by Peter Löcke //
Have you ever stood in the fan curve at a soccer match? Or crowded close to the stage at a rock concert? I have. It's a wonderful, electrifying feeling to no longer feel like an individual, but just part of the crowd. Together with people who supposedly feel the same as you do. Cheering on the same club, idolizing the same musician. At the same time, the situation is frightening. At least that's how I feel. From a certain number of people per area, people are no longer human, but just part of the masses. There are sociologists and panic researchers who define this mathematically. Then people tend to do what others do. They allow themselves to be carried away, as if on a drug. It is no coincidence that people talk about a rousing feeling. Almost everyone runs the risk of falling into this intoxication. Including me. That's exactly what scared me at some point. It felt wrong. It felt fascist. That's why I avoid situations in which I merge with the crowd.
These thoughts came to me while browsing through my wide-ranging music collection. And the question "What is fascism?" Politically and historically, any average German can answer the question. Fascism is National Socialism, the darkest chapter in German history. Some even know that the word fascism originally comes from Italian and is attributed to Mussolini. But how does fascism arise, how does it manifest itself? The question is rarely asked and answered psychologically and sociologically. Books such as "The Wave" have attempted to do so. Fascism is always also an intoxicating feeling of happiness within a community. Now a sense of community is not a bad thing per se. On the contrary. So where do you draw the line? What is still a healthy sense of community and when does it become a dangerous phenomenon of fanatical group dynamics? Unfortunately, the boundaries are blurred and fluid. Unfortunately, you only recognize the boundaries with emotional and temporal distance.
Back to my music collection, to the musical rebels of my youth such as the eternal punk Campino, whose songs are now often played at CDU party conferences. A rock star stands on stage and communicates with his audience. There is something fascist about this situation, even for an avowed anti-fascist. The crowd responds from one mouth when the angry whipper-in Campino shouts at his devoted audience that he will not be vaccinated in this biggest scandal since the Second World War. That was at a concert during swine flu. Can you hear Campino shouting today when it takes real courage as well as insight and there aren't ten thousand people cheering at his feet? Unfortunately, the Toten Hosen are dead in the water. Speaking of courage. I also enjoyed listening to singer-songwriters. Konstantin Wecker asked himself the hypothetical question in the song "Fast ein Held" whether he would be rebellious if it required real civil courage. At a different time and in a different place. It's easy to be a rebel when it's a harmless sales-boosting label that's good for your bank account. The question has been answered today. Unfortunately, Wecker is really only almost a hero. What about the anti-fascist Wolfgang Niedecken from BAP? He is now happy that his personal friend Lauterbach is finally a virologist as health minister. And yes. Niedecken is referring to the same Lauterbach as you and me. "If we'd listened to Karl, we'd be in a different situation now." Wolfgang says. He may not be a scientist, but he knows that, thank God, everything these deniers claim can be refuted scientifically. Karl explained that to him. After all, he would spend nights reading the latest studies after every talk show. It's been a damn long time since I've read such nonsense. The fight against fascism remains important for Niedecken, because if there is even one single Reich flag at a demonstration, it is one too many and the whole demonstration is fascist. Well then. My advice: please avoid attending soccer matches in the near future, Mr. Niedecken. The risk of right-wing extremist contact guilt is far greater there than at a demonstration critical of the government. All you have to do is switch off the television, switch on your brain and open your eyes. Whether rock or pop, hip hop and rap, from singer-songwriters to political cabaret - where are the rebellious voices from earlier times? In times of freedom, they demanded more freedom. They courageously raised their voices when courage was not required. They warned against fascism when fascism was far away. And today? Very well. I've just had to thin out my music collection considerably.
At least I will keep the Monty Python films. "The Life of Brian", for example, is not just dry black humor. The movie also answers my question of what fascism is, almost philosophically. When Brian opens a window one morning, he looks down on a crowd of people cheering and idolizing him, glued to his lips. Their Brian. Their savior. Their leader. Only Brian didn't want to be a leader. So he tried to wave the crowd off, shouting "You're all individuals!" and "You're all different!". The crowd responds inebriated from one mouth "Yes. We are all individuals. Yes. We are all different." Only one says meekly, "Not me." The only individual in this scene was the person who said he wasn't an individual. And the only real anti-fascist.
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42 Responses
Fascism is when the employees of the Ministry of Truth expose themselves and those who yesterday were accused of spreading fake news and therefore defamed as lateral thinkers, conspiracy theorists, right-wingers, etc. have obviously and recognizably spoken nothing but the truth.
Official tweet of the Federal Ministry of Health from January 7, 2021:
"@BMG_Bund
There will be no compulsory vaccination. News reports and articles that claim otherwise are false.
#coronavirus #vaccination #fighting the pandemic #vaccination"
(s. https://twitter.com/bmg_bund/status/1347120866908372992?lang=de)
The SPD is even clearer: "There is no truth to the rumors about mandatory coronavirus vaccination. Once and for all: a corona vaccination obligation was never in the draft law, at no time and will not come, SPD parliamentary group deputy leader Bärbel Bas makes clear. Fake news and conspiracy theories like this are being spread online, especially by the right." (s. https://www.spd.de/aktuelles/detail/news/es-gibt-keinen-corona-impfzwang/06/05/2020/)
No one in the federal government and the pathetic bunch of the remaining established parties of the exemplary democrats in the opposition dares to say what compulsory vaccination is really about and why it must come from the point of view of the powerful in the country:
The consequences of vaccination with insufficiently tested vaccines or even their mixing through repeated vaccinations on health and the immune system are incalculable, despite all other untruthful statements, e.g. by our current Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach. The news blackout on the fate of the German ambassador to China should be a warning to us all. In times like these, even a prominent contemporary can disappear just like that and nobody asks, especially not the press and media. An obituary like this one in Der Spiegel (see https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/nachruf-jan-hecker-54-a-b3860ad0-f0a9-49bb-b58f-f0d466811676) was also awarded to Erwin Rommel in the Third Reich: https://www.swr.de/swr2/wissen/archivradio/trauerrede-auf-erwin-rommel-oktober-1944-100.html
The reports on the fate of Jan Hecker abruptly break off around September 9, always with the same message: cause of death unknown (see https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/maas-zum-tod-heckers-keine-verbindung-zur-arbeit-als-botschafter-17520731.html and . Obviously nobody wants to proclaim the bitter truth: vaccination with different vaccines in quick succession can be fatal, even for previously healthy people. After all, China does not recognize vaccination with European mRNA vaccines.
As long as there is an unvaccinated reference group of an appreciable size, the consequences of a vaccination - positive or negative - can be statistically proven at any time, if one wants to prove it honestly and professionally correctly at all. This is what politicians are afraid of, because it makes their failure visible and provable, or in the case of the pushed-through vaccination recommendation, a potential crime even for children with an emergency drug. In this case, the personal guilt of the politicians will once again be etched in historical memory.
Genuine anti-fascism requires the courage to conquer one's fears and to stand up to those in power who deliberately stir up fears in order to achieve their bizarre political or, as is currently the case, economic goals in the shadow of lack of freedom.
In liberal times, the anti-fascist mule-heroism works very well. In times like these, the fair-weather anti-fascists reach into their versch....... underpants and throw their brown sh.... at the few remaining courageous anti-fascists. of course, always reassuring themselves that they are on the right side, i.e. always and at all times on the side of unfreedom and heteronomy.
This is how fascism has always worked and how it will always work. That is why fascism is always a mass phenomenon. By fundamentally surrounding itself with a lot of stupidity, fascism is effectively unassailable and virtually rests within itself. Without external impetus, this makes fascism almost invincible. We are not the first to experience this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkoWFWMHBs8
Caution is therefore always advised when we are urged to stop believing that two plus two equals four, regardless of whether
1984 from "big brother": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCxTx3mxXbI&t=179s
or 2021 by science mediators: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2v278jItHY
Dear Mr. Aßmann, for some time now, the Uckermark country saying "Fascists don't come back as fascists" has applied. Nevertheless, I am of the opinion that this term is not quite clearly defined for most of us. Perhaps we should use the term dictatorship. For many people, dictatorship already shines through the thin shirt of the party state. It can be recognized by the extensive abolition of the separation of powers, an epidemic unity party, hereinafter referred to as the SED, which holds approximately 90% of the seats in parliament, i.e. won 90% of the votes in the Bundestag elections. The conventional media landscape brought on board by the SED makes many people think of the first SED state, as does the lack of internal party democracy within the SED. What still separates us from dictatorship? Our own awareness that democracy is not forbidden, that the Basic Law is still fully valid. As it stands, our freedoms are now being defended directly on the streets. Fortunately, a critical mass has realized that it is high time to stand up for our free and democratic basic order in person, physically face to face with the authorities. Large sections of the forces of law and order are aware of the legal background and see the questionable nature of the statements made by the "liberal" Minister of Justice Buschmann. If the protests remain peaceful, we have a good chance that the police, at least in part, will no longer support the abusive policies of the SED. That's how it was in 1989, if I understand it correctly, the old SED was no longer authentic, essentially without a political idea, it was all about retaining power, but the security forces didn't want to shoot at their own people and that's how it ended.
What strikes me as particularly positive is that many younger people are now taking part in the demonstrations, especially in the small towns where people know each other, half of the participants are under the age of forty. This opens up a new order of magnitude of potential participants. Kind regards H.W..
Dear Mr. Wessel,
Dictatorships can implement their goals very cleverly and successfully, albeit brutally. Xi Jinping demonstrates this. Fascism, on the other hand, is driven by stupidity. A stupidity that is rarely more obvious than here: https://www.spd.de/aktuelles/detail/news/es-gibt-keinen-corona-impfzwang/06/05/2020/ and against which there is therefore no cure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkoWFWMHBs8
That is why fascism fits the current situation far better than the neutral term SED dictatorship, even if the SEDization of our society is unmistakable.
Best regards
Roland Aßmann
Dear Mr. Aßmann, perhaps it is pointless to try to make a distinction here, Hitler, Mussolini and Franco were all undoubtedly dictators, in the socialist states according to communist doctrine there was the dictatorship of the proletariat, although in the sense of a quasi-feudal system of rule the nomenklatura gladly took over this task of the proletariat. Here, as there, the leaders were certainly not stupid, even if their ideological blindness partially blinded them to reality. However, the mechanisms of rule were very similar; the first goal was to make the population - here we see the stupidity - believe that they ultimately lived in relative freedom. In order to keep the costs low, only marginalized minorities were harassed and threatened. In my opinion, the concept of dictatorial mechanisms of rule is clearer in this context. Vaccine fundamentalism, like the Fridays for Future movement, is not politically right-wing. I think we should use a term that everyone recognizes in its meaning and that cannot be assigned to either the right or the left in order to make it easier for the general population to understand. The left and green spectrum in particular shows totalitarian tendencies in the here and now. Also, many people simply cannot imagine that a Merkel, who is more on the left within the CDU, could be fascist. In addition, terms such as fascist, anti-Semite or conspiracy theorist are words coined by our political opponents; we could ask ourselves whether their use makes us more comprehensible. Dictatorship, on the other hand, is a clear term that anyone in their right mind understands immediately. This term cannot be interpreted or trivialized. My father warned of a looming dictatorship of bureaucrats back in the seventies, and I am now beginning to understand.
