Color theory

by Peter Löcke //

The truth is in the mouth of a child. I find it more and more difficult to talk to adults about politics every day. So I was all the more pleased that a little boy from the neighborhood contacted me. Nils (name changed) is nine years old and is interested in politics. And colors.

Nils: Do all political parties actually have colors?

Me: What do you mean?

Nils: The Greens are green. I know that. What about the other parties?

Me: I see. Yes. Each party has its own color.

Nils: Why?

Me: Good question. It's probably like a soccer club. There are also club colors. The color stands for the party and then the party fans proudly wear the party color.

Nils: Green is hope. Green is a good color. Says my class teacher. Is there also a bad color in politics?

Me: Brown. Clearly brown. A long time ago there was a brown party that brought a lot of suffering to Germany and the world.

Nils: Is there still a brown party in Germany?

Me: There is the AfD. That is the blue party. But everyone else calls them brown.

Nils: That's what my teacher says. Is that true?

Me: Not in my opinion. You will form your own opinion at some point.

Nils: Do you have a favorite color?

Me: I am currently searching. It used to be red. That's the color of the SPD. Unfortunately, red went to war with green. And today there are no more red lines for the reds.

Nils: Sounds complicated. What other colors are available?

Me: There is also the black CDU. Black is beautiful. This used to be written in English on the CDU's election posters.

Nils: And what do their posters say today?

Me: Today, their posters look very green. Many CDU supporters are annoyed by this.

Nils: Were they all parties and colors?

Me: Not yet. There's also the FDP. The FDP used to be yellow, but has added other colors. Magenta in particular. It's a kind of pink. They want to be cooler with it.

Nils: Doesn't the FDP know what it wants?

Me: You're close to the truth there, Nils.

Nils: Are we through with the colors now?

Me: No. There is still the left. Their color is ... I don't know myself. They seem to be very colorless and pale.

Nils: Hmm. What happens if you mix all the colors?

Me: Oh. Then everyone is of the same opinion. That's dangerous for a democracy. 

Nils: Why? What color is created?

Me: It depends. Do you mean additive or subtractive color mixing?

Nils: Hey dude. I don't understand a word.

Me: Sorry. When light colors are superimposed, the result is a brilliant white. Then everything seems to be fine. Televisions work with light colors. Especially talk shows. But that's not reality.

Nils: And what is reality?

Me: In reality, it's like a paint box. If you mix all the colors together, you get a dark, ugly brown.

Nils: That's amazing. It's happened before in Germany. Will it happen again?

Me: It is possible. Unless we all experience a blue miracle. But I don't know if that's a good thing.

Nils: There's one thing I don't understand. Why was the whole of Germany brown in the past? Why were all people evil?

Me: Well, Nils. You only knew that after the fact. During that time, people were just showing solidarity. Back then, everyone thought brown was good. And every newspaper said that brown was good. And anyone who disagreed was evil.

Nils: Fierce. What color does everyone like today? Which color is in every newspaper today?

Me: Ask your teacher, Nils. Ask your teacher.

Articles identified by name do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the publisher.

Share post:

10 Responses

  1. The color of the Brown Party was red, as was generally the case with socialist groups.
    Just look at the flags.

  2. What is Nils' favorite color?...for me as a child it was always sky blue. "Schweinebammel" with his head down and looking up into the blue sky, on the railing of the sports field near the forest, in a gentle sway...always invited me to dream.

  3. ...if you mix all the colors, everyone is of the same opinion, the result is an ugly brown (or dull gray) - and anyone who disagrees is evil...this has already happened in history...
    Memo: The rainbow, in which the colors are indexed separately and individually by refraction of light, is God's covenant with mankind...but that does not mean: multiculturalism as a sauce...

  4. I don't think asking the teacher is a good idea. I'm already a bit older. 44 years ago I asked a question in history class, without any ulterior motives or sentiments, the teacher told me how many people died in the Second World War, so many Russians, so many British, so many
    ... the question of a 12 year old was how many dead Germans were there? The result of this question was, that doesn't matter, I had to go outside and had bad grades for the rest of my school days, everything I learned that you can't ask teachers anything.

    1. Dear Verena, you learned important things at school. Things are not always fair. Everywhere, but not exclusively, you meet people who are not good for you. Students are often much more stupid than you might think. Many believe that grades are important, but they are only important to a limited extent; employers who go by grades are often not good for you, i.e. the many mentally ill people in the public sector or similarly toxic jobs. My father always said that the teachers were much worse off than the children, because they, the teachers, unlike us children, wouldn't get out of school for the rest of their lives. That made sense to me straight away. Maybe that's why I never considered an academic career with a chair, etc. Thank God!

  5. A simple conversation with a child about colors reveals how quickly good becomes evil, and vice versa. You don't need to delve into the depths of human behavior to find out what's going on with this tragic species. Just go through the colors once..... and you'll know.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Welcome to this platform for the cultivated exchange of arguments.

We have forgotten how to endure contradiction. It is okay to disagree here. I would ask you to remain respectful and polite. Insults and hate comments will be removed in future, as will calls to vote for political parties. I reserve the right to delete insulting or derogatory comments. This public forum and its inherent opportunity to exchange arguments and opinions is an attempt to uphold freedom of expression - including freedom of dissent. I would like to see the old-fashioned virtue of respect cultivated here.

"Controversy is not an annoying evil, but a necessary prerequisite for the success of democracy." Federal President Dr. h.c. Joachim Gauck (ret.), only 5 years ago in his speech on the Day of the Basic Law.

en_USEnglish