From time to time I receive an English language publication - The German Times - put out by the German Embassy in Washington DC. The most recent issue has several articles on the fallout from the Fake News pieces by the former star journalist at Der Spiegel Claas Relotius. The writer Tanja Dückers writes about how the highly-acclaimed fake pieces by Relotius both reflected and fuel anti-Americanism in Germany:
"How deeply anchored and socially acceptable this unsophisticated anti-American resentment has become is evidenced by the success of the now-disgraced Der Spiegel journalist, Claas Relotius, who enjoyed particular acclaim for his invented reporting on exceedingly unlikeable Americans. It went over well."
Anti-Americanism in Germany is deep-seated and reflexive - especially among intellectuals.
"Germans’ prejudices with regard to America have both a cultural and a psychological dimension. They see the US as the land of evil capitalists, of fatties and dummies, of the rude and the arrogant, of narcissists who care about nothing in the world except themselves, of women who chase after countless cosmetic surgeries, and of men who, like the character of Scrooge McDuck (an American invention), are interested only in money instead of art and moral values (as we Germans are). They see the US as the land of popcorn children and moronic Trump voters in the Midwest, where, in fact, half of the citizens did not vote for him."
Anti-Americanism is also well-entrenched also in the political class. Two of Germany's political parties - Die LINKE (The Left Party) and the AfD (Alternative for Germany) - call for Germany to end its alliance with the United States and embrace the corrupt ethno-kleptocracy of Vladimir Putin. These two parties represent over 20% of the German electorate. Too bad German politicians and intellectuals don't look beyond Donald Trump to many of the interesting things happening now in the United States: the vibrant start-up culture that has spread far beyond Silicon Valley, the embrace of social-democratic policies by the Democratic Party, which scored a huge victories in the 2018 mid-term elections, the energy and passion of American youth in organizing against gun violence, climate change, and economic inequality. These developments - and many others (America is a big country) - often go unreported in the German media:
"Intellectuals in Germany have considerably less to say about the reasons for America’s success, which is indeed not solely grounded in exploitation and imperialism. Despite all its shortcomings, the unbelievably inspiring degree of ethnic and cultural integration enjoyed by this vastly heterogeneous country, the high level of personal discipline exhibited by countless workers in the US as well as the willingness of many Americans to embrace sacrifice and risk are seldom mentioned."
For the time being German political leaders like Oscar Lafontaine and Sara Wagenknecht will continue to use their iPhones to post anti-American screeds on Facebook and Twitter - while watching episodes of Breaking Bad on their iPads.
Could have been an interesting little piece, but it ends with a tu-quoque which, at this point in time, must be tired beyond death:
"For the time being German political leaders like Oscar Lafontaine and Sara Wagenknecht will continue to use their iPhones to post anti-American screeds on Facebook and Twitter - while watching episodes of Breaking Bad on their iPads."
The very iPhones and iPads that are produced in nominally communist China? Shouldn't Wagenknecht be okay with that? Watching a show whose premise hinges on the ineffectiveness and failure of the supposedly superior free-market US healthcare system? Maybe there is a point to German anti-americanism after all?
Posted by: Henry vK | June 12, 2019 at 11:03 AM
Well, Apple is an iconic American brand, and it's highly ironic that Oscar and Sahra use American devices and American social media platforms to attack America.
Also, very few Americans believe the US healthcare system is "superior". Hence the mass appeal of "Medicare for All".
Posted by: David | June 12, 2019 at 11:51 AM