Kind regards H.W..
Dear Dr. Aßmann,
"in order [...] to achieve their bizarre political or, as is currently the case, their economic goals".
Off topic and only for discussion: Not just "current" - isn't that what it's been about from day one? And is a virus being used to achieve just that?
Everyone is familiar with the BMI's verified strategy paper. It was knitted with a hot needle in mid-March 2020, even before (!) the first lockdown. Everyone associates this paper with the planned scaremongering, the "desired shock effect" that they wanted to achieve among the population. I wasn't particularly surprised, because the fear propaganda was obvious. What I found much more frightening was the mathematical formula (propaganda formula) they wanted to use to communicate in future. That was also in the strategy paper.
2019 = 1919 + 1929
In other words: Covid19 is as bad as the combination of the Spanish flu and the Great Depression. Now, there are various explanations for the Great Depression of 1929, but none that say it was linked to the Spanish flu ten years earlier.
It's as diabolical as it is simple.
1) Reality: Existing Western social, economic and political systems are being destroyed on purpose (!). It is a deliberate slash-and-burn. They are being destroyed to create space for something new. That's why they are slash-and-burn. And because people believe that the existing system is hopelessly ailing and they are only accelerating something that is seen as inevitable.
2) Public communication: Unfortunately, a virus has forced us to completely reorganize ourselves politically/economically/socially. That's nobody's fault.
And this reorganization is remarkably similar to the Chinese model.
Something else interesting and also just for discussion. In the fall of 2019 (almost six months before coronavirus), there was a huge stock market crash. There was little discussion of this in the media. Only a few business newspapers did. The tenor of these reports? "The bubble has burst! What has just happened is similar to the last major financial crisis." The problem was still omnipresent at the start of 2020. Then came corona.
The last major global financial crisis was in 2008 and it dragged on for a long time. I felt the medium-term consequences of this first-hand. The small print shop where I worked as a layout artist was still in the black at the beginning of 2009 and went bankrupt 3/4 of a year later. What else happened in 2009? The swine flu. Surprisingly, there was a pandemic right after the crash.
I can no longer remember exactly how many decades have passed since then, when Germany spat me out. What I do remember vividly, however, are all the stars that were pinned on me at the time. Not yellow stars. After all, the Allies had had it written into the German constitutional handbook. This was never to happen again. But verbal classifications of this naughtiness were of course not a thing of the past. Having been treated as "difficult to educate" and a "black sheep" as a child, having been told by teachers in the presence of my mother that "your son will have a very hard time one day", it ultimately culminated in labels such as "illusionist", "not socially acceptable", "subversive", "...he has different structures". As a German in the middle of the last century, you were born with a pretty thick skin. So I was spared the emotional processing of such permanent pinpricks.
If I had traveled to the year 2020 as a clairvoyant, what would I have noticed first and foremost? An aging "German language culture", rattling and desperate, struggling for pitiful, politically correct defamations. Or would I:
Would I wake up one fine morning in the Hanseatic city and let my eyes wander from the Atlantic Kempinski over the waters of the Alster and ask myself which compositions still enchant, which stories can still be told with impunity in such grotesque times? Would I stare at the broken quill with a hoarse voice and realize that it's over? The wind has changed. Perhaps it is also an invitation to each and every one of us to turn to completely different stories from now on, to tell completely different stories?
In this sense, Mr. Langemann and his medium are on an interesting course. I even take the publicist off his hands, helping him to market capitalize ideas. His handwriting, however, really does awaken spirits and allows thoughts to flow like Pacific blue ink to completely new shores. A very special kind of quality. Thank you.
I always leave the sporting part of editing to the reader.
So many valuable comments, many thanks, also to the commentators!
I also think "Cancel Culture" is a fatally flawed approach. However, I can no longer stand the once revered Grönemeyer since that speech on stage in Vienna. I don't listen to him anymore, I don't like listening to him, that has nothing to do with cancel culture, I don't want to ban him, keep him quiet or silence him. Many of the other "heroes" of our baby boomer years mentioned above are also simply no longer tolerable for me - with one big exception - Nena. I was in love with Nena from the very first moment, today I know that I can rely on my heart...
We can only encourage each other again and again in our courage to stand by ourselves, our values and our dignity.
With this in mind, see you on Saturday at the Kunsthalle... (DEMO on 08.01. in Hamburg)
Dear Mr. Reschke,
I always thought these guys were great, especially their songs - Cello by Lindenberg. I had an acquaintance back then who played the cello... But they're just people, apart from their gift, normal people. Like us. Of course we are very disappointed, it hurts a little. But we'll get over it.
They are not our adversaries, they are other people. That is where we should direct our minds. Consistently offer non-violent resistance over a long period of time, remain open to discussion and always consider the possibility of being wrong. There is, as they say, no cure for this.
Kind regards H.W..
Dear Dr. Wessel,
In my view, you are absolutely right and very aptly formulated that Lindenberg, Grönemeyer, Niedecken and co. are just people, other people. You're also knocking on my door with your desire to put up non-violent resistance for a long time. And yes, we will of course get over it...
