Pride - no thanks! Be happy.

I'm not jealous. That's irritating, but it's never been any different. Big brother envy isn't present to me either. I've always been enough for myself. Of course that's clearly not true, but this isn't the place to rave about my quirks and quirks. Recently I've noticed a lot of little things that people are more blatantly showing off than before. This comes to light particularly at major national events. At elections, for example. Or recently at sporting events. Today we're going to talk about pride, which all too often and all too inappropriately finds its way over the lips of many people, burning on their souls. Leaving aside the brain, it seems to me. To get straight to the point: pride is small. And pride has cost millions of people their lives. Pride is the feeling that people need who otherwise have only a meager basic character. Pride is often proclaimed and exploited by those in power and always leads to ruin. Basically, there is no reason for pride. You can only really feel it if you can point to your own achievements. The very young Spanish footballer Jamal could have been proud when he recently scored an incredibly beautiful and technically outstanding goal in a very important game. But was he proud? No. He was a paragon of joy and afterwards even a little embarrassed by the unusually large amount of public support and seemed genuinely humble. Parents like to be proud of their unborn child when they have, for example, passed their A-levels. While those who could be proud because they achieved it are usually just relieved and happy. And Dad's shirt is almost bursting when he notices that the little refugee boy from the next class has a better grade point average than his own brood.

The Sparkasse advert is unforgettable, where pride was ridiculed. My house. My car. My boat. Mostly right-wing parties try to convey pride to citizens as a feeling for their country. "I am proud to be German". You have probably heard it before. That is quite weak, because you can be happy to be German, but it evades any personal effort. And it is dangerous, it seems to be intended to unite, but above all it excludes. The famous "Mia san Mia" is another such formula for pride, which wants to weld people together so that the others, i.e. almost everyone, are left out. "We can be proud of our national team again," I read recently from the mouth of a high-ranking SPD politician. For heaven's sake. How is that supposed to work? Us? Who is that supposed to be. And why. Who benefits from it and what does it trigger. No: pride is incredibly dangerous. Vladimir Putin is proud. So overly proud of his Russia that the expectations that necessarily arise from this pride are always bound to be disappointed. Then it quickly turns into hurt pride and anger. Because pride and anger go hand in hand. The Turks' wolf salute is a symbol of pride and anger. Because everything that is not Turkish is worth less. But since that is fortunately not true, those who believe it are filled with cold and hot anger. Another expression of pride, as strange as it may sound, is Donald Trump's fist. He, the standard-bearer of all offended narcissists, raises his fist in the face of death, the clenched one, to express his pride that nothing and no one can stop him. United in pride with his blind followers. Now they are thinