Focus, the German news magazine, pulled up this fascinating story that involves Germans and their belief that they are misunderstood in America.
The theme here? A "Year of Germany" organized around 1,000-odd events and totalling near 20 million Euro (figure 24-million US dollars). All coming to the US.
There are various pieces and parts to this....German cinematic experiences, visits to American schools, beer fests, etc. There's even a motto conceived....."Wunderbar together" (meaning wonderful together). A full year of culture delivered to America by the Germans.
Funding? Well, part of this coming out of the Foreign Ministry itself, and part from the Goethe Institute, with some help from German industry players (no names are mentioned but I would take a guess that Mercedes, BMW and VW made some contributions).
The aim? As I read through it, I think their big aim is university audiences.
One could ask the question....are US and German relations at the same level that existed in 2010? My answer would be no. But I would go further and suggest that relations have generally changed every single decade. Part of this can be blamed on political shifts in both countries. Part can be blamed on the fact that journalists tend to hype things that most people (from either side) don't care for or get excited about.
The problem with this effort? From the brief description given, I'd say the primary angle to this is to have German intellectuals talk with American intellectuals. Everyone will sip some fine wine....nibble on some Pfalz cheese....then chatter like a English hooligan drunk over 'wunderbar this' or 'wunderbar that'.
The lack of understanding the dynamics of fifty different states, the various stages of life in America, the drug dependency issue, why voting frustrations lead people against Hillary and for Trump, and the public anger over Washington's theatrics?
Why not put the big 'tour-bus' campaign to work in Germany, and have the intellectuals go tour the nation and discover that there's a wide variety of Germans who are angry with Berlin, a growing skeptical nature over public TV news in Germany, and an expanding economic barrier where folks cannot ever get ahead in life?
Maybe in the end, some German intellectuals on this grand 'tour' will be standing there and realizing that they really failed to grasp the change over the last decade in the US, and that there is something bigger brewing here. But the Americans might go and point out that something seems to be brewing in Germany as well.
If I were running the 'bus'? I'd bring in Unhellig to sing a few tunes, let Dieter Nuhl tell a few jokes, open up a pallet of dark Paulaner Salvator Dopplebock beer, and just skip all this political chatter business. I might take six of ZDF's more intellectual folks and push them into some American-RV, forcing them to spend four weeks crossing the nation and meeting non-intellectual people, try to some American-style ribs, and spend an hour or two in drug-infested Baltimore.
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