German esteem builder backfires

LONDON DAILY TELEGRAPH ^ | November 26, 2005 | Kate Connolly

[baystaterebel]

BERLIN -- A multimillion-dollar campaign to boost Germans' low self-confidence has backfired after it emerged that its slogan was coined by the Nazis. The $34 million "Du Bist Deutschland -- You Are Germany" -- campaign was devised to inspire Germans to stop moaning and do something good for their country. Beethoven, Einstein and the sports stars Franz Beckenbauer and Michael Schumacher have been cited in advertisements encouraging Germans to take more pride in their homeland. But a historian from Ludwigshafen has provoked an uproar with his discovery that the same "Du Bist Deutschland" cry was used at Nazi rallies in the 1930s.

[Schweinhund]

ja, nobody can take our most refined self hate psychosis! certainly not you uncivilised thugs ^^

but really...this campaign was just straight up stupid. you can't force a country to analyze nazi propaganda for 50 years and then try to feed them any propaganda again. the campaign did everything right it could do right (including black and turkish celebities in the main campaign tv ad, avoiding any political direction, not sounding too positive but determined), but nobody could see how this campaign was to solve anything. the best it could do was to give somebody a good feeling until he has to meet his problems and deal with them again.

general opinion was that the kind of money spent on the campaign could have been spent better...that it was just a waste of money. our mentality never was the problem.

yes, we still need more time to love our country again. we did not wait for absolution from anyone. our fathers comitted genocide and now we live in their footprints. we have not dealt with that yet, okay?

and we must deal with high and rising unemployment, a desolate east germany that needs billions of euro as transfers per year, structural political problems that go so deep maybe only a big coalition can solve them, ecetera.

one half self hate, other half realistic diagnosis of the situation. when problems get named without continuosly relativating one's situation, they might actually be solved faster, although thats optimism again. and optimism is close to military parades. we don't do military parades no more.

and it's not right that we taunt the british. they bring up the subject of personal psychosis (war>our fathers>genocide) and when we act psycho they feel uncomfortable. that's not fair ^^

[Schweinhund]

>>>It seems Goebbels was considered the most intelligent Nazi.

yeah, next to hitler there was no man more powerful in germany at that time i think. you could say he was hitler's spin doctor. one of the first to use radio and cinema as manipulative instruments, long before the US had yellow alert on their home entertainment ^^

[Smile-n-Win]

As a German, I don´t give a sh** about this "news". The Nazis used the German language, should I refuse to use my mother-language because of that?

No, but perhaps you should stop cheering along when you hear collectivist slogans.

As soon as Germans start saying things like "You are an individual" instead of "You are Germany," they won't have to worry about sounding like Nazis.

[Michael81Dus]

So you too, Brutus??

I mean, WE don´t force our children to repeat a Pledge of Allegiance... WE don´t show our flags at every corner anymore. And you call us "Nazi-alike". I don´t reproach America being undemocratic and this should be on the reciprocity-principle.

What is wrong with promoting more self-responsibility? This is exactly the message of that great campaign.

[x]

This is unfortunate -- also more than a little silly. While there are German words and expressions that have been tainted by Hitler and the Holocaust, "du bist" isn't among them.

You can see photos of the Ludwigshafen banner, apparently a local initiative, and the modern ad campaign here.

[Katya]

I was born there and couldn't care less...the bashing of late is usually well deserved.

[Schweinhund]

Deine Mudda is usually well deserved.

[Smile-n-Win]

WE don´t force our children to repeat a Pledge of Allegiance...

Force??

WE don´t show our flags at every corner anymore.

There is nothing wrong with displaying a flag, as long as that flag stands for the sanctity of the rights of the individual. I don't want Germans to hide their flags; I would like to see Germans being proud of a flag that deserves being proud of.

And you call us "Nazi-alike"

What I am saying is that it is not just an unfortunate coincidence that this slogan happened to be the same as one that Nazis once used. The similarity of the slogans is due to the similarity of the thinking: The Nazis saw "the German people" as one unit instead of many individuals, and that is what made them use the singular "Du" in combination with "Deutschland." The initiators of this modern campaign still seem to hold the same mistaken premise, and thus it is no surprise that they employ the same grammatical construct.

I don´t reproach America being undemocratic

America is a republic, not a democracy. A republic--a nation under the rule of law--is a good thing. A democracy--a tyranny of the majority of the moment--is a bad thing.

and this should be on the reciprocity-principle.

I'll reproach whomever deserves being reproached.

What is wrong with promoting more self-responsibility? This is exactly the message of that great campaign.

How does "You are Germany" translate to you being responsible for yourself ? The message of the slogan is that you are responsible for "Germany," including all Germans who are too lazy to get a job etc. Same old same old.