Nevertheless, in view of social developments, I find it incredibly frightening how quickly and how arbitrarily standards can be changed, evaluations varied and attributions altered without the prominent protagonists seeming to have any recognizable difficulties from the outside. Anyone who fantasizes about dictating what a society should look like while bawling on stage in front of tens of thousands is not just a victim. He is a perpetrator, or at least an accomplice. And that is more than disappointing, it is more than a little painful. For me, it's highly worrying and extremely frightening. The pseudo-intellectual elite of this country is in the process of dismantling the rule of law, the separation of powers and the free and democratic basic order. And the Gröhlemeyers of this world are pandering to the new fascists because they claim to be anti-fascists.
It frightens me deeply and it disgusts me.
Nevertheless, I practise "remaining open to discussion and always considering the possibility of being wrong". Thank you for this wonderful suggestion.
Best regards
Wolfgang Reschke
"But we'll get over that."
No, I certainly won't.
"They are not our adversaries, ..."
Are you sure about that? I have a completely different impression from the way some of the people I mentioned behaved. I've also been on several walks and demos. When Grönemeyer's "Freiheit" came out of the loudspeakers at the latter, I always found it hard to breathe and sometimes felt sick to my stomach...
And it's not just rock musicians that Mr. Löcke focused on. It also affects the classical music industry and literature.
Can you still remember Stefan Mickisch, the pianist who obviously couldn't cope with the situation and passed away almost a year ago? There was no sympathy from his fellow classical musicians, no regret... On the contrary.
It is difficult to describe in words what has not only been destroyed, especially in the cultural sector as a whole, but has been and is being purposefully and deliberately destroyed in the wake of corona and "cancel culture".
However, those responsible for this and their accomplices and followers are very much my opponents.
I have understood it to mean that we will get over the disappointment, over the pain that the "heroes" of the past have now become perpetrators or accomplices or hangers-on. We will get over it, even if it takes time and hurts. We will get over it, just as we can get over the death of a loved one or a separation after many years of partnership or friendship. New heroes will come, new partners and new friends.
Recognizing the adversary and understanding him as a human being - as a person with fears, worries, needs and faults - may enable us to deal with the situation more constructively. If we allowed ourselves to be set against each other, we could no longer win, then violence and hatred and destructiveness would prevail. Then our adversaries would win, then the plan would work, because we cannot compete against the power of the physically strongest.
If we can win at all, then only with patience and reason and the long-term powerful energies of wisdom, love and dignity.
Dear Mr. Reschke,
I hope you will be right. The next few weeks until mid to late March will go a long way towards deciding what happens next.
You know, understanding opponents as people is not the problem. It's more the other way around: people who don't follow the mainstream are increasingly being portrayed as non-humans, marginalized, denounced and, increasingly, attempts are being made to ruin them. And all with the support of the state and the media. The entire circle of life is being drawn ever tighter with ever more absurd, perfidious, scientifically unsubstantiated and unverifiable justifications, with the sole aim of humiliating "them". This is - as Mr. Löcke has already described it - flawless fascism.
You can't always turn the other cheek ...
Dear Borsalino,
I am not indifferent to these mistakes either, certainly not. But we only have to look around in our own personal environment, in our circle of friends, in the family, in club life or in the church community - there are many equally normal people who have simply forgotten the basic rules that were at least apparently binding for everyone. I am confident that we will get our freedom back and that the burnt-out political class will come back down to earth. Then it is our task to forgive the stupid, uncritical and fear-driven followers and to overcome the division in our society with them. I am only too aware of the trail of devastation these people leave behind. I have no intention of forgetting, not at all. Just like after the fall of communism in 1989, there will be many turncoats and we should keep an eye on them. Now is the time to build a new political culture, certainly on the basis of the Basic Law, certainly with more direct democracy and a different media landscape. These goals are not unrealistic. Between 500,000 and one million protesters take to the streets every week, with the potential to increase; more than 60% of people have lost all trust in the government and the "opposition" and, above all, in the media. There has never been anything like it on this scale before. They know that in Berlin, for sure. They are trying to deepen the division in our society. We should counteract this, bring the former believers, now doubters, to us and start something new together.
Dear Dr. Wessel,
I can follow your thoughts very well. And like you, I would like to see the situation change quickly and peacefully. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep calm and not let go of hope in the face of this insanity that goes against all humanity...
Thank you once again for your words, Dr. Wessel!
The exchange of ideas here at the club is incredibly important and so incredibly beneficial in its cultivated form. I have the greatest respect for your work, Mr. Langemann!
Borsalino
Thank you, you have spoken from the heart. The days will surely come when I will only want to go to Nena's concerts.
Dear Mr. Löcke,
You begin your thoughts in your first two paragraphs with a summary of your own experiences with large events and your personal feeling of a danger of fascism. Since neither the event producer nor the consumers were and are forced to produce and consume products under the threat and use of violence, you as an individual merely seem to feel uncomfortable in large crowds and believe that you have discovered a susceptibility to fascist tendencies in yourself. Interesting self-reflection, but I think you are a little too sensitive and are mixing up a lot of things that need to be kept apart.
However, I would find it fatal if people, as proven perpetrators, retreated to a victim attitude of mass phenomena in order to relativize, justify or excuse their own aggressive actions (perpetrators as well as accomplices). Every peaceful and decent person is also well aware and intuitively aware of where everyone should draw boundaries. Not to cause physical harm to peaceful fellow human beings with their own actions. How this can be done openly and blurred is beyond me. Every responsible citizen with legal capacity is very much in possession of their own consciousness when it comes to their own physical actions, whether they use coercion and violence against peaceful fellow human beings or not.
For most people, fear and panic almost always lead to irrational actions that can cause harm to themselves and often also to third parties, and yes, if an event in a large gathering of people suddenly leads to a threatening situation - whether real or perceived is irrelevant - and panic breaks out, it becomes life-threatening.
