In the hustle and bustle of our day, in the struggle for interpretative sovereignty over RKI figures or bare existence, in the trumpeting of symbolic politics and the verbal juggling between the right, the left and the headless, cultural workers are unfortunately easily overlooked.
The social crisis is particularly hard on those working in the cultural sector. The independent, small and large theaters, stages, concert organizers, concert halls, artists of serious and popular music and those beyond. Speech and music theaters, small and large theatres and the many creative people who work around artists and cultural institutions.
Culture is the nectar from which a society draws not only public spirit, but also refreshment.
If culture is no longer given any space in the public sphere and is ordered to stand still, the soul of a nation dies. Quietly. Even if some people prefer to look for their dose of culture in yoghurt, the performing arts need the visual arts, music and literature need the public. You.
According to the classification of the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, culture does not belong on the list of systemically relevant areas.
Culture is like a key. It is not stolen from you, you lose it through carelessness and indifference. Because we must not be indifferent to art, I am giving one artist a voice on current affairs on behalf of the many in the country.
Please read the essay, a guest contribution by Jens Fischer Rodrian.
You are also welcome to download the essay as a .pdf and distribute it with friendly reference.
Yours
Markus Langemann
Guest article
Essay by Jens Fischer Rodrian
There were many reasons not to go to the demo on 29.8.20.
The organizer Michael Ballweg (with all due respect for his ability to organize such an event and for a largely successful selection of speakers) invites Putin and Trump to a peace demo, two patriarchal world igniters and war criminals.
A contribution to world peace, to reconciliation?
In my view, this is more a sign of how close delusion and sense can be.
Added to this was the intolerable call by the NPD, AfD and other right-wing groups to take part in the demonstration, which naturally led to more Reich flags being seen than on August 1, 2020, even if they were still in the minority.
Everyone who had reservations and didn't want to take part had obvious reasons for this, which is completely understandable. However, as we currently have neither a press that strives for objectivity nor a critical opposition in the Bundestag, I decided to take part in the rally in front of the main stage together with a few acquaintances and friends. We were there because we criticized the suspension of basic rights, the measures taken by the federal government and the resulting disintegration of the cultural scene, and also because we wanted to see whether our observations corresponded with the reporting of the mainstream media.
It does not. Worse still, most journalists no longer seem interested in balancing the images. The concerns of the participants go largely unmentioned. They are all lumped together in the dirty corner of nutcases and violent lunatics.
Here are three corrections and comments on 29.8.20.
- The media's claim that the demonstration was broken up is not correct. The speeches continued without incident until the end of the event at 8:30 pm.
- You don't hear excerpts from the speeches of lawyer Rainer Füllmich (Corona Committee Foundation), of the Green politician Claudio David Siber from Flensburg, of the two children who spoke about their experiences in schools, of Robert Kennedy Jr, of the three representatives of the "Childrens Health Defense", of the police officer who was suspended after expressing criticism of the current situation or of professional basketball player Saibu, who was kicked off his team because he took part in a demonstration.
- Some daily newspapers report on the "demo of fear". The participants around the rally site at the Victory Column were peaceful. The distancing rules were observed much more consistently than at any other demo in recent months, even though there were 10 to 20 times as many people present, as confirmed by the police and aerial photographs. The demo was there, not at the Reichstag! That was a completely different event. We already know that people like to mix things up from 1.8.20. The police officers were injured in Neukölln at a completely different event, not at the demonstration on Straße des 17.
The concerns of the overwhelming majority of peaceful participants are apparently not being heard. This is nothing new, because this is exactly how the many critical voices from the scientific community, such as Nobel Prize winner Michael Levitt, feel.
Balanced reporting looks different. You don't have to agree with everything, but you have to report on it - that should be the main task of every journalist. Media that report tendentiously serve propaganda and sensational journalism and thus contribute to the division of society, just as the right-wingers do with their intolerable slogans and posters.
The German government, which is defaming all citizens who take to the streets as "covid idiots" and "followers of the right", is contributing to alienation to the same extent.
