More elitist please
Last hope summer fairy tale! After the surprising results of German athletes in international comparison, be it basketball, ice hockey or football, there is, unexpectedly and quickly, a very big option to get back into action through hope and faith. But we should consider rules for this. Says Kai Blasberg.
"And if I were just a simple street sweeper, I would want to be the best street sweeper in the world."
I have associated this saying with Charlie Chaplin all my life. And even if it wasn't his, it was always a good companion for me when taking on new tasks. Like this. Writing something for a new portal every week, even though no one says what should be read in it. "And if I am just an inconspicuous text, I would like to be the best inconspicuous text in the world." And, as long as machines themselves cannot have thoughts and no memory of a mental nature, even combined with hope, like yours now, dear reader, to be found and appreciated.
This week on the Internet I came across Arni, the great Austrian Schwarzenegger, in a moving image, as the video is called in inelegantly new German. In it, he complained with shock and outrage that supposedly 78% of Americans hated their jobs. How could people, he reasoned, exist like that? Who, if not the employer, could live with that being the case? How much productivity could be if people loved their jobs? It was sincerely noticeable that he looked at and shaped his own life completely differently. Because with his initially manageable talents, which were laughed at for a long time, Arnold Schwarzenegger made it to the top.
Now we can't all become governor of California. And not a Hollywood star either. But we can all understand our potential. We can know our talent. We can create whatever we want. Everyone says so.
We can't!
Because we live here in Germany.
Someone is writing to you here who has done what he is writing about here today. But I will also write about how impossible we make it for ourselves to be successful. At least how unnecessarily difficult it is here.
The oldest CDU youth in the world, Philip Amthor, who became famous for his mediocrity, told Lanz on ZDF this week the rising story of the 1950s, which conservatives are so fond of looking back on.
With the usual secondary virtues such as hard work, punctuality and a sense of order, always nicely seasoned with a large portion of belief in hierarchy, everyone in Germany can become whatever they can and want.
Is that true?
No, that is not correct. That can't be true at all. Let's take a look at the general conditions in this country. America is not unlike us: If the overwhelming majority hate their job, but spend the vast majority of their lives doing that job, it is logical that these people are not particularly satisfied with their existence. But that is the result of action, not its condition. Ergo: you don't have to be unhappy doing this job. But results only come after processes, not before. So what came before?
Do you remember the "Educational Republic of Germany"? Merkel adopted this branding in 2008 on a tight note, knowing full well that her marketing framing would not be implemented by herself due to a lack of responsibility. This was often repeated later on all sorts of topics. In promising on behalf of others, she was a grandmaster. And so nothing happened with the Education Republic. Her predecessor marked his contribution to this topic by saying that origin should not have any influence on the career of the offspring. Classic promise of advancement. And Schröder himself, along with Foreign Minister, was the embodiment of this model incarnate. And very many careers of the generations now known as "Boomers" can rarely be traced back to aristocratic descent. So it worked. And yet the feeling that it's no longer possible doesn't seem to be misleading. Too many leave school with a lack of qualifications and skills. Only half of the training positions can be filled. Citizen children often lack motivation and dedication. Those who have nothing get nothing, those who have everything already have everything and need very good reasons to want more.
I am a supporter of progressive elitism. That sounds much more academic than it is. The best people come together to do something. Mostly doing something new.
Let's put it this way: Once a baking mix has been found and the customers tear the rolls out of the oven, even moderately ambitious bakers can make these rolls. But if sales stall or even decline, they should come up with something new to keep customers happy and give themselves the image of not just stocking this one baking mix. This is called development. For good development you need progressive elitism. But he doesn't recruit based on background or certificates, but rather based on ability and talent. In sport, which has never and cannot do without this kind of elitism, it's an almost logical approach. Conservatism would always point out that things are good the way they are and we'll soon see that things will get better again if we just save on flour; conservative elitism would only do the same with German bakers. Here, conservatism tends to limit itself when it comes to the future and development. Not out of stupidity. Just out of ideology. Which admittedly is sometimes the same thing. We have seen the result over the last decade and a half. Germany is falling behind. For convenience.