However, we are not in Germany, nor in other countries, in a real mass in a confined concert or in a confined other space where panic could take on life-threatening proportions due to the confinement of the space, but all people move freely, individually and self-determined in their everyday lives. In their families, with their friends, at work, when shopping, etc. Everyone decides freely and independently what media they consume, what clothes they wear, what medical treatments they allow, what food they consume, what leisure activities they prefer, etc. And I don't think I'm wrong in my observations and my assumption when I say that only a very small proportion of people in Germany and in all other countries have fallen victim to pathological psychosis. The vast majority of people have only been walking around with rags on their faces for two years, constantly running to test centers and undergoing vaccinations because the confrontation with friendly rejection of these offers of protection was too exhausting for them and still is today.
This has an effect on the masses, yes, but as always there are not stable, responsible, free people with a strong character among the followers, conformists, duckers and lookers away. This has to be said clearly and unambiguously for once.
Of course, the headwinds are fierce and the reprisals can be harsh, and in some areas of life it requires a rethink, flexibility, creativity, cleverness, organization and a sincere cash check with possibly drastic changes, but everyone has a free choice! Until today!
Finally, I would like to briefly point out that it would behove people to treat the words spoken by others in public or to themselves with composure and intelligence, given their own personal and, above all, purely subjective sensitivities.
As long as people always and everywhere take care not to cause physical harm to others with their own physical actions, everything is fine and all is well with the world. Everyone can cheer and join in a choir, whoever and however they want. Everyone can continue to enjoy old, beloved pieces of music even if newer ones by the same musician are no longer as great or their personal views and/or goals don't match their own - so what!?!!
No one is forced to attend events, listen to other people, read articles or look at pictures.
Every person is unique and an individual and is always and everywhere responsible for their own actions. Who understands or interprets which terms and how varies, but one thing always remains the same everywhere:
Crimes are and remain crimes!
If we do not want crime in the family, at work, in the community, in the city or wherever and whenever, then we do not commit any ourselves, protect each other and let criminals feel among themselves and with rejection that we reject coercion and violence but are ready for peaceful, common solutions.
It would be so easy.
Best regards
G. Schmidt
Dear Mrs. Schmidt,
The major events during the Nazi era were also voluntary. My fear in the fan curve or at a concert is not that of a panic attack. I get scared when people around me do exactly the same thing and chant. I get anxiety when, in introspection, I feel the inclination to join in so as not to feel ostracized. It should be self-criticism. Anyone can raise a moralizing finger.
Look at the behavior and the faces in the soccer fan curve, during a rock concert and compare that with the reaction of the people at a staged and choreographed Nazi mass event in old film footage. Psychologically and sociologically absolutely identical. Sometimes a shared endorphin rush, sometimes shared anger, sometimes shared melancholy - depending on what is being exemplified on stage or happening on the soccer pitch. Conversely, there are statements by rock stars who describe the feeling of a rush of power (commentator Dirk hinted at it) when tens of thousands of people dance "to their tune" at their call. Put yourself in the shoes of a soccer star when an entire stadium is suddenly chanting their name. You probably feel godlike and at the same time it is frightening.
The only difference lies in our internalized moral pigeonholes of good and evil. From a distance (!), we all see the spawn of evil in a speech by Goebbels. Understandable. The problem is: In real time and in their self-perception, Goebbels' audience saw themselves as good and righteous. As part of a community. They were just "showing solidarity". Then they went home, lovingly put their children to bed and then delivered their critical neighbors as knives. Because they were "evil denunciators"? No. They saw themselves as "responsible citizens" who were only serving a good, just cause. No state calls itself a dictatorship, no person perceives themselves as evil. No one sees themselves as a denunciator.
I am putting my opinion up for discussion. They don't have to be right. I always look forward to feedback, not just praise. For example, I found Dr. Wessel's comment/criticism very justified and interesting. I could probably spend hours discussing with Ms. Demirtas, Ms. Fickus and many others.
Many thanks to all (!) commentators for their feedback.
Best regards back,
Peter Löcke
P.S.: I know teachers and social workers who are highly cultured and preach empathic communication, personal responsibility and self-determination during the week. And at the weekend they consciously and voluntarily go to a concert or to the hardcore fan block of their favorite club to finally let their hair down in the crowd.
Thank you, I've always been fascinated by this topic, but especially at the moment because of the direct confrontation, also among friends. I take a more nuanced view of the awareness of malice or solidarity. It depends on how deeply you are caught up in the respective character structures. I know psychopaths who believe their own lies and for whom it is life-threatening to have to admit mistakes. Unfortunately, we have a lot of them in management positions. If some self-reflection is still possible, you at least have an inkling that you are not always right.
However, through personality work or shadow work, everyone has the opportunity to transform and heal their distorted character structures, which are more or less caused in everyone by childhood injuries, even prenatally. Alexander Lowen and C. G. Jung meticulously worked out the basics for this and Barbara Ann Brannan described and guided the possibilities in her books "Light Healing" and "Light Work". This can be a life's work towards truthfulness if you want to face up to it.
Arrogance is far from my mind, but I think it is necessary for people who have the talent to lead others, and I would like this to be understood in a positive way, to undergo supervision and repeatedly reflect on the motives behind their thoughts and actions in order to avoid slipping into the abuse of power, driven by ego and greed. I recommended this in a lengthy correspondence with Sevim Dagdelen for the Left five years ago and warned against getting lost in trench warfare. Obviously this has not happened. Every small psychologist has to provide evidence of supervision when working with people. Why not our government, when it would be most important, and when thousands of people are currently being forced to make painful, often life-defining decisions every day. I don't see a single member of government, and only a few decision-makers that I know of, for whom this would not be very necessary! I could well imagine that in Klaus Schwab's "school" this truthfulness and education of the heart is not taught, or if it is taught at all, it is not instilled...
