Former German defense secretary and Bavarian CSU hopeful Mr. Guttenberg has penned an article in the Wall Street Journal, entitled The Return of Europe's Sleepwalkers.
Praise for his harsh criticism of European and German politics comes mainly from U.S. sources, biblical themed pundits, like theTrumpet, and a sprinkling of very conservative European voices.
His main theme appears to be that the US is obviously overwhelmed but EU leaders don't even worry about not knowing what to do. If this is a correct summary of his view, he has not followed the European discussion in any meaningful way.
But it does not even matter.
Germans still remember him as the man who plagiarized in his PhD thesis so abundantly that even the Bavarian CSU, famous for its tolerance of foibles of the power brokers, had to let him go as a defense secretary. It will take a while before mainstream Germans will listen to his political views again.
For now, Mr. G. is enjoying his second chance in the United States.
His Wall Street Journal article is nothing but a predictable immigrant view. If you are accepted in a new country with open arms and by a network of friends, you can let go of old hurts.
We do not fault Mr. G. for loving the open American people, the freer debate culture beyond the often utterly formulaic and non-sensical German mainstream 'discussions', the flow of ideas, and everything else the U.S. has to offer.
It is easy to get carried away as a new immigrant, whether that be as an immigrant to the U.S., to the U.K., or to Germany.
The new found distance tends to change some of your mental points of reference, which in turn will help you realize that some of the ways of life in the old country were funny, or strange - rituals you can dispense with, rituals you can not only live without, but rituals that held you back, that may hold the whole country back.
Guess what?
Reaction to the WSJ opEd demonstrates to you what the blogster learned some time ago: they are not interested, even if you are right.
Their rituals and routines matter. Just as the ones you discover in the new country.
Frustrating?
Don't be frustrated. The U.S. has offered you a lot, enjoy it, do something you love - as long as it is not politics for a few years.
Of course, it would be crazy for me to think you'd ever get to see this piece of gratuitous advice. Even crazier: you'd recognize how being an immigrant may have shaped your views.
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