Germany is currently again showing itself to be an astonishingly resilient nation. Anyone who confuses this with lethargy has not understood anything. A comment.
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Being proud of one’s own nation is not without its problems, especially in Germany. World Cup flags are okay. But please no folly and blood-and-soil imagery, no chauvinism and whimpers of superiority.
A tiny bit of pride cannot be stifled. On predictability and stability. On civility and steadfastness. Wild Wutz rages around them, yes the political structure of the Germans remains. The SPD is weakening, the Greens are on the up, but the next Chancellor will probably be from the Union again. The only open question revolves around the coalition. Who would have thought?
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The global financial system collapses and banks have to be bailed out with taxpayers’ money. The euro, which is held to be stable, is falling into a tailspin, although it was said that it was as hard as the D-Mark. The NSA scandal reveals serious deficiencies in the defense against surveillance. Hundreds of thousands of refugees pour into the country. The corona pandemic leads to blatant restrictions on fundamental rights. A flood of the century claims human lives.
And the Germans? Stick to the euro, get vaccinated, donate for the flood victims and help on site. The AfD hardly exceeds ten percent nationwide and is consistently excluded from every government alliance.
The “lateral thinkers” are just loud
The excitement about the “lateral thinkers” bears no relation to their political potential. Record heats and forest fires are raising awareness of the climate crisis. But they do not generate revolutionary impulses – apart from the activists of “Fridays for Future”.
Elsewhere, politics can hardly withstand the storms. Donald Trump came to power in the USA, right-wing nationalists triumphed in Eastern Europe, and Great Britain left the EU. In France, the party system eroded, making Emmanuel Macron president. Only in Germany does everything stay as it was.
As word of the year, the “Society for German Language” was to choose the term “resilience” this year. This means the ability of people to react to sudden changes and breaks by adapting their behavior. The opposite of the resilient are the vulnerable. You will not find any remedy for the constant psychological stress.
