The Watchers Being Watched

 Here in Germany, we have this governmental agency called the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV for short).

Generally, their job (rather unique, and I always try to label them as a sort of FBI-like device)....is supposed to be intelligence-gathering on potential threats concerning the stability and democratic order of Germany.   If you were a radical group (leftists, rightists, Islamic radicals, the Mafia, crime clans, etc) and were threatening people or groups in Germany, then you'd get on their 'watch-list'.

They've been around for seventy years and generally viewed as a watchdog and protector of Germans.  

Who they watch?  Mafia groups, radical Islmaists, neo-Nazis, Antifa, etc.  Yeah, they watch just everybody...there's probably even radical religious folks that get on their list at times.

So I bring them up because an amusing story that popped-up via Focus this morning.

Like most American government agencies....the BfV had a training seminar that was mandated.....everyone had to come attend.

Topic?   A seminar to make people aware of "extremism in the public service".  You see, the government (really the coalition CDU-CSU-SPD) have hyped up this fear of theirs that various extremists have entered the German government and now represent a threat to democracy.  The intention here?  The seminar was advertised to just make people aware of such behavior.

Well....these guys at BfV have had years (some even decades) to analyze propaganda and the use of intimidation by various groups.  So they walked out of the seminar with the opinion that this was more of an exercise to sniff members in the seminar out and label them as potentially requiring a review or 'watching'.  

Yes, the watchers (BfV) were being watched.....so to speak.  You can laugh over this but the folks at BfV recognized this as a threat.

The best example of the 'game'?  They had a written survey to fill out. A question in the mix: "You are invited to a party. You hear that the host is making xenophobic jokes. How do you react?"  From that, you select some response.  

The funny thing to the question form given (they never give the number of questions).....you had to score 80-percent, to get a certificate....which would end your misery in the seminar. 

You had to gear yourself.....no matter who you were in reality....you had to put on a fake-hat and answer a bunch of questions in some approved way, or get a suspicion of being an extremist put upon you, and your career would be in jeopardy.

The value of the BfV in the future?  One has to wonder about this.