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What motivates German critics of the United States? Writer Alexander

Grau has some suggestions that might be hard for Germans to listen to.

 

 

The United States is the Only Guarantor of German Liberty (Cicero, Germany)

 

"The new anti-Americanism is an old anti-Americanism. Its origins cannot be found in the NSA, or with George W. Bush, or with Ronald Reagan, but rather in the political romanticism of the 19th Century and its aversion to Western civilization, individualized mass society, the mechanization of all areas of life, and the cold rationalism of modern capitalism. ... Let's not kid ourselves. In the final analysis, every free person in this world has only one protector and defender: The United States of America. Those with doubts should place themselves under the protection of Russia or China - whose intelligence services act no differently than America's, by the way."

 

By Alexander Grau

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Translated By Stephanie Martin

 

May 12, 2014

 

Germany - Cicero - Original Article (German)

This poster from between the First and Second World Wars calls for German 'freedom' from the constraints imposted by the Versailles Treaty. Alexander Grau writes that German conceptions of freedom are are far different from those felt in the United States.

 

C-SPAN VIDEO: VIDEO: Professor Max Paul Friedman on 'Rethinking Anti-Americanism,' April 1, 2013, 00:10:04RealVideo

On the occasion of Merkel's Obama visit, there was again a revival of anti-Americanism in Germany. At the same time, the U.S. is the sole protector for every freedom-loving person in this world.

 

Not since the Second World War have German-American relations been worse. On this point, most commentators agree. There is also a general consensus on the causes of the disagreement: The presidency of George W. Bush, Afghanistan, the Iraq War, and of course, the NSA affair. All have, according to a more or less broad consensus in the media, profoundly shaken Germany’s trust in the United States, the initial enthusiasm for President Obama notwithstanding.

 

This analysis falls short, however, and is based on a sham. German reservations with respect to the United States are older and go a lot deeper. The new anti-Americanism is an old anti-Americanism. Its origins cannot be found in the NSA, or with George W. Bush, or with Ronald Reagan, but rather in the political romanticism of the 19th century and its aversion to Western civilization, individualized mass society, the mechanization of all areas of life, and the cold rationalism of modern capitalism.

 

The United States as the seat of 'international finance Jewry'

 

The defeat in WWI made certain that anti-enlightenment, anti-Western currents in Germany dominated not only academic and literary discourse, but increasingly, political debate as well. The U.S. was stylized as a politico-cultural counter alternative, the un-German birthplace of a universally-corrosive modernity and center of merciless finance capitalism, home of "international finance Jewry."

 

That the U.S., as polls show, is more unpopular in Germany than anywhere else in Europe, is because of the Second World War. A bombing war and unconditional surrender threw Germans into a situation characterized by highly-ambivalent emotional conflict. Because West Germans, at least, were certainly aware that the wartime intervention of the Americans had saved Germany from the worst - total defeat t the hands of the Soviet Union. Accordingly, right after the war, there were corresponding levels of gratitude. The Marshall Plan and the "economic miracle" took care of the rest - superficially, at least.

 

Smoldering hatred erupted in the protests of '68

 

However, as sometimes occurs: What parents think subliminally but dare not speak is expressed that much more clearly by their children. So it was with the protesters of 1968, who had the privilege of articulating their latent smoldering hatred against America.

 

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SEE ALSO ON THIS:

Die Welt, Germany: The World Needs an America that 'Hunts Down Monsters'

Corriere Della Sera, Italy: 'Obama Prototype': Rome's First Black Emperor, Septimius Severus

FTD, Germany: 'Cult of the Founding Fathers' is Obscuring America's Worldview

Die Welt, Germany: Europe Must Step in for the 'Exhausted Empire'

Le Temps, Switzerland: The Danger of America's Diminished Appetite for Intervention Abroad

Rzeczpospolita, Poland: Who Can Replace America as the World's Policeman?