Progressive elitism is very rare in Germany.
The majority of our compatriots are tenants and employees. Which can be not only reality but also mindset. "You tenant" would be a nice insult in youth language. These fellow human beings distrust risk. The tried and tested has a good reputation. The new thing has to prove itself first. Until it's no longer new. They create their mentality from this. And this mentality of hesitating, fickle, discouraged and doubtful existence will no longer produce any new development. And this in a country where the old will rule in the future. At least they will be popular in the absolute majority.
Hope? Yes. Hope. And faith! Because if you've already done it, you can't say it doesn't work. But: we must not ignore the rules. And yes: without commitment, dedication, unconditional will and fight it is not possible to get to the top. And then there's this: the work only begins when you're at the top. Staying up is harder than getting up. Work-life balance is definitely not a model. Why not? Because it never was. And no one has yet shown that it can be done differently. Those who promise it are charlatans and have only promised it but never proven it. And that's because anyone who separates work and life will never be successful. Because work and life are one. And if they aren't, then we should slowly start to change something about it. It is clear and understandable to separate what you hate from yourself. It just doesn't work in terms of satisfaction if you have to keep what you hate.
Successful people know: when success is there, you realize that it doesn't even exist. Because after success comes the next task immediately. This is either mania. Or it is joy. You decide this!
But if I imagine that 78% of teachers hate their job, 78% of educators, and 78% of parents, no matter what they do, don't love their daily task, then no one will teach the fewer and fewer children being born what talent it has what it will be really good at, what it will be passionate about, what it can achieve. It will calculate sine curves, read Rilke poems, not annoy Marcel-Friedrich and know all Minecraft versions. But don't know what it can do, what it wants, what it should do.
We need a world in which people are encouraged to be who they are. A world in which 78% love their job, where vocation is once again the root of the word job, in which the rule of working and the joy of success are not valued more highly than the depression formula "doesn't work anyway".
That doesn't work?
Are you a tenant?
04/25/24
*Kai Blasberg worked in the private media in Germany for 40 years
I have associated this saying with Charlie Chaplin all my life. And even if it wasn't his, it was always a good companion for me when taking on new tasks. Like this. Writing something for a new portal every week, even though no one says what should be read in it. "And if I am just an inconspicuous text, I would like to be the best inconspicuous text in the world." And, as long as machines themselves cannot have thoughts and no memory of a mental nature, even combined with hope, like yours now, dear reader, to be found and appreciated.
This week on the Internet I came across Arni, the great Austrian Schwarzenegger, in a moving image, as the video is called in inelegantly new German. In it, he complained with shock and outrage that supposedly 78% of Americans hated their jobs. How could people, he reasoned, exist like that? Who, if not the employer, could live with that being the case? How much productivity could be if people loved their jobs? It was sincerely noticeable that he looked at and shaped his own life completely differently. Because with his initially manageable talents, which were laughed at for a long time, Arnold Schwarzenegger made it to the top.
Now we can't all become governor of California. And not a Hollywood star either. But we can all understand our potential. We can know our talent. We can create whatever we want. Everyone says so.
We can't!
Because we live here in Germany.
Someone is writing to you here who has done what he is writing about here today. But I will also write about how impossible we make it for ourselves to be successful. At least how unnecessarily difficult it is here.
The oldest CDU youth in the world, Philip Amthor, who became famous for his mediocrity, told Lanz on ZDF this week the rising story of the 1950s, which conservatives are so fond of looking back on.
With the usual secondary virtues such as hard work, punctuality and a sense of order, always nicely seasoned with a large portion of belief in hierarchy, everyone in Germany can become whatever they can and want.
Is that true?
No, that is not correct. That can't be true at all. Let's take a look at the general conditions in this country. America is not unlike us: If the overwhelming majority hate their job, but spend the vast majority of their lives doing that job, it is logical that these people are not particularly satisfied with their existence. But that is the result of action, not its condition. Ergo: you don't have to be unhappy doing this job. But results only come after processes, not before. So what came before?