I smiled at first, but I am now firmly convinced that only love can save humanity!
Finally, I wanted to point out the young artist "Taylor", whose authenticity, voice and music I like, and whose lyrics I find very touching.
Dear Mr. Löcke,
I am right there with you and I am indescribably happy about every person who thinks about areas of life, events, experiences, observations, developments, etc. that are important to them. I would like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to Mr. Langemann. I would therefore like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Langemann and his team for providing this excellent information and discussion portal and all readers who actively contribute their thoughts, views, experiences, etc.
I have become very pernickety when it comes to language and, above all, a sense of responsibility and physical action, because I have been living with open eyes and, above all, an open heart for over 30 years. In the 21st century, after all the revelations of forms of rule, insights into freedom and peace and freely accessible information via the Internet worldwide and in all languages, it should no longer be necessary to consult history. All the socialist experiments that have been started again and again for thousands of years and have always ended in destruction, poverty, suffering, misery and genocide, and this new edition will also end again, have obviously not dampened the enthusiasm of the majority of people for this system of destruction to this day, despite the knowledge gained that socialism always promises heaven on earth and always delivers hell on earth in the end, which is very regrettable. That is why we are where we are today. In the next experiment, which will come to its destructive end decades later. The only question is, how will people decide this time? For freedom or for complete enslavement?
Capitalism, on the other hand, a free market and social order (not a system, but a free order), based on contract law (private law for ALL people would be = equality before the law for ALL), has always shown, as soon as here and there for a short time the ruling clique had left the markets a little free and also granted the subjects a little more freedom, how incredibly innovation, creativity, prosperity, general prosperity and the satisfaction and quality of life of the people have increased and risen and that for everyone. Until the thumbscrews were tightened again by the system leaders, the states became more powerful and larger again (this is inherent in the system) and the whole madness and insanity started all over again, the increasing life of substance, increasing coercion, violence and command and control/planned economy. Leaving the previous system in place after the end of the Second World War already indicated that the new ruling class was leaving every door open, and a constitution that allowed for both a capitalist social and economic order and a socialist one also left enough loopholes that were successfully exploited by the socialists. The increasingly drastic course that was, is and will be set from above and accepted unnoticed or silently from below is well known and what threatens us all if the political rulers continue to form international socialist alliances and cartels, then good night. People were able to flee the USSR, China, Cambodia, Germany, Venezuela, the GDR, etc. when the state and its agents increasingly threatened their own freedom and the lives of their forced subjects. A world socialism, on the other hand, would no longer offer people an escape route and would end in a human catastrophe the likes of which humanity has never experienced - I fear. But fortunately, we humans hold our lives and our future in our own hands.
And yes, precisely because most people are just hypocrites of freedom and personal responsibility, I emphasize time and again that only people's actions count and that every decent person should fundamentally reject and condemn the use of coercion and violence against fellow human beings. Everywhere, always and at all times. It was the people of China who slaughtered their fellow human beings during Mao's Great Leap. It was the people under Lenin and Stalin who murdered their fellow human beings and threw them into gulags. To this day, all over the world, it is the people who fight their way to the top of a system of coercion and violence; the people who allow themselves to be hired as servants (useful idiots) with privileges and shares in the spoils as recipients of orders and executing functionaries for the implementation of their coercive and violent rulers and the people who cheer and watch this whole madness and insanity, this theater, because they either do not know any better or because they promise themselves advantages for themselves or even already enjoy them.
It is all civil servants who are not protecting the freedom and property of citizens, but the state and its agents from citizens. Any civil servant who speaks out in favor of justice and against any senseless law and who would protect his fellow human beings even when attacked by the state will lose his job or at least be suspended.
For decades there have been many warnings of these ominous developments, but as is so often the case, without enough people with heart, mind, sincerity, personal responsibility, backbone and civil courage, the valley of tears for the country and its people will become ever deeper, the destruction ever more serious and the ensuing misery and suffering will once again take on appalling proportions. Again and again. My heart bleeds.
So in conclusion, thank you once again from the bottom of my heart for this opportunity to exchange ideas.
Best regards
G. Schmidt
The "old rebels" are in a coma due to the pandemic, new rebels are needed, such is the course of life.
Thank you very much! There is hardly a better and shorter way to sum up the current desolate situation of the idols of yesteryear.
Yes, thank you for the well-chosen words, also in the illuminating comments.
This "not me" has always been my favorite and key scene in the film.
And no matter which of the quite rare occasions, as a highly sensitive person I have never been able to indulge in the masses...
A lot of "artists" alienated me right from the start. I found Jürgen Vogel the most blatant when he, then the main actor in "The Wave", now made a little roof over his "brain" with his little hands and chanted "We're staying at home!" And Eckhard von Hirschhausen and Christoph Waltz outdid themselves so much that I even felt sick. But I don't want to judge too harshly, as I didn't walk a meter in their shoes.
In return, I heard heart-warmingly wise, courageous words where I would never have expected them.
