Politicians and the media are increasingly authoritarian devalues the entire population. With the help of harsh statements, negative sentiments are generated against their own fellow citizens.
Commentary by Christian Borovi.
What a week: Police in Stuttgart are gearing up for major clashes this weekend and are stepping up their presence in downtown Stuttgart after the perpetrators of the so-called “entertainment venue” raped and injured police officers last Sunday. Therefore, a more active police presence, video surveillance and possibly a ban on alcohol are planned for this weekend.
The current headlines of wounded police officers and robberies have long overshadowed peaceful demonstrations against Crown rules - just as it became abundantly clear that many thousands of people in Stuttgart could peacefully demonstrate week after week to maintain their basic rights.
When it came to the question of whether the TAZ journalist should be indicted, Horst Seehofer also wanted to side with the police. It is not very pleasant to raise the question in the column about what kind of work the police officers could do alternatively in case of unemployment, but what about the indictment? But two days ago, on June 25, 2020, Seehofer decided not to shake his finger too hard and arrange debriefing, and perhaps only the press council should be involved in this matter. Apparently Seehofer wants to support the discussion on the correct interaction of the population with each other.
“The cessation of words inevitably leads to a cessation of acts and to excessive violence,” Seehofer said, according to Taz der Bild (7). But instead of applauding this concern, the media loudly proclaim that Seehofer gave up and that it was a mistake. Die Welt even published an article on June 25, 2020 with the headline "Seehofer 'Chuckled" (8). It’s funny that when the attack on journalist Ken Yebsen was attempted in Stuttgart on May 9, no one questioned the humane treatment.
In addition, the outbreak of the coronavirus at the meat processing plant in Tjonys has sparked a scandal that further plunged the bites of exploitative working conditions into the flesh, and also brought the issue of freedom of movement and the legitimization of the Crown back to the agenda and shattered hopes that things would soon change. … Suddenly there was a complete political and media surprise that people in German enterprises are forced to work in unimaginable conditions - even though such conditions have already been pointed out in the past by trade unions and associations (17).
There is news from Berlin: some measures have been relaxed in the capital of the state, but “mask-lovers,” as the media call them, will henceforth be punished with a fine (3). However, the website of the Department of Health of the Senate of Berlin provides the following information on the correct wearing of masks: "The use of everyday masks is always at your own peril and risk" (4).
Promotional video:
In this context, the possible health risks associated with wearing masks are also pointed out, but this basically only means a disclaimer. This means that despite the legal obligation to wear a mask, in the end no one will be held responsible for the possible negative consequences of wearing a mask. Therefore, choosing between fine or sickness can mean choosing between the devil and Beelzebub.
And then Cem Ozdemir, who during an interview after the incidents in Stuttgart was thrown the phrase “The police are to blame for this,” to which he responded to the camera reflexively and rudely: “Please shut up, I say. We are in Germany now, I say. Shut up”(18). What would happen to the media if journalist Ken Yebsen had said this? Could we pretend that it was awkward, but still a human blooper, just flew from the lips, which is actually even cute, because it shows how dedicated the person is? I doubt.
If we go beyond the individual mentioned events, their contradictions and open questions, then we can see that not only law enforcement agencies are the central thread running through all events, but there is another aspect that is woven through all political and media headlines: currently politics and the media organize direct attacks on ordinary citizens and their possibly even understandable open questions. Bashing means in plain language "harsh, demeaning criticism" (1) - and that's exactly what is happening now.
Therefore, the trick of Cem Ozdemir is not a small matter. It reflects the fundamentally prevailing attitude in politics and the media towards critics of the Crown rules and those who abide by them.
It is a well-known tradition that psychologists and agencies go to the service of those in power and develop high-paying strategies to silence critics of power and social relations. Thus, the term "conspiracy theorists", which is so often used casually nowadays, is also not a trivial thing, but a concept of psychological warfare developed by the CIA. In a 1967 CIA memo entitled "Counter Criticism of the Warren Report," which has since become publicly known, the intent was to silence those who critically questioned the officially narrated story behind the Kennedy assassination. At that time, it was journalists who first investigated and published the connection between the CIA and the Kennedy assassination (10).
