In a way, it’s a good thing Germany is now an aging and clapped out nation (with the exception of its youthful and vigorous immigrant population) — because otherwise, a new romantic quasi-religion that puts nature above man, and largely jettisons traditional conceptions of God? And attempts to assuage the growing tensions in its citizens by spawning a leviathan (to coin a phrase) welfare state? Didn’t this movie run continuously for about 12 years already in Germany many years ago?
Meanwhile, back in contemporary eco-Berlin:
LaFond and I pop our heads into a café called the Morgenrot (“Red Dawn”). There’s not a soul over thirty. Harried waitresses serve generously apportioned food to a mob of young people with dreadlocks. One wall is scrawled with news about some enviro–political demo.
AdvertisementBerlin has a strong anti–consumption ethic. In former West Berlin, in prosperous Charlottenberg, they’re proud of the KaDeWe department store, the glittering palace of consumption, with its cornucopian food court. In the old East, shopkeepers are almost apologetic about working for a buck. “People are suspicious of good service, advertising, or merchandising,” says a photographer friend. “It’s not a service economy—no apologies if something’s out of stock. They don’t take credit cards. If it smacks of the hard sell, it’s assumed you’re covering something up.”
I note an enticing bonbon in a shop run by a former journalist, but he steers me away from it as “nothing special.” An ex–anthropologist with a sometime gig as a tour guide takes me around town for the better part of a day and forgets to ask for money. When the Constitutional Court mandated in late 2009 that Sunday be an official day off, the Berlin–based Die Tageszeitung rejoiced: “The treadmill is closed for 24 hours. The court has given relaxation, rest, and ‘spiritual elevation’ precedence over the thirst for profit and the right to a consumer fix.”
I wander around Prenzlauer Berg for a few days, entranced. One day, I bop through the Mauerpark, with its motley flea market and crowds sprawled on the vast open sward, picnicking and listening to music. I pick up a handful of flyers, nothing different from what you’d see in, well, Boulder, Colorado, where I live—shiatsu, Jivamukti, feng shui, lomilomi, Gestalt, and qigong—but such fads strike many Berliners as pretentious. “You can’t just consume your way to a better world,” a left–wing filmmaker tells me. “Consumption is part of the problem. You can’t buy sustainability, you have to be it.”
Like I said, this is an article that in dead tree form appears in-between ads for luxury sports cars, high-end luggage, swanky leather goods, and designer clothes. (Or to borrow a line from Kate of the Small Dead Animals blog, “Gaia… Gala… I Can See How He’d Get Them Confused.”) Condé Nast magazines always shoehorn left-wing politics, however awkwardly, in between the interviews with celebrities and the fashion spreads, the Manhattan magazine equivalent of what John Nolte would call the Hollywood Sucker Punch. But does anybody get how deeply weird an anti-consumerist tract in the middle of one of the ultimate conspicuous consumption periodicals reads, for those of us who aren’t personally into green up to our eyeballs?
Last year, responding to Thomas Friedman’s seemingly weekly column on the glories of Red China, and flashing back to the American socialist pilgrims of the 1920s, Jonah Goldberg wrote:
What unites all of these people is a form of power worship. These foreign governments and their experts have control over citizens and economics — sometimes through democratic consent, sometimes not — that the state doesn’t have in America. Thus proving American backwardness.
But the track record of such control, over the long haul, is abysmal, particularly in comparison to America’s more unplanned approach (indeed, the world’s planned economies often feed off American innovation to survive). The Soviets are in the dustbin of history; Japan Inc. is in its second “lost decade”; Europe is in an economic crisis; China’s problems are hard to see because Beijing likes it that way. We have our own problems, but history shows the solution to them is not to be found in more centralized planning.
Politicians and planners have a tendency to lock into their idea of what works, long after it doesn’t work anymore. If our government had China-like power in the 1970s, we would have banned natural gas. If it had such powers in the 1830s, we would have stuck with canals long after railroads were viable.
The future can’t be found on a junket, and it never works until you get there.
But hey, think of the fun of planning such a jaunt — particularly with the help of sympathetic travel magazine.
