Today, I want you to read this article (if you can; if not, send me a message and if enough people request it, I’ll translate):
Die USA machen es ihren Freunden so schwer by Die Welt correspondent Uwe Schmidt.
It says some things that I have felt, but couldn’t express better myself. Mostly, it is a bitter-sweet recognition of some of the best and worst traits of the US, but somehow, the negatives outweigh the positive. In general, the country’s strong standing in the world, morally, politically, and militarily is weakened by a congress who no longer reflects the opinions of its people, a republican party that has strayed further and further right, an economy that lets its stars shine and everyone else fall, a president who isn’t even recognized by a large percentage of the population… the list goes on. While I agree with a lot of what Schmidt writes, I am envious of his ability to move back to Germany and move on with his life.What about those of us who chose to stay?
Some choice quotes:
Jedes Land hat die Vorurteile, die es verdient. Man muss ihnen nicht folgen. Every country has the prejudices it deserves, but one doesn’t have to believe in them.
Wer Amerika durchquert, versteht, warum sich das Land und seine Menschen selbst genug sind. Es ist eine gigantische Insel, wir anderen sind das Meer. Those who cross America understand why the country and its people only need themselves. It is a giant island, and we others are the sea.
Nach 50 Jahren Raubbau an der Infrastruktur, Jahrzehnte, in denen mindestens die Republikaner Steuererhöhungen prinzipiell bekämpften wie eine tödliche Seuche, beginnt die dritte Welt, die erste zu fressen. After 50 years of over-exploitation of infrastructure, decades in which the Republicans, among others, principly fight tax raises like a deadly plague, the third world begins to devour the first one.
Das Problem ist nicht, gegen Amerika zu sein. Das Problem ist, dass es Amerika seinen Freunden so viel schwerer macht, es gegen seine Ignoranten und Verächter zu verteidigen
The problem is not whether or not to take sides with the Americans. The problem is that the U.S. makes it so much more difficult for its friends to defend the country against those ignorant and condemning.
Wanderwolf 