Commentary on Why Germans Want America’s Downfall
Commentary on Why Germans Want America’s Downfall
German schadenfreude knows no bounds, particularly when it comes to the United States. The country loves to feel superior to a superpower like America. Yet Germany also harbors a childish infatuation with Obama — one which has little political grounding. The reasons are psychological.
It’s too bad that Mitt Romney didn’t win. If the Republicans had won, we could finally have known for sure that our suspicion of America’s imminent demise is correct. “Four more years,” translated into the German viewpoint means little more than a “four-year reprieve.”
For the über-watchful among us, the signs of the downfall are obvious. One must only take a look at the condition of the streets (every fourth bridge is crumbling!), or the entirely outdated power grid, to come to the conclusion that this country has its future behind it. A nation that has its utility lines hanging from poles in the street, instead of burying them in an orderly fashion underground, cannot really be taken seriously.
With a bit of luck, the specter across the Atlantic might even take care of itself. It can’t be ruled out. When they are not shooting each other or being fried by dangling power lines then the Americans might simply pop. Two out of every three US citizens are overweight, or even obese! Every child in Germany knows the numbers.
There is hardly an issue about which Germans as so united as they are by their desire to see America on its knees. It unites both the left and the right. Wherever they look, they see decay, a lack of culture and ignorance. “A perverse mixture of irresponsibility, greed, and religious zealotry,” as my adversary, columnist Jacob Augstein, furiously argued on Monday.