The “Evil Words” (Bösen Worte) were not the only place where the following sentence met with disagreement:
“The Freedom of Germany is defended at the Hindu Kush“
Peter Struck is said to have uttered the words – or a slightly varied form of them – during his Government Policy Statement in Berlin on March, 11th.
What is even worse for me: I never understood the meaning of this sentence! I spent entire nights wondering what it might mean. After all, my freedom (Freiheit) is an extremely fragile thing for which I am responsible every day anew. And now this precious thing is defended at the Hindu Kush – and by the NATO on top of it…
But now it suddenly dawned on me! This wise sentence must be a metaphor. And I actually managed to decipher it.
Hindu Kush, naturally, does not mean this sparse and infertile mountainous region in far-away Afghanistan. It is far too remote and otherwise also totally uninteresting. No: Hindu Kush is a place holder for the Shannon. And freedom, this incomprehensible good, is for “German banks”! The metaphor created by Peter Struck is really diabolically genial. Oh, how stupid I was!
The reasoning is absolutely clear, too:
“The German Banks are defended at the Shannon!”
Of course. Because, no matter what index you take, the small Ireland has a far higher debt than Germany: absolutely, per cent and per capita. And it also carries much more weight. And besides, all the bankruptcy banks where much of the financial waste of Europe is filed, such as the HRE, are located in the Federal Republic of Germany. Consequently, the danger is mostly for us – and not so much for countries such as Greece and Ireland.
To be sure, we are still able to gloss it over with the mirror finish lie of glamorous German brands and concerns (of most of which, incidentally, the majority shares are no longer in German hands – and have not been for quite some time). But the danger gets closer and closer. So we do some defence work at the Isthmus and the Shannon. For our banks – and, above all, for our debt.
The most delicious thing about Struck’s metaphor is that it can be adapted for many more scenarios. All you have to do is replace the words “Hindu Kush” and “Freedom” with the correct phrases.
🙂 I am waiting for your input!
RMD
(Translated by EG)
P.S.
Here is a nice definition of Freiheit (freedom).
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