Lieber Thomas!
I thought you might like to know the effect your elections are having on us Germans, at least the way I see it. (You guessed it. We're in shock).
I listened to the first debate between Trump and Biden. Then I listened to a speech our Chancellor, Angela Merkel, gave in 2015, when she addressed The World Health Organization. Chancellor Merkel was a scientist before she became a politician. Her speech had the no-nonsense approach of a professor giving a lecture on physics. Trump came across as a madman; he shouted and sneered, and interrupted his opponent countless times.
In Germany, by the way, no politician can behave the way Trump did that night. Such histrionics would remind the public of Hitler too much. I w a s reminded of Hitler a little bit, I must confess. Our dictator was admittedly much worse and presided over horrible crimes; your would-be dictator reminded me more or less of a boorish, clownish, pitiful imitation. Hitler, due to the lack of what you call "checks and balances", was able to declare a state of emergency and usher in a reign of terror--supported, I might add, by many Germans at that time. You still have a functioning Congress, independent judiciary, and Constitution, etc. But for how long?
I remember an old DEFA, East German, movie about a Jewish doctor in 1930 who worried about the disaster that coming. "Don't worry," his wife told him, "Wir leben in einem Rechtsstaat." We all know how that turned out.
In this world, especially after the horrors of the past century, one cannot afford to take freedoms for granted. Trump has been undermining them. Please do all you can to stop him!
Recent American politics have brought me to a new assessment of your country. Growing up after World War ll, I remember playing in rubble as a child; our country lay in ruins. Then came the Marshall Plan. We looked up to your country and acknowledged it as the leader of the free world, which sure as hell needed one. (It still does). You were the good guys; the Communists were the devils. There was, of course, strict censorship before we gained independence again in 1955, but we needed to trust you and continued to do so, because we had lost trust in ourselves.
We focused on the economy and succeeded, at least materially. Then came 1968. We realized that our country had not been purged of Nazis as East Germany had been. America looked the other way; they accepted former Nazis' help in their fight against communism. 'What did your parents do during the war?' 'Had your professor been a Nazi supporter?' These were the questions we began to ask; many of the answers were devastating.
We still looked up to you, however. Then came the Vietnam War. Many of us continued to support you, but to a lesser degree. 9/11, however, resulted in a tidal wave of sympathy among most Germans. Then came the War in Iraq. Many still looked up to you, but less and less and less. Then came Trump.
What are we supposed to feel now? Pity?
You still lack universal health care; your prison system is a mess; you still deny climate change; your social safety net is full of gaping holes; Trump's constant lies remind us of Goebbels', etc. etc.
Do you realize the danger of the situation you're in? We share your danger by default, because as Kissinger said, Germany is too big for Europe and too small for the world.
We don't want to be world leaders; we want to be part of a coalition which helps make the world a little better. We want to look up to you again--we know now that you're imperfect, but, God knows, so are we. If America's democracy fails, how long will ours last?
I hope November 3rd brings the world good news. If it doesn't, God help us!
Dein alter Freund,
Michael
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