But didn't many of the supposedly "intellectuals" already fail to recognize and fight fascism 88 years ago? The only difference is that this time the "working class" is not behaving so uncritically and following the propagated narrative just because they think the smart ones can't be that wrong, but are taking to the streets. Thanks to the internet, alternative media and networking, ANYONE and EVERYONE can find out what is happening to us. Even if it is often difficult to recognize what the truth might be in this information war, this time NOBODY can make excuses that they couldn't have known, that they couldn't have recognized the perfidious deception. It amazes me every day to see who is affected by propaganda and scaremongering, and who succumbs to Stockholm syndrome, cognitive dissonance or even a stupor of convenience and brusquely rejects any other information, which is what the alleged "lateral thinkers" are accused of. Despite all my research, the impulse that leads to this or that conviction, with all its consequences, does not reveal itself to me. And when the "Antifa" counter-demonstrators at the peaceful demonstrations of the anti-vaccination campaigners make a fool of themselves by spreading out the banner with "Vaccinate yourselves, otherwise we'll vaccinate you!" and shouting nothing but denunciatory vulgarities and "get lost!" through their megaphones, you might ask yourself how fascism is to be labeled now, when alleged anti-fascists, who are then regularly joined by the Jusos and the young Greens waving their flags loudly, behave like this and even get their hands shaken by the mayor.
Perhaps all this has something to do with heart intelligence, with heart education, which, understandably, is not a school subject...
Hello everyone, a great comment. You can take it to the extreme when you recognize racism in the Rolling Stones' song "BROWN SUGAR". How far do you want to go? It's clear that the aforementioned performers fill their pockets when the concert halls are full. But the fact that their pants are full and that you can recognize their true character is evident in the current times, when it's about real characters. But in my opinion, these mendacious types are miles away from that and prefer to join these "fascists", unbelievable. I can only hope that people will remember this once this disgusting time is over and the first concerts are announced. It will be interesting to see how far people's memories really go.
At last someone is speaking out, even if only here in a small circle. All the singers and bands that were so politically important back then, where are they today? My music library is probably not dissimilar to yours. I was already listening to albums from the German music scene on both sides of the Wall during the zonal era. Although getting hold of them in beautiful Saxony was somewhat different back then. Big Udo fan, East German bands anyway, HRK, Ulla, all the Austrian singer-songwriters, etc. Zwische Salzjebäck un Bier, still my favorite album today. Lots of great, powerful words, lyrics and feelings for many years. But Mr. Löcke, the way you write it, your best sentence by the way: In the time of freedom, they sang of freedom.
It was a little different for the East, but that's exactly why these lyrics by Western musicians had a deeper meaning for me back then. Today, the disappointment with the heroes of yesteryear is logically proportionately even greater. And interestingly, a singer who was usually considered too light by many is almost the only artist today who stands up straight. And doesn't fall over when masses of criticism and malice are heaped on her. Respect. I've gotten into the habit of traveling back in time when I listen to the music from back then in my Mencave. Works well with the finest cognac and a cigarillo. Then I can take it. Best regards and thanks again for the thought-provoking impulse!
Dear Mr. Löcke, thank you very much for this great report, which, as so often, gets to the heart of the complexity and complexity of events!
I have often asked myself this question: where does evil begin? Where are its boundaries and its transition?
In my opinion, this question is very difficult to answer. Not because these are often processes and gradual, slow developments in a society that are increasingly becoming a generally accepted ideology and whose development is often barely noticed. In addition, these developments are often not perceived as so threatening and bad at the moment. A relativization of events and happenings due to a lack of dramaturgy in everyday life and thus increasing acceptance and habituation of losses and restrictions for the individual, such as new laws, regulations and rules, etc.
I am personally familiar with structures from my background (I am Turkish and grew up in Eastern Anatolia) that are unhealthy at their core, but are often not perceived as such by people who live in these unhealthy structures. I have lived in these unhealthy structures for a long time and have never been able to understand why the vast majority of people still accept them. There are many answers to this, but the most important one from my point of view is the fear of exclusion from the community. In addition, many people in these structures have not learned to be independent and are therefore dependent on the community. In large parts of the world today, it is still normal for people, especially women and children, to suffer and be oppressed. Many people grow up with the awareness that they are worthless. However, they know nothing else and for the vast majority of people this is completely normal. It only becomes difficult when people do not share this common ideology and are not prepared to live it...
Now the question is, where does evil begin? For me, the answer to this question has always been very clear. For me, evil begins where the dignity, individual freedom and self-determination of the individual is violated and curtailed, where tolerance and respect for others are no longer given. The catalog of fundamental rights and the pronounced basic value "the untouchable dignity of man" was a healthy reaction to the extreme elimination of the freedom of the individual under Nazi rule. Now we are experiencing movements and currents that unfortunately remind us again of this fruitful time... this fact alone shows the explosive and dramatic nature of our time...
Dear Ipek Demirtas, thank you very much for these well-chosen words, which speak to us from the soul.
Best regards, Petra Mell and Michael Deutsch
Thank you! You have understood. On the day that the prioritization of Article 1 of the Basic Law was unofficially overturned, against the urgent advice of Wolfgang Schäuble, fascism and division began to flourish in our country. Death could not be driven out of our country, but - as always in such situations - life (worth living) was once again driven out.
Very well summarized, Mr. Löcke!
I've long missed someone writing something about what happened to the 'supposed heroes' of the songwriters and rock musicians of 'fascist liberation'.
But you have forgotten one, Mr. Löcke, ... Udo .... the 'liberator' par excellence ... in the 80s still on the road with the 'Sonderzug mach Pankow', he promised us that it would 'go on over the horizon' ....
But now he has shown his true 'fighting spirit' against the doctrine of the state, has mutated into such a 'systemling' that you don't want to admit that this was once the great 'anti-fascist' Udo Lindenberg ....
Bad, ... really gets you down ...
Nevertheless, a happy and healthy New Year to us all ... even without the Corona hype, health is and always has been the most important asset for coping with everyday life.