Do you remember the "Educational Republic of Germany"? Merkel adopted this branding in 2008 on a tight note, knowing full well that her marketing framing would not be implemented by herself due to a lack of responsibility. This was often repeated later on all sorts of topics. In promising on behalf of others, she was a grandmaster. And so nothing happened with the Education Republic. Her predecessor marked his contribution to this topic by saying that origin should not have any influence on the career of the offspring. Classic promise of advancement. And Schröder himself, along with Foreign Minister, was the embodiment of this model incarnate. And very many careers of the generations now known as "Boomers" can rarely be traced back to aristocratic descent. So it worked. And yet the feeling that it's no longer possible doesn't seem to be misleading. Too many leave school with a lack of qualifications and skills. Only half of the training positions can be filled. Citizen children often lack motivation and dedication. Those who have nothing get nothing, those who have everything already have everything and need very good reasons to want more.
I am a supporter of progressive elitism. That sounds much more academic than it is. The best people come together to do something. Mostly doing something new.
Let's put it this way: Once a baking mix has been found and the customers tear the rolls out of the oven, even moderately ambitious bakers can make these rolls. But if sales stall or even decline, they should come up with something new to keep customers happy and give themselves the image of not just stocking this one baking mix. This is called development. For good development you need progressive elitism. But he doesn't recruit based on background or certificates, but rather based on ability and talent. In sport, which has never and cannot do without this kind of elitism, it's an almost logical approach. Conservatism would always point out that things are good the way they are and we'll soon see that things will get better again if we just save on flour; conservative elitism would only do the same with German bakers. Here, conservatism tends to limit itself when it comes to the future and development. Not out of stupidity. Just out of ideology. Which admittedly is sometimes the same thing. We have seen the result over the last decade and a half. Germany is falling behind. For convenience.
Progressive elitism is very rare in Germany.
The majority of our compatriots are tenants and employees. Which can be not only reality but also mindset. "You tenant" would be a nice insult in youth language. These fellow human beings distrust risk. The tried and tested has a good reputation. The new thing has to prove itself first. Until it's no longer new. They create their mentality from this. And this mentality of hesitating, fickle, discouraged and doubtful existence will no longer produce any new development. And this in a country where the old will rule in the future. At least they will be popular in the absolute majority.
Hope? Yes. Hope. And faith! Because if you've already done it, you can't say it doesn't work. But: we must not ignore the rules. And yes: without commitment, dedication, unconditional will and fight it is not possible to get to the top. And then there's this: the work only begins when you're at the top. Staying up is harder than getting up. Work-life balance is definitely not a model. Why not? Because it never was. And no one has yet shown that it can be done differently. Those who promise it are charlatans and have only promised it but never proven it. And that's because anyone who separates work and life will never be successful. Because work and life are one. And if they aren't, then we should slowly start to change something about it. It is clear and understandable to separate what you hate from yourself. It just doesn't work in terms of satisfaction if you have to keep what you hate.
Successful people know: when success is there, you realize that it doesn't even exist. Because after success comes the next task immediately. This is either mania. Or it is joy. You decide this!
But if I imagine that 78% of teachers hate their job, 78% of educators, and 78% of parents, no matter what they do, don't love their daily task, then no one will teach the fewer and fewer children being born what talent it has what it will be really good at, what it will be passionate about, what it can achieve. It will calculate sine curves, read Rilke poems, not annoy Marcel-Friedrich and know all Minecraft versions. But don't know what it can do, what it wants, what it should do.
We need a world in which people are encouraged to be who they are. A world in which 78% love their job, where vocation is once again the root of the word job, in which the rule of working and the joy of success are not valued more highly than the depression formula "doesn't work anyway".
That doesn't work?
Are you a tenant?
04/25/24
*Kai Blasberg worked in the private media in Germany for 40 years
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