Thus, psychological warfare is, in the main, psychologically supported violent communication in the service of the powerful. This is important to know because quite recently the same principle is being used again: Critics are linguistically devalued. The good news is that language can be used to correctly recognize psychological warfare.
Not all psychologists are in the service of those in power; on the contrary, there are those who name the power structures and try to break through the logic of domination. Munich psychotraumatologist Franz Ruppert is one of them. In his books, he points out the structures of trauma and how to get out of them. At the heart of his research is, among other things, the attacker-victim dynamic, which leads to injury and unhealthy structures, both privately and socially.
Interestingly, Ruppert's thesis is that there is a syntax, semantics and pragmatics of the relationship to the victim, as well as the language of attackers. “When we speak from our healthy part, we use different words, terms and sentence constructions than when we speak under the control of our psycho-traumatic coping strategies,” he says in his latest book (11).
How something like this might look linguistically can be understood from an article published a few days ago in T-Online by Lama Kaddor, project manager at the University of Duisburg-Essen (12). It combines all of the above political events and curses:
“But instead of being careful, there is neglect. Thousands party on the Landwehr Canal. Almost no one wore a mask on the night of the riots in Stuttgart; certainly a marginal aspect of the rampant orgy of violence, no doubt, but one aspect. Families meet in large circles at parties and barbecues as if things were back to square one. In services and religious gatherings, believers sit close to one another. In fitness studios, people train like it's the last time. For those in charge of the meat industry in Tjonys, Westfleisch, Wiesenhof or elsewhere, the virus seems to be absent, as is the conspiracy theorists."
It is also interesting that critics of these measures are accused of creating an "anti-corona movement" destroying internal and social peace. These irresponsible critics allegedly do not even care about their own families, and Ms Kaddor suspects that this may be due to the fact that the family was not all right.
This tactic can also be found, incidentally, in the aforementioned 1967 document, in which one can read that this strategy of citing mental disorders as a cause and asserting that the need for recognition and love has not been met should be used when it is is no longer effective to discredit someone as a conspiracy theorist. If you read Mrs. Caddor's article, you will see that she can apply this strategy of psychological warfare ideally, consciously or unconsciously.
Obviously, in light of the ever-growing protest and growing public anxiety about the Crown accords reached, it is no longer enough to discredit just individual journalists, researchers, or artists as conspiracy theorists. No, now every citizen is already depreciated as deprived of solidarity, non-peaceful and asocial, who does not behave quite correctly. On the contrary, they only try to be social and to satisfy such important basic needs as the need for touch, social and social cohesion, or inner peace through spirituality. But the author grossly discounts this as "embracing" in churches, or as an irresponsible gay society that can no longer be saved. “If you don't care about the lives of your relatives and friends, you should probably understandthat we are unlikely to survive the second major economic blockade,”she continues. So the recently found scapegoat is also responsible for the economic collapse?
The suspicion arises that any resistance to the "second wave" this fall should be rejected and devalued, as the article says, "carelessness … obscene … coming from the aluminum hat camp … irresponsible … reckless … selfish (just wanting to do their thing) … indulging selfishness … ". It is noteworthy that the focus of whipping is not on any social group or individual, but on the citizen as a whole, who must make a responsible contribution, and for whom maintaining social peace with masks means something. This is another step in psychological warfare, because the citizen must be put in order and obey, otherwise he will be punished.
The conspirators and bearers of the Alus hats, accused in this way and stylized as scapegoats, in fact do not exist at all. But there are people who want to live a healthy life and who differ in how that healthy life looks to them. Wasn't diversity and pluralism a cultural and political model until recently, and shouldn't a democracy promote such different views of the good life, or at least be able to resist them?
If citizens want to maintain their autonomy in the face of the current beatings, it would be good for them to pay attention to the extent to which attempts are being made, on the one hand, to apply measures through linguistic violence and, on the other hand, to draw dividing lines between people.
Here the social world is under threat and only individual interests are satisfied, for example, the interests of the authorities and the financial elite. On the other hand, nonviolent communication is always focused on the needs of people in society. In nonviolent communication, everyone who participates in it listens to them. This alone is not given at the moment. In addition, the central issue of nonviolent communication is what an individual or community needs in order for peace to reign and for everyone to feel comfortable. There are also conflicts in nonviolent communication, but they occur without violence, and language is an important element in this process.
Therefore, violence at the language level always leads to conflicts. Thus, a much less authoritarian approach in politics could also be applied to the Crown, asking questions of the community and allowing it to participate in the process of finding solutions. This may be utopian, but the problem in the community must also be tackled collectively. It doesn't help pretending in an authoritarian way that the only right decision is.
So sooner or later disagreements will arise if people continue to behave as if the basic needs of self-determination, both in relation to the body (vaccinations, immune map, proximity), and in relation to the entire external life situation (work, housing, social participation, joy of life) were simply flat expressions of excessive selfishness.
A look at history can help visualize the importance of meeting the needs of every person in a (global) society: The fact that Germany was denied the right to self-determination after World War I was, for example, one of the reasons for the devastating World War II. This was indicated not only by Putin in his speech to the people a few days ago (15), but also by such historians as Wolfgang Effenberger, who in his book “The Rock of Europe. The revolution, the confusion of the Soviets and Versailles, "he sums up:" To this day, the right to self-determination is used only as a weapon of imperial thinking to taste "(15). In addition, the quote further clarifies the fatal consequences of using violent communication and thus ignoring the needs of many people.
Even if in big politics it is not possible to immediately cope with an acute crisis by joint efforts, it is all the more important that at least every citizen pays attention to his own needs and the needs of his immediate environment and communicates with them in a non-violent way, for example, listening to another person, even if he has a completely alien attitude. Perhaps not all needs can be met, but perhaps there are opportunities for action that can be explored. Perhaps, then, instead of struggle, something like new creation and creativity will appear. Man is able to fight, but he is also able to rise above himself in a positive sense.
Sources:
- www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Bashing
- www.stuttgarter-zeitung.de/inhalt.randale-in-stuttgart-polizei-bereitet-sich-nach-ausschreitungen-auf-wochenende-vor.1aba8529-2267-49f3-9829-547249391e14.html
- www.rbb24.de/politik/thema/2020/coronavirus/beitraege_neu/2020/06/berlin-senat-lockerungen-geplant-bussgeld-maskenpflicht.html
- www.berlin.de/sen/gesundheit/themen/gesundheitsschutz-und-umwelt/infektionsschutz/artikel.919906.php
- www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/stuttgart-wieder-demo-gegen-corona-beschraenkungen-in-stuttgart-16794841.html
- www.echo24.de/region/stuttgart-demo-coronavirus-veranstalter-verordnung-regeln-teilnehmer-13745965.html
- taz.de/Horst-Seehofer-und-die-taz-Kolumne/!5691099/
- www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/horst-seehofer-erstattet-keine-anzeige-gegen-taz-koluministin-a-b9e41bad-6902-4f82-b3b8-998458e9609f
- www.welt.de/debatte/kommentare/article210344861/Horst-Seehofer-kneift-bei-der-taz-Klage-aus-gutem-Grund.html
- www.siper.ch/assets/uploads/files/dokumente/CIA%20(1967)%20-%20Countering%20Criticism%20of%20the%20Warren%20Report.pdf
- franz-ruppert.de/de/veroeffentlichungen/buecher
- www.t-online.de/nachrichten/deutschland/id_88116450/coronavirus-keiner-mag-die-masken-wir-muessen-sie-trotzdem-tragen-.html
- www.rubikon.news/artikel/medienhetze-gegen-systemkritik
- www.gesunde-autonomie.de/images/pdf/tter-opfer-spaltung-tagung-ruppert.pdf
- www.anti-spiegel.ru/2020/rede-an-die-nation-wie-putin-wirtschaftlich-in-die-offensive-gehen-will/
- www.buecher.de/shop/weltmacht/europas-verhaengnis-1418/effenberger-wolfgang/products_products/detail/prod_id/52865749/
- gewerkschaftslinke.hamburg/2019/04/19/grossschlachterei-toennies-das-system-der-werksvertraege/
- www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NHpd_9Bt7Y
