I smile at the raven-haired beauty sitting next to me
in the park. Since it is almost dark, I cannot see
if she smiles back. I want to be on my way, when suddenly
a man blocks my way: “khadashta sharafi”
“khadashta sharafi” means: “You violated my honour”
- and the story is not a true one.
In his post “We Speak German”, Roland is on a Saturday stroll
through Babylon with a bounce in his step.
Languages fly through the air like birds.
He is filled with a sympathetic multi-cultural feeling.
His conclusion is: “For me, the German language is a cultural value
we should preserve, but no more.”
That sounds open, liberal and humane.
And it is extremely dangerous.
Since now our values are no longer handed on by the traditional institutions (parents, school, state, church, the army) – which is something I do not always feel sorry about – language will soon be the only means by which values are taught.
We today no longer live in a society that is regulated by normative systems. Instead, ours is a society where social and material advantage is exchanged. And if you want a fair deal, you have to negotiate. Only when you talk you create and communicate values.
Provided the partners of your negotiations speak the same language.
Of course, it helps that some of what the institutions that used to be normative taught us is still left from those days. But more and more will fade. What is left is language. And if we mean business about our immigrants, then it has to be German in Germany. Not because it is a cultural heritage, but because it is a cultural obligation. Otherwise, we might soon be confronted with what we see in the Paris Banlieues.
Calm down, Detlev, is what my friends say, look at America. In the middle of the 19th century the Irishmen who had immigrated were beating the locals no end (as drastically shown in the film “Gangs of New York” by Scorsese ). Three generations later, they were part of the American elite and the president came from among them.
Perhaps that was because they spoke the same language?
Well, let us get back to my Arabian.
Would it have been possible to talk to him if he had understood German? A discussion? About values? May be not today, but, for instance, three generations later. All we would have to do is make a start. For a Federal Chancellor with Arabian roots.
And today, if I had understood what he said? At least there would still be an archaic reaction.
Depending on body height: either flee or fight him and win.
SIX
(Translated by EG)
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