State of Crisis

There are several deep underlying differences between the German and Australian conception of “the Good Society” and liberty. For a start, the role of the State here is much more prominent than in the Anglo-Saxon world. In Germany, one still reads about and refers to the power of “the State” for bring about change and social benefit. The idea of using the term “the State” at home to discuss anything even vaguely positive is hard to imagine. Instead we talk of “the government” which is but one, albeit important, actor on the national socio-economic stage.

Here in Germany there is a fundamental difference in the conception of “the State” and “the Government” (I am not sure here when referring to the German conception of government whether I should be using capitals – certainly with their conception of “the State” it is appropriate). In Germany, the government is seen more in the light of a temporary standing body that are de jure in charge of steering the State. This standing body is a collection of individuals who are from time to time invested with the responsibilities of temporarily managing the State, which is in itself, in my understanding of the German concept, not easily defined.

The State in Germany is at once a very real living entity which palpably interacts with society and every individual within it, yet at the same time an amorphous theoretical concept which is almost impossible to pin down or define in terms of boundaries. In some ways the State represents the ongoing power invested in the Government by the German constitution, or 'Basic Law' (Grundgesetz), in other ways it is far more than that, as the concept of the State seems to be an almost monolithic one which transcends the boundaries of the federal government and the 16 German state governments (Bundesländer). There is only really one 'State' but 17 governments to help steer different parts of it within the German mind. I use the word 'mind' with purpose, as like so many other things here, the reality of the workings of the state depends upon the way it is interpreted by the German people in their particular linguistic and philosophical cognitive romanticism.

In a related issue, most recently of course the media in Germany has been speaking of the State's role in intervening in the current financial crisis. The German government holds “talks” amongst its various ministers, but in the end it is the State which will take action if and when action is to be taken.

I witnessed a further amusing and barely imaginable even last week. A prominent political and current affairs interview show held a special episode entitled “The End of Capitalism?”. Among the panel of five guests were the last head of the national bank of the former communist East German state as well as the current leader of the German neo-communist “Left Party” (Die Linke). I hope I am not the only one who finds it just a little unusual that not only would a serious interview show run with such an exaggeratedly apocalyptic title, but also handover two of its five spots to a pair of nonsensical radicals. In the eyes of the former East German bank head it was clear “fifteen or twenty years ago” that this capitalistic system was destined for imminent collapse. Funny is it not that this then seems to have occurred to him at a time coinciding fairly well with that in which he lost his job, his company and his country. My own experience too would support the notion that visionary thinking is greatly enhanced by unemployment.

A few days following the interview show I heard the present finance crisis described in German as evidence that we are now living in “Shakespearean times”. Good Lord how the Germans love a fiasco! Have they not yet learned that the Anglo-Saxon actually world thrives on fiasco? When was the free market not a fiasco? It just happens that we are now in a particularly deep fiasco, but a fiasco it has always been. Don't get me wrong here either – I use the word fiasco here merely as an objective observation – it is neither a criticism now a compliment. It's just that human affairs are fundamentally a fiasco from the interpersonal intricacies between former lovers six months after the break-up, to the inter-racial and inter-national intricacies in the fallout of a regional conflict that occurred over 800 years ago, from the injustice of being born into poverty to the injustice of seeing one's retirement savings disappear overnight on world markets, from the injustice of one's unrequited love for another who could only ever see them as a dear friend to the injustice of losing an election despite winning the popular vote. But there is no point in simply complaining about these things or using one or another occurrence of such ever recurring events to support a belief that the world can now never be the same again or will never recover or improve. I think the best of the Anglo-Saxon liberal tradition, and please notice I say “the best” as there are certainly other less positive elements, is that it generally takes human reality for what it is – a constant struggle to keep ourselves and where possible, one another, one step ahead of the chaos that follows us everywhere. Occasionally through one or another oversight we take a slide, but the important thing is to get back behind the wheel and concentrate harder, not fall into a deep soul searching depression punctuated by the fear that perhaps the vehicle we've been driving has been broken all along. What good does that do? Please dear Germans, I know it has been hard living in the middle of Europe for the last 2000 years, but at least admit that things today are better than they have been for most of it, and it is not through constant doubt, disillusionment and disaffection that this has been achieved, but through constant effort, hope and enthusiasm. Amazingly this has been achieved together with the French! No mean feat, and again, further proof of what's possible when one believes in the possibilities of change within the system rather than hoping vainly for miraculous disappearance and replacement of the system.

Anyway, to wrap this up, I am convinced the ability to believe our current crisis could portend “the end of capitalism” is greatly aided by the belief in the existence of this theoretically all powerful “State”. Whereas in the Anglo-Saxon world, the Government is but a player (albeit a rather strong and very important one) in a large and complicated multiplayer system. Here in Germany however, while there are lots of minor players, in the end, in the German political consciousness, each seems somehow subject to the will of the “State”. From here, there is only a small step to being able to foresee a State that could decide to change the rules altogether and start the game all over again as if from scratch.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts! And don't forget to check for my next blog, where I explain how all of this is connected back to crossing pedestrian lights on red ;-)