Incidentally, maybe James Cameron could be persuaded to produce a documentary on the imagined nihilistic futuristic liberal fascistic wonders of eco-Berlin.
It might not sell on the big screen, but I bet he’d make a killing in the straight-to-DVD market.
Related: Oh, and speaking of Cameron, travel and radical environmentalism, “Where does James Cameron buy the fuel for his private jet?”
Update: To the PJM readers clicking in from Germany, thanks for stopping by. When Marc Barasch and his editors at Conde Nast attempted to use the phrase “Eco–Anschluss” and other moral equivalent of war arguments to bolster their radical environmentalism, they opened the door to ask, fellas, is that really the portion of World War II you want to claim environmentalism is the moral equivalent thereof? (And incidentally, I was none too thrilled when a Time magazine cover in 2008 attempted to tie-in their own radical environmentalism with the heroic moment of the Marines raising the flag on Iwo Jima, either.)
Late Update (10/1/10): Welcome Insta-readers clicking in from the Professor’s post titled, “Eco-Fascism Jumps The Shark.” For my thoughts on that subject, don’t miss “‘No Pressure:’ Fascistic New Video Red-Lines the Eco-Insanity Meter.”
The titular video in question makes Condé Nast’s article a triumph of good taste and restraint by comparison.
You are on fire tonight, Ed. Well said.
Whenever I read stuff like this, I am reminded of this George Orwell quote: “There are some ideas so wrong that only a very intelligent person could believe in them”.
Ed, more and more I believe that the fad for central planning and “power” is merely one aspect of the eternal class warfare in the White/European world, one not seen (certainly to this extent) among peoples of other races or cultures. You certainly don’t see this sort of naked class warfare in China, for example.
Conde Nast publications want to push a class distinction, you read the same thing in the Financial Times (particularly the Weekend Edition with the Arts and Culture Section and the House and Garden section), but you even see it in the Wall Street Journal. The idea is to consume, *of course*, but only things that an “Upper Class Toff/Snob” could consume. Thus locavorism, SWPL-ism, terminal hipsterism, and so on.
Germany *DOES* have some things to emulate. I am serious here. The sober, industrious, middle class managers, skilled workers, union officials, and the like used the 1990′s to get Germany’s labor costs in order. Spending a lot of money to close down un-economic East German stuff, and increase radically German worker productivity by massive new investments in capital equipment. During the worst of the crisis, the KurzArbeit (short-work) scheme of workers kept on half-schedules with subsidies from the government kept skilled workforces intact.
Yes Germany has horrid service. This is true in the West as well as the East. The Germans don’t “do” service. They make things. Principally very high-end machine tools and industrial equipment found nowhere else, of the highest quality, sold dearly. Along with a good side-business in chemicals, high quality steel, and other industrial basics. Germany is the #2 exporter of manufactured goods, in dollar terms, behind China. It is ahead of Japan.
Generally, in Germany, Switzerland, the Nordic countries (this is less true in Austria) it is seen as worthwhile to “make” things, and less worthy to provide service. That’s just the flip-side of a historic (French and English travelers said the same things in the 1800′s, the 1700′s, and so on) emphasis on manufactured exports over service.
This emphasis does have its good points.
The Green stuff is a farce though. A farce mainly marking membership in the Upper Classes I believe. Germany and German-Nordic countries are no more immune to class-conflict (Upper vs. Middle/Working) than the rest of the European/Anglo-sphere world.
Brilliant! I sent the piece to 3 friends including one left-winger whose parents were Holocaust survivors and who rarely speaks to me since he discovered last year that I was a climate denier.
Westerwelle appeals to small countries for UN Security Council seat http://bit.ly/dwjJmF
we had a bad experience in letting Germany recovered its voice at the League of Nations
and
http://www.turkishweekly.net/news/107842/berlin-pushes-turkey-39-s-eu-bid.html Berlin Pushes Turkey’s EU Bid -
Berlin is perfect for this.
Hitler was also preaching the virtues of preserving nature.
He was what the left would see as the perfect environmentalist wacko leftist — a gay, vegetarian, pro-Palestinian, Jew-hating Socialist
And of course, every leftist goes through his bearded Marxist phase and embraces the fantasyland ideal of Castro and Che’s Cuba. More recently, Thomas Friedman has had his heart set on China as the Next Big Thing, though he’s not quite ready to abandon his mansion just yet.
