and even conservative publications like the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung have come to Augstein's defense: 

In seinen Texten geht es nicht um die Juden und nicht um den Juden. Er propagiert keine Gewalt, zieht keine Traditionslinien und operiert nicht mit Vorurteilen. Was er kritisiert, ist nicht das Symptom eines in der Existenz der Juden oder Israels wurzelnden Übels, sondern das Resultat politischer Entscheidungen der aktuellen israelischen Regierung. Ein Vergleich seiner Zitate auf der Homepage des SWC mit denen der anderen aufgeführten Personen macht diesen entscheidenden Unterschied sofort deutlich.

("There is nothing in his writings about Jews or "the Jew".  He does not advocate violence, doesn't draw on lines of tradition and doesn't operate with any prejudice.  He's not criticizing some fundamental evil rooted in the existence of Jews or Israel, but rather the result of political decisions made by the current Israeli government.  A comparison with the other people or groups on the list makes this distinction clear.")

Why did the Wiesenthal Center turn their attention to Jakob Augstein?  It turns out they were influenced by none other than Henryk Broder  - a notorious Islamophobe who makes a nice living in Germany by smearing anyone who disagrees with him as an anti-Semite (an effective technique for stifling discourse in Germany). Henryk Broder was an inspiration to the Norwegian mass-murderer Anders Behring Breivik.  Last year, when the writer and anti-Muslim activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali expressed sympathy for Breivik in a speech given in Berlin, Broder gave her a standing ovation. 

Down and Out in Kronberg and Neukölln

DIe Zeit has two interesting articles that illustrate the growing divide between the affluent and the poor in Europe's wealthiest economy.  Zeit reporter Henning Sußebach and a female companion went underground for a week as a homeless couple in need of shelter (she is pregnant) and food in two very different places.  What they experience is eye-opening, but not entirely unexpected.  The experiments take place a year apart during the Advent season- the season of giving.

In December 2011 Henning and Viola turn up as a homeless couple in need of assistance in Kronberg, a wealthy enclave of bankers, hedge fund managers and tax attorneys just outside of Frankfurt (a suburb comparable to Greenwich, Connecticut (Maria und Josef im Ghetto des Geldes). They walk in the rain from one luxury hotel to another looking for a place to sleep - but there is no room at the inn.  For the most part, the hotel staff is horrified at their presence, afraid the couple's raggedy appearance would disturb the well-heeled guests. Mostly, the couple is invisible in this affluent community - the Mercedes and the SUVs whizz by them with hardly anyone taking notice.  Occasionally a child will blurt out what the parents are surely thinking: "Mama! Da sind wieder die faulen Feiglinge." ("there they are again, the lazy cowards.")  For in the winner-take-all society, the losers have only themselves to blame for their dire predicament. 

The couple does get some help - from a Turkish gardener speaking broken German, from a low-level hotel employee, from a maid in the one of the bankers' mansions. The local Lutheran minister, working on his Christmas sermon, turns them away, but does give them a bag of food and 20 euros.

Finally, the couple crashes a charity event at one the posh hotels:

Es gibt zahllose Charity-Zirkel in Kronberg, aufwendig inszeniert und dokumentiert. Im Internet finden sich Bilder von Vorstandschefs in karger Krankenhauskulisse und Managern mit dunkelhäutigen Babys auf dem Arm. Die Konkurrenz scheint so groß zu sein, dass man schon Mehrfachbetroffenen helfen muss, um überhaupt aufzufallen. Nur Kinder in Bangladesch reichen nicht, sie müssen auch noch blind sein. Indirekte Hilfe wird bevorzugt – also verbunden mit Festlichkeit und Spenden nach möglichst weit weg. Bangladesch, Sri Lanka, Peru.

(There are countless charity organizations in Kronberg, elaborately staged and documented.  In the Internet you find pictures of board members in primitive hospitals and managers holding dark-skinned babies. The competition is apparently so great that you need to find those who are doubly disadvantaged to help if you want to get noticed.  It's not enough to help children in Bangladesh - they need to be blind as well.  Indirect help is much preferred - combined with festivities and donations for those as far as away as possible: Bangladesch, Sri Lanka, Peru. ) 

One year later, in December 2012, Henning Sußebach and a female reporter decide to try out their homeless experiment in one of the worst slums of Berlin - Neukölln (Maria und Josef in Neukölln ).  Neukölln is a neighborhood of mostly immigrants and is considered a high-crime area.  Here the couple has no difficulty finding a place to sleep or a hot shower.  People give them food, money, dry socks.  They are not invisible, for the residents identify them as their own.

In Neukölln kann niemand dem anderen ausweichen. Bleibt man einfach mal sitzen im Rein und Raus der Teestuben, wird klar, wie viel Verbindlichkeit sich im scheinbar unverbindlichen Trubel versteckt: Viele Gäste werden mit Handschlag über die Theke hinweg begrüßt, der Chef erkundigt sich, wie es den Kindern geht, Schüler brüten über ihren Hausaufgaben – und die Frage »Was geht, Alter?« ist mehr als Ghettokid-Folklore. Uns helfen vor allem jene, die »parterre geblieben« sind, wie die Berliner sagen, auch charakterlich nicht abgehoben.

(In Neukölln there is no way of avoiding each other. Just try sitting in the hustle and bustle of a tea room and it is clear how many human connections there are in the apparent confusion. Many patrons are greeted with a handshake across the counter, the boss asks how the kids are, the children struggling with their homework - and just asking the question "How are things going, old man?" is more than just a ghetto-kid folk tale. It is those at the "bottom of the stairs", as the Berliners say, who are the most eager to help us.) 

So what was the point of this "experiment", and what was learned?  It is the old story of 'The Rich Young Man / der reiche Jüngling from the Bible  (Luk. 18, 18-23; Mark. 10, 17-22; Matth. 19, 16-22):

"Als Jesus auf die Straße hinausgetreten war, kam ein vornehmer Jüngling herzu, kniete vor ihm nieder und fragte ihn: “Guter Meister! was soll ich Gutes tun, damit ich das ewige Leben erlange?” Jesus entgegnete ihm: “Was nennst du mich gut? (Und) was fragst du mich über das Gute? Niemand ist gut als nur einer, Gott. Willst du aber  zum Leben eingehen, so halte die Gebote.” Er sprach zu ihm: “Welche?” Jesus antwortete: “Die Gebote kennst du: Du sollst nicht töten, nicht ehebrechen, nicht stehlen, kein falsches Zeugnis geben, nicht betrügen. Ehre deinen Vater und deine Mutter und liebe deinen Nächsten wie dich selbst.” Der Jüngling antwortete ihm: “Meister, das alles habe ich von Jugend auf beobachtet; was fehlt mir noch?” Als Jesus dieses hörte, blickte er ihn liebreich an und sprach: “Eins fehlt dir noch: Willst du vollkommen sein, so geh hin, verkaufe alles, was du hast, und gib es den Armen, und du wirst einen Schatz im Himmel haben; dann komm und folge mir nach.” Als der Jüngling das hörte, ward er betrübt und ging traurig hinweg; denn er besaß viele Güter."