Le Monde, France: Obama and the Return to the Founding Fathers

Global Times, China: The West's Insulting Dismissal of China's Ancient History

La Repubblica, Italy: Game Change: Obama Comes Across as 'Non-Leader'

 

One needn't be a great psychologist to see the angry protests against the bombardment of Vietnam as an act of transference and as an attempt to find relief.  Those who for historic reasons didn't want to or were not able to protest the destruction of Germany were now given the opportunity to project their emotions in a seemingly innocuous fashion on the Far East.

 

A narcissistic pique

 

Psychologically speaking, contemporary German anti-Americanism is primarily the product of a profound narcissistic pique. The result is a pronounced anti-American neurosis that compels Germans to feel solidarity with any alleged victims of American aggression and American striving for dominance. The fact that this leads to bizarre declarations of solidarity with the world’s most repulsive autocrats - be it Saddam Hussein, Bashar al-Assad, or Vladimir Putin - only serves to confirm this theory in the most unpleasant fashion.

 

So it's no coincidence that since the 1970s, a more or less undisguised anti-Americanism has again become "good form" in Germany - even if one is symbolically expressing annoyance over American fast food culture, Disney, McDonalds, or Hollywood.

 

The NSA, George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, and Richard Nixon - they all just provided a pretext for activating old reflexes and confirming unwavering opinions. Those who trace back the origins of anti-American sentiments in Germany to U.S. policy are confusing cause and effect. It is the anti-American funhouse mirror which ensures that everything America does (or doesn't do) is perceived as a Yankee-like lack of scruples or as American ignorance - preferably a mixture of both.

 

From the German perspective, America stands for pretty much everything we frown upon: individualism, personal responsibility, mistrust of government, and capitalism. But the core of German anti-Americanism is the idea of freedom. The fact that it brings competition instead of the coziness of a social economy, and dissent instead of a cuddly consensus, is bad enough from the German point of view. But that one might have to defend it if need be, possibly using unsightly robust means, is not only beyond the German imagination, but also hits them at their weakest point.

 

So there is always something forced about declarations of German-American friendship - declarations that we will now once again experience. From a German perspective at least, they were from the very beginning born of sheer necessity. That is why, shortly after WWII, ways out of U.S. dependence were sought.

 

The E.U. cannot protect itself

 

The most obvious solution was an alliance a country that was equally enthralled with government and that has its own latent anti-American tendencies - France. Naturally, this was followed by the Elysée Treaty, the European Economic Community and the E.U. The European Union is ultimately a product of pan-Carolingian animosity toward the United States. In this respect, U.S. diplomat Victoria Nuland’s statement ("Fuck the E.U.") was quite understandable.

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Unfortunately, however, the E.U. can’t even protect itself, let alone take effective measures for its immediate geopolitical future. The necessary political will, economic power, and above all, military power, is lacking.

 

The U.S. as the indispensable protector and defender of liberty

 

In recent months, we have been able to observe just how dangerous American military, economic, or political weakness can be. Events in Ukraine are also the result of awkward political and power maneuvering under President Obama. It wasn’t only Syria that showed Putin that the current government of the United States is at best reluctantly ready to seriously stand up for the values it proclaims.  At least with regard to Ukraine, albeit somewhat belatedly, the U.S. nonetheless found its way back into the role of leading power of the Western world. The fact that this renewed steadfastness is precisely what makes the U.S. appear suspect to Germans and which causes the average affluent German to think of the criminally autocratic Putin with understanding and sympathy only reconfirms these German psychopathologies.

 

Let’s not kid ourselves. In the final analysis, every free person in this world has only one protector and defender: The United States of America. Those with doubts should place themselves under the protection of Russia or China - whose intelligence services act no differently than America's, by the way. There is one thing that Germans like to forget: When two parties do the same thing, it still isn't the same. In the final analysis, America’s power and America’s strength are the only guarantors of everything that is near and dear to us.

 

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Posted By Worldmeets.US May 12, 2014 4:39pm