Several of my “progressive” colleagues have admitted privately that they believe the actual form and constitution of a government don’t really matter as much as whether the right people are in charge … and whether those Right People have the power to Do What Needs To Be Done when they find a problem that needs fixing. And by a fortunate coincidence, it happens that the Right People are precisely those wise individuals whose opinions match those of the speaker!
(That, by the way, is the reason the Soviet Union collapsed: the Right People weren’t in charge.)
I suspect this is part of the appeal of “progressivism,” especially to academics: If you’re smart, you must be progressive, and if you’re progressive, this demonstrates that you’re smart! Valdation all around, and you get the power and moral authority to run other people’s lives For Their Own Good …
Now I know what John Wayne meant in the cowboy movie when he smashed his rifle butt into a bad guy while saying “this is for you pilgrim” or some such; cheers;
whiskey,
You are right about Germany’s skilled workers and more reasonable trade unions, BUT companies like Siemens are now talking about facing a shortage of workers in the future. They can’t get enough qualified apprentices and not enough people are studying engineering. Basic education levels are falling in areas with migrants, and the CDU is trying to change this. Responsible Social Democrats and union leaders are also feeling heat from the populist Linke (Left) party and, of course, from the anti-capitalist Greens.The current leader of the Social Dems, Sigmar Gabriel, reached his Peter Principle when he was given responsibility (sort of like a czar rather than a cabinet position) for pop music under Schroeder. Right now the SPD and Greens are outpolling the CDU/FDP coalition, and there is no assurance that they wouldn’t accept the Linke as coalition partners if they couldn’t reach a majority on their own.
The Green propaganda has been pushed for so long that organic anti-GM is no longer a class position. Even the working classes are scared of “gene food,” and the anti-nuclear-power battle is heating up again since Merkel has agreed to extend operating times for existing power plants. The media feed the popular fear by using Greenpeace press releases as real news reporting. It’s not unusual to see reports like “This was the hottest July 27th in 6 years.” Is it any wonder that the Government can spend money for ridiculous CO2 projects? I think they will cut down on the heavy subsidies for solar power.
Marie Claude,
Westerwelle is a disaster. He did make headlines last week for “marrying” his gay partner after being criticized a while back for not taking him along on a trip to Saudi Arabia.
There’s a telling line in the song ‘Down Rodeo’ by Rage Against The Machine, a group of musicians who idolize Trotsky.
In the song he explains everything you need to know about communists. There’s a line that goes, ‘F**k the G-ride (Gulfstream Jet) I want the machines that are makin’ them’.
Communists do not want the goods the free-market produces. Communists do not want to make the world a better place.
Communists do not want to improve teh lives of their fellow man.
Communists want simply to be in charge, and the fact that our young crooner would not have the first clue as to how to build a “G-ride”, and would wreck whatever company he was in charge of*, does not dampen his enthusiasm for himself being in charge.
*See, Venezuela.
How about…..*See, the White House
Hey there, some germans read pajamasmedia too *waves*.
First point: Your grandfathers germany is gone. Here are no more Nazis in Lederhosen. Just too many liberals.
Second point: The Kaiser (meaning Wilhelm II) was not the villain he is portrayed as. No worse, no better than the other european monarchs of his time.
Third point: The economy here is going well because of a tradition of high-quality manufacturing and a governement that at least does not do harm. There are problems ahead (demographics, muslim mass immigration, broke welfare systems)which point to a grim future.
Comparing todays Germany to Nazi Germany is about as intelligent as assuming that americans from Georgia, Mississippi or Luisiana love the KKK and slavery.
Zazaz, I don’t think the OP was making that point, but rather pointing out the alarmingly transparent Fascist streak in Barasch’s Conde Nast piece: no Germans are not Nazis, but Barasch apparently has a certain ill-concealed affection for the German-as-Nazi stereotype, because (and this is SO characteristic of Leftists) authoritarianism is just peachy-keen if it does what WE want done.
Barasch is reminiscent of Charles Lindbergh and the other duped American fans of the National Socialist “economic miracle.”