[alarm rider]

Michael,

Respectfully, I know how you teach history. I have a close friend that was a teacher in the German school system for years.

I also know that a refusal to look at all the facts, both pro and con will at some point come back to haunt you. There is just too much information out there now, many internet sites that discuss German history from a factual perspective in a balanced manner.

And by the way, I have been to Germany many times.

Regards,
AR

[NeoCaveman]

Just because Hitler did something doesn't necessarily make it verboten does it. I mean if he had instituted a flat tax (he didn't) would that mean they shouldn't do it again.

Just for clarification: if they start goose-stepping and building "camps" that would be a bad thing.

But trying to get a little nationalism promoted is not necessarily a bad thing

[RJL]

But a historian from Ludwigshafen has provoked an uproar with his discovery that the same "Du Bist Deutschland" cry was used at Nazi rallies in the 1930s.

Some things are iconic, it appears that this "Du Bist Deutschland" was not. Only after research by a historian did anyone realize this had been used by the Nazis.

WWII ended sixty years, or almost three generations ago, it's time to put it in the past. Never forget, but it's well past time to move on.

[RJL]

The lesson: accept your nationality and do the best you can to be proud of your homeland!

Michael, I agree, please see my post 71.

Thank you for your input here on Free Republic.

[Iris7]

There is truth in what you say. People do so much want to belong.

My wife describes it as "people want to be loved". I see that almost all people can't wait to give up whatever critical thinking they can muster for acceptance, that is, validation, by and from the group. This is both fortunate in that it allows group cohesion instead of radical non-social atomization and unfortunate in that identification becomes identity. Good old "alienation" and "belonging".

People even attempt a tribal bond through "alienation", as in the Left and therefore as in National Socialism. The "herd animal" metaphor is all too apt.

Morton Rhue is pushed by the public schools over here as I am sure he is over there. Personally I do not find him at all interesting nor convincing.

Many things came together to produce the Third Reich and even more opinions have formed about cause and effect. Myself what I see is that fear and anger (the two sides of the same coin) are the most powerful motivations for all of us and require us to desire more control over the events we experience. To have more control of events means increasing our control of other persons and of the rest of nature. Call it "will to power". Call it "original sin". Call it "the agony of weakness". Call it "the human condition". Call it "human nature". Call it "the thirst for justice". Call it "We're all Stars now, in the Dope Show" as Marilyn Manson put it.

As far as Germany goes, the French have been manipulating your politics since at least Cardinal Richelieu and the death of Wallenstein. I would think this has become tedious.

If somehow you might want my advice (how droll) remember that all individuals, all peoples, families, whatever, can only build using the available materials, and the available materials are ourselves and the rubble of the past. All virtue is first honesty with ourselves and then with others.

[Iris7]

My take on German Politics - The Big Picture (worth maybe a late Weimar pfennig) is that Schroeder is a lier. Merkel is better.

Mitteleuropa is a high culture with very much to offer the future. If you Germans don't work to preserve it then it will die. So knock of the navel gazing. Work. You folks know what to do. Remember your patrimony. It is not for wasting.

We have monster problems over here. Wish us good fortune and God's Blessing. I wish them for you.

[Coleus]

oops!

is that a purpose of government: To boost self esteem in its citizenry?

[Michael81Dus]

America is a democratic Republic. It isn´t a democracy, but democratic (Organisation Republican, within this organisation, the decisions are made democratic).

Gladly, it is not on you to decide whether our flag deserves being proud of or not.

Du bist Deutschland says nothing else but that you are a part of the whole, and that you contribute to the failure or success of the whole. Is every collectivist idea wrong? Is cheering in a stadium wrong? In my opinion only, if you cheer a criminal.

The campaign Du bist Deutschland is not only the slogan, but a 2-minute ad. There´s lots of text, which you can read here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1492681/posts

One sentence is "don´t ask what the others can do for you. You are the others. You are Germany!"

For me, this pretty much promotes self-responsibility.

[The Red Zone]

But a historian from Ludwigshafen has provoked an uproar with his discovery that the same "Du Bist Deutschland" cry was used at Nazi rallies in the 1930s.

It took a historian to notice and say something?

[hershey]

Dear Michael181/dus,

Keep cool, if we can't laugh at ourselves once in a while we're in real trouble.

[Michael81Dus]

I´ve read Rhue in school. It was helpful to read that it´s not the "German attitude" to follow the wrong leaders.
The wave basically says that (almost) nobody is immune against that kind of propaganda.

The rest of your post is wise.

[Michael81Dus]

In post #1 there´s the text of the campaign. I can see nothing wrong with it.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1492681/posts

Thanks for your nice words! :)