At 09:28 AM 6/8/98 -0400, Michael wrote:
>>I believe that the next generations are and will be much more open and
>>honest in their search and discussion.
>I sincerely doubt that, given the 'erasure of history' and emergence of
>neo-nazism.
I don't think those problems are that prevelant, though they do exist and
are troubling. We hear a lot about it, but that's because it's newsworthy
and spectacular for we here in the States. For example, a much larger
problem is the discrimination leveled at the thousands of Turks living in
Germany. Their situation is similar to that of Mexicans here. Germany's open
willingness to take in econimic refugees caused an influx of massive amounts
of cheap labor and the displacement of many former East Germans who are
still struggling to catch up to the rest of the country. This has caused the
prejudicial attitudes that help to fuel the right-wing backlash.
However, we don't hear much about the problem of Turks in Germany, because
it isn't near as photogenic as a hundred skinheads marching in nazi regalia.
And my first hand experience with both elder and younger Germans indicate
that there is a growing desire to really come to grips with the past. A
great book for an American look at German culture is _After the Wall,_ by
Marc Fischer, who spent years there as a correspondant for the Washington
Post (I think). He writes very well about the problem of German national
identity, how they deal with WWII and the Holocaust. He suggests this
understanding is still forming and has a variety of motivations.
The hardest part is to keep the dialogue moving.
> And complicity is the last thing the corporations will want
>anyone to know about. So keep it abstract -- you know, what Cooper Union
>is so good at ...
I don't know about Cooper Union, but I could easily see that problem of
complicity. Just like Daimler-Benz, it would pretty tough to sell very much
of you featured your contribution to the Wehrmach in your current ads. Let's
look at it this way: General Motors built tanks and bombers---hell,
EVERYBODY built tanks and bombers and ships and guns and...all in the effort
to defeat the Axis, and later Japan. We all know it happened, but do GM and
Ford feature it in their adverstising---"Proudly serving our nation in the
defense of freedom?" Of course not; it's not germaine to the current
mission---selling cars.
Your average German knows there was complicity in the war effort---Siemens,
Mannesmann, et. al., long-respected icons of German industry, all conspired
to defeat the Allies to further their national interest. How much they
contributed to the genocide will be difficult to ascertain, as you suggest.
As as sidenote, the defense contractors, like Lockheed-Martin and
Grumman-Northrop, do have such ads. I'm not sure if they are intended to
recruit employess, build acceptance of their particular brand of mayhem, or
even further our political agenda. But are we willing to ask about _their_
complicity in the ugly side of war---nerve gas, biological agents, etc.? The
nice thing about a missile is that there is no doubt of its presence---there
it goes, here it comes, boom, your bunker is toast and hope to God you got
out before the missile came a-knockin. Nerve gas? No such luck, there. Hell,
we don't even know if it went where it was supposed to, or even if it was
used at all.
The Indians and Pakistanis made a good point recently about our
breast-beating no-nukes policy--we've got plenty of skeletons in our closet,
and what's sauce for the goose, and all that...
>>I believe that the next generations are and will be much more open and
>>honest in their search and discussion.
>I sincerely doubt that, given the 'erasure of history' and emergence of
>neo-nazism.
I don't think those problems are that prevelant, though they do exist and
are troubling. We hear a lot about it, but that's because it's newsworthy
and spectacular for we here in the States. For example, a much larger
problem is the discrimination leveled at the thousands of Turks living in
Germany. Their situation is similar to that of Mexicans here. Germany's open
willingness to take in econimic refugees caused an influx of massive amounts
of cheap labor and the displacement of many former East Germans who are
still struggling to catch up to the rest of the country. This has caused the
prejudicial attitudes that help to fuel the right-wing backlash.
However, we don't hear much about the problem of Turks in Germany, because
it isn't near as photogenic as a hundred skinheads marching in nazi regalia.
And my first hand experience with both elder and younger Germans indicate
that there is a growing desire to really come to grips with the past. A
great book for an American look at German culture is _After the Wall,_ by
Marc Fischer, who spent years there as a correspondant for the Washington
Post (I think). He writes very well about the problem of German national
identity, how they deal with WWII and the Holocaust. He suggests this
understanding is still forming and has a variety of motivations.
The hardest part is to keep the dialogue moving.
> And complicity is the last thing the corporations will want
>anyone to know about. So keep it abstract -- you know, what Cooper Union
>is so good at ...
I don't know about Cooper Union, but I could easily see that problem of
complicity. Just like Daimler-Benz, it would pretty tough to sell very much
of you featured your contribution to the Wehrmach in your current ads. Let's
look at it this way: General Motors built tanks and bombers---hell,
EVERYBODY built tanks and bombers and ships and guns and...all in the effort
to defeat the Axis, and later Japan. We all know it happened, but do GM and
Ford feature it in their adverstising---"Proudly serving our nation in the
defense of freedom?" Of course not; it's not germaine to the current
mission---selling cars.
Your average German knows there was complicity in the war effort---Siemens,
Mannesmann, et. al., long-respected icons of German industry, all conspired
to defeat the Allies to further their national interest. How much they
contributed to the genocide will be difficult to ascertain, as you suggest.
As as sidenote, the defense contractors, like Lockheed-Martin and
Grumman-Northrop, do have such ads. I'm not sure if they are intended to
recruit employess, build acceptance of their particular brand of mayhem, or
even further our political agenda. But are we willing to ask about _their_
complicity in the ugly side of war---nerve gas, biological agents, etc.? The
nice thing about a missile is that there is no doubt of its presence---there
it goes, here it comes, boom, your bunker is toast and hope to God you got
out before the missile came a-knockin. Nerve gas? No such luck, there. Hell,
we don't even know if it went where it was supposed to, or even if it was
used at all.
The Indians and Pakistanis made a good point recently about our
breast-beating no-nukes policy--we've got plenty of skeletons in our closet,
and what's sauce for the goose, and all that...