Interesting fact about the Nazi “economic miracle”:
For two years, 1930 up to May 1932 the chancellor was a man named Brüning. His fiscal policy was: cut spending. He did it in a radical way, for example cutting the income of state employees by 20%.
Economic reforms take about two years to take effect.
Ergo: Nazi “economic miracle” in 1934.
“Comparing todays Germany to Nazi Germany is about as intelligent as assuming that americans from Georgia, Mississippi or Luisiana love the KKK and slavery.”
Exactly, which is why I was so disgusted by the phrase “Eco–Anschluss” appearing in an otherwise happy-smiley travel magazine.
Blair’s Law? How about Godwin’s Law? Except this is the first time I’ve seen it directed at oneself!
Hey! Isn’t this where I came in?*
OG
Well perhaps we could have a new national anthem, written by Congressmen Waxmen from Beverly Hills, called Greenland Greenland Uber Alles, about the joys of Beverly Hills? Since the Beverly Hills crowd is so into five year plans and no more off shore oil drilling, perhaps California’s imports of petroleum products should be linked in direct proportion to their declining oil production; less oil produced less gasoline imported. After all, real democrats are into proportional representation rather than winner takes all politics. No more energy offsets from the Pacific North West’s electric grid, or natural gas from the mid west to make up the Golden State’s energy deficits. Let the Beverly Hills set enjoy their reduced carbon foot print, but on a higher post industrial level. Perhaps they can pee in their pools to keep the bacteria count down in lieu of chlorine?
Doug,
Good point regarding number 9, but I did say ‘young crooner’, not ‘fossilized leftist half-wits who have stumbled into power through a series of historical accidents that will never be repeated again since their party is on the verge of obliteration due to their absolute lack of any measurable talent for governance’.
It’s a subtle difference, I know, but worth pointing out.
@jcp370: to paraphrase the Specials: if you have a climate-alarmist friend, now is the time for your friendship to end.
The only thing that surprises me about Marasch’s “Vanity Fair” article is that he didn’t end it with “Blut und Boden” (Blood and Soil)!
The Nazis were actually quite enthusiastic about “returning to nature,” conservation, and the alleged joys of pastoral life. Hell, Heinrich Himmler wanted to repopulate the conquered Soviet Union with thousands of SS farmer-soldiers tilling small holdings. I’m guessing Marasch wouldn’t have had a problem with this, as long as the appropriate environmental impact studies were conducted in advance….
“When the Constitutional Court mandated in late 2009 that Sunday be an official day off, the Berlin–based Die Tageszeitung rejoiced: “The treadmill is closed for 24 hours. The court has given relaxation, rest, and ‘spiritual elevation’ precedence over the thirst for profit and the right to a consumer fix.””
Wait, what? We used to have the same thing in America — only it was called Blue Laws and it was because Sunday was the day of going to church. Liberals opposed the laws because it was thought of religious entanglement with the state.
This article seems to use the Reichstag as an indirect reference to the Nazi regime:
“…didn’t the Reichstag get pimped out enough in the 1930s?”
“There’s nothing quite like seeing the words Reichstag and efficient in the same sentence.”
But the Reichstag was in no way a Nazi institution. It was the democratically elected legislature of Imperial Germany and the Weimar Republic.
The Nazis gained control of the Reichstag by rigging the 1933 election and intimidating the Center Party – then stripped the Reichstag of power by the Enabling Act which let Hitler rule by decree. The Reichstag met just a few times during the Hitler years, and only to hear Hitler’s speeches – not to vote on anything.
The Reichstag building was torched by a deranged Dutch Communist, Marinus van der Lubbe. The Nazis had no use for a symbol of democracy, so it remained in ruins throughout the Nazi era. (The few meetings of the assembly were at the Kroll Opera House.) It was not repaired until the 1960s.
Also, the assembly which meets there now (and has since 1999) is the Bundestag, not the Reichstag.
The only thing I would say, and it almost pains me to do so, is that you imply Reagan is due the credit for putting Paul Volcker in charge of the Fed. He didn’t, of course. Hard as it is for me to say anything at all good about Jimmy Carter, the truth is that he was the one who appointed Paul Volcker.