The music of these people, who in our view are no longer quite so great, remains the same. We can also like the art regardless of the artist, we shouldn't also pursue cancel culture just because we've been struck to the core by our disappointment.
I even believe that "Freiheit" by Westernhagen has what it takes to become the anthem of the freedom movement.
These artists are now all older gentlemen who, like many other, let me say, old leftists, are finding it difficult to cope with our current reality. We baby boomers experienced the same thing with the war generation. Who knows which of us will be sufficiently aware of reality in the coming years.
It would be nice if we did better ourselves and remained open to discussion. Slowhand Clapton had also jumped on the corona bandwagon until he suffered the side effects of vaccination himself and made them public. Reality has now caught up with some, I suspect. You should be allowed to be wrong.
Thank you for this wonderful article! I have also drastically reduced my music collection. For example, I put the Grönemeyer CDs labeled "to give away" in the stairwell. It only took one day for them all to find new owners. I now know a bit better how this house "ticks". What remains is everything by Leonhard Cohen, David Bowie, George Harrison and classical music. That's good!
Wecker, my first concert at 15, his music has accompanied me for almost 45 years. Yes, and now he of all people is unthinkingly labeling so-called lateral thinkers as open to the right, with whom he doesn't want to make common cause? I haven't taken my albums out of circulation yet, but he has lost credibility. His song, "The White Rose", so many good statements, and today? Dis "deceptive"!
Very good comment, I have also been dealing with this question for the last two years. This article has helped me to delve further into this topic or problem.
Times of crisis like these help us to understand things and put them into perspective. In these times, you have to show your colors and the true spirit is revealed once the cloak is lifted. I was also often disappointed at first about who I heard what things from. On the other hand, I got to know so many new journalists who are a real asset to anyone who is really interested. In the formerly important newspapers, I had already found the essential added value in the comments of critical readers even before Corona.
A tip from my music collection: Georg Danzer / Die Freiheit
Hello
... I find it fascinating, for days I've been thinking about where all our "heroes" have gone who were so critical of everything and everyone in "normal times".
Where are BAP Westernhagen Maffay die toten Hosen etc.? So many role models who are now silent, isn't that strange? BUT one heroine has made her presence felt Nena this woman is CLASS! But still too many people join in, too many citizens in uniform join in. AND I was asked again and again how could 33 happen? Look around you, this is how it happens. Even the public broadcasters have become mute rather than mouthpieces, but the house of cards will collapse. Have a nice time.
Dr. Füllmich has been promising the same thing about the house of cards again and again for over a year...
You speak from the heart Mr. Löcke! Both as far as the old anti-fascists are concerned (Konstantin Wecker in particular hit me very hard, as his line about the "cruel boots marching again" kept running through my head at the beginning) and as far as your personal experiences and the one conformist from "The Life of Brian" are concerned, that could be me. I've always been looking for where my limit is for "blending into the crowd" and, to my regret, it was always very early on.
Hello Mr. Löcke,
It's nice to hear someone say what has been bothering me from time to time for weeks. It's easy to sing "Willi" in a rather harmless time. Today, when I consider the powerful voice of the anti-fascist to be much more important, it remains silent, and whether you're running around Düsseldorf at 18 or somewhere else, I miss many critical performers but also voices like Hildebrand, Fenske, etc. There seems to be no more political cabaret. They all seem to be more afraid of a shitstorm than the total restriction of their freedom and basic rights.
Thank you for your work and your commitment.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for this mail!
Made my day!
As Herbert G. once shouted in Vienna (I think it was): "Not an inch to the right", shouted with fanatical (according to Duden: with blind zeal).
Let's say, for example, that if I "deviate" from THE LEFT to the FDP, that is more than one "meter" to the right.
When I hear fascist chants by BVB supporters against Schalke fans after a BVB defeat at Hertha - completely unrelated to the actual game. Yes, fascist behavior and thinking has long been a social problem and can be reduced to far more than just a political problem. A pluralistic society with gray areas within the framework of freedom of opinion has been indoctrinated into a black-and-white "democracy".
That's why I always remain a sympathizer and never a fan...
Dear Mr. Löcke,
My "heroes" in music have always been others. Johann Sebastian Bach, for example, I don't think I need to explain anything about him. Or George Frideric Handel, who composed the epochal "Messiah" in about 3 1/2 weeks. And I believe that these gentlemen were "instruments" of a higher power and that their work is timeless and boundless. The musical "heroes" of modern times have never really interested me, which is why I don't really care about their messages, including what they say or don't say today.
I find the appearance of a Federal Constitutional Court judge on Marietta Slomka (who, by the way, was "my" presenter at the time when I appeared on "Heute-Journal" as a contemporary witness to the Herrhausen assassination attempt) more exciting. The judge explained that all fundamental rights are fully respected and that only those measures have been and will be implemented that are fair, appropriate, necessary, without alternative, etc. etc. for the pandemic. So, what are we getting upset about? It's all good... 🙂
...I too can hardly believe what Mr. Niedecken is saying! I was born in '52, BAP accompanied me and I was a loyal fan!
It all seems like a bad dream to me. I ate most of the bread, but the children!
Mr. Löcke,
once again with a precision landing.
Just the right thing to read after a Monday walk and a little We feeling.
This We feeling that does not come across as combative but quiet, almost still.
Completely without the "Aasch Huh un Zäng ussenäh Atitüde" of these, I would almost like to say, degenerate salon revolutionaries.
Wader, Wecker, May. Niddecken, who was always first and foremost a big rennet bag. And what was the name of that guy with the anthem?
Freedom, oh yes Westernhagen. The problem for most people is just between the ears.
Thank you Mr. Löcke and have a blessed New Year.