One woman who I asked if I could take a photo of her sign asked me not to show her face, otherwise she might lose her job. Some of the friends I was there with also wanted to remain unmentioned, otherwise they would face the same thing. That's what happened.
(Jens Fischer Rodrian, www.wahnundsinn.com)
Jens Fischer Rodrian is a musician, composer, producer, lyricist, freelance author and creative director of the Blue Man Group. After four instrumental solo albums, his first volume of poetry "Sich kurz fassen - ach" was released in 2017, followed by the spoken word album "Wahn & Sinn" in 2019. Many of the short films for which he wrote the music have received numerous international awards at festivals. He himself received the main prize for best music for the short film "Stiller Löwe" at the renowned Festival International du Film D'Aubagne From 2011 to 2019, he performed live with Konstantin Wecker, for whom he produced the last two live albums. Since 2017, he has been touring the German-speaking world with his concert readings. His concert series "FOURatONNCE" will take place for the third time in 2020. In 2021, his new book "Alles nur geliehen" will be published, which will include short stories and essays in addition to his poems. Jens Fischer Rodrian lives in Berlin.
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15 Responses
...it seems as if political dissidents can only push each other into corners...and that on purpose?...
"The concern was not heard..." But actually, it should be about an objective debate on properly analyzed facts, on which one can take different positions, but which are not subject to any "sovereignty of interpretation". Art and culture are a mirror of society and a (systemically relevant) critical corrective...they could straighten out a reality distorted by the media...there are politicians who seem to be afraid of this...what must not be, that cannot be...
The question of the oath of office is answered by a paper that deals with the "Justiciability of the oath of office of members of the Federal Government".
https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.bundestag.de/resource/blob/556790/e5376e768c028f5829e29468e6159383/WD-3-088-18-pdf-data.pdf&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwjAw_DRzZ3tAhVT8uAKHTmnABoQFjAAegQIBBAB&usg=AOvVaw0dZfpbsifX5pG2KAyCT5ot
The meaning of the oath lies outside the legal sphere, they say. In other words: I want to, but it won't work and, besides, my mother has forbidden it.
It's nice that you took the trouble to report fairly on the demo. However, it strikes me that even you cannot escape the framing (or simply: propaganda) of the media as soon as the topic strays a little from the focus (the demo).
To the invitations from Michael Ballweg:
To me, these invitations sounded like a mixture of deliberate satire and hubris.
The fact is that Obama has started several wars, for example, and has started the drone war, which is completely contrary to human rights.
Donald Trump is the first American president in decades who has not started a war. He probably hasn't expanded one himself.
Calling Trump a war criminal here gives the impression that this is not the norm for American presidents.
It seems to have become so ingrained in us that we can no longer escape from those who think differently. Of course, I don't exclude myself from this.
I would also like to add that Dr Schiffmann, one of the co-organizers of querdenken711 - is "talking the talk" of unlimited immigration of African people. He says that there is room in Germany for everyone who wants to come.
Unfortunately, he did not mention who should pay for their care. And - Mr. Schiffmann has the ambition to go into politics.
Well, what about the "color theory" now? Was that a left-wing demo? Or was it about basic rights?
And - what about the oath formula "avert harm from the German people"?
No, Dr. Schiffmann is not an organizer of Querdenken 711, nor does he say anything about unlimited immigration. He was referring to a statistical work against the claim of the alleged overpopulation of the earth, which shows that the whole of Africa could fit into a small part of Germany.
When did humanism and humanity become "left-wing" per se? We've already come that far.
We live in a system in which freedom of opinion still applies (the AfD would like to abolish it), which is why you, Bea, are allowed to express your opinion here, and so am I.
In your first paragraph, you write that, in your opinion, the AfD is not a right-wing party. In your second paragraph, you then indirectly claim the opposite. That's what you call having a "well-balanced" opinion. I call it more of a "nice try". Apart from that, there are of course members of the Union parties who are so far to the right that they would step on the toes of the left in a circle.
Regarding your Trump comments - you're right, Trump is not a war criminal. He's not that good. He's just an ordinary criminal, and the list of his offenses is so long that it will probably take decades to come to terms with them.
I would like to follow up on that. Where has the AfD claimed to want to abolish freedom of opinion? Apart from constructed insinuations by the MSM, I have found nothing. And I would like to know what serious crimes you are accusing Mr. Trump of? A few examples would suffice.
Thank you very much.
P.S.: "... you're right, Trump is not a war criminal. He's not that good." You could easily be accused of liking war criminals 😉 Of course I don't.
I hope it is permissible to express other opinions here.
You describe the AFD as right-wing. First of all, I disagree. Many of the points raised by the AFD are positions,
which the CDU has represented for many years. Then you also have to say that the CDU has a "right-wing past". I also think that there are some muddleheads in the AFD. But in my opinion that applies to every party.
Secondly, I am of the opinion that right-wingers (no matter how outdated their views may be) also have the right to demonstrate. As long as they remain peaceful and don't shout their silly slogans at the demonstration.
Thirdly, and this is where it gets hairy in my opinion. You call Trump a war criminal. What war has Trump waged? And what has he done that earns him the label "war criminal"? I think you're giving the public media too much credit here. You don't have to like Trump. I think that's too much to ask, but you should be fair. I don't want to get out of hand, so I'll stop here. Unfortunately, I can't really agree with the essay. What a shame!
very true everything ! thanks for the comment !
perhaps we can give the musician/poet credit for the fact that he, like all of us probably
has been brainwashed by this state media all his life...
yes, even mr. wecker should ask himself these questions soon...
This is exactly what must be allowed on a platform like this and I therefore underline Bea's comments in points 1 and 2.
I would particularly like to address point three: in order to form an informed opinion, it is essential not only to consume the "synchronized negative reporting of the FRG media on Trump and Putin, but also to ensure that opinions are formed from a "debt of debt" from various sources. Nothing is more wrong than calling Mr. Trump a war criminal, especially the one who has not only not started a single war during his entire time in office, but has made various "peace offers" and was able to bring them to a conclusion. Do we hear anything about this in the German media? There is nothing to interpret, these are pure facts and should be taken into account as such. Not everyone may like Mr. Trump, but he has brought his country closer to normal citizens again during his time in office. Defaming him as a war criminal shows that Mr. Jens Fischer Rodrian should rather write about music and not parrot the mainstream.
I can't agree with the essay either, but I can agree with Bea's comment.
Clear analysis
The author could also have dealt with the surroundings of the demonstration and the equipment of the police forces. There were huge state-of-the-art water cannons, armored vehicles and violent thugs among the police. Every peaceful demonstrator who was detained by the police to "establish their personal details" was wrestled to the ground (often beaten) like a felon.
The report trivializes and looks away from the new beginning of state fascism in Germany.
The color of the uniforms already match the Waffen SS again.
Anyone who does not now believe that this is about an infectious disease is under the same illusion as citizens in the last century who said "it won't be that bad" after Hitler came to power
Thank you for confirming my impression of the demo. I wasn't there, but I watched a few hours of video footage of the demo on youtube. I also came to the conclusion that the demo was peaceful. And after watching the uncut video of the Reichstag, it was not only clear that this was not a demonstration by "lateral thinkers", but also that it was never the intention of the demonstrators, who were almost "incited", to storm the building. Rather, from the very beginning, they had no other intention than to go to the steps of the Reichstag (which was also somehow a rather stupid idea, but it was far from what the media together with our politicians had claimed: an attempt would have been made to break into the building, and only the concentrated strength of the 3 courageous police officers could have stopped the hundreds of demonstrators ...
I very much regret the fact that you can no longer rely on the "mainstream media" when it comes to this complex of issues. Or actually you can; you only have to look at/listen to what the mainstream media report and assume the opposite. The probability of being right about this is extremely high in these times ...
Wonderful that they have included my husband's clear and courageous words in their club ;-)! Thank you also for your clear and well-founded words and above all for your perseverance and courage!
Best regards and hope to see you soon in Munich. Sincerely, Alexa Rodrian