Christian Schlüter on the new wave of German patriotism

Under the auspices of the World Cup, many people in Germany are showing nationalist fervour for the first time. The terms "new" and "friendly" are often used in conjunction with this new wave of patriotism. Christian Schlüter has nothing against the flag-waving football fans, but he takes a critical view of the phenomenon: "More worrying are the countless offers to give people's life a new meaning and appeals to national identity with which we have been regaled for at least half a year now by journalists with nationalist leanings. The intellectual content of the message basically boils down to the slogan 'Du bist Deutschland!' (you are Germany). A certain sense of weariness with history and an attitude of bold nonchalance is spreading across the country... The drop in intellectual standards is making nationalism a matter of indifference: Everything can be anything. Take, for example, the slogan of the Sudeten German Homeland Association at its Whitsun meeting: 'Expulsion is genocide!' Revisionism, it seems, has now also become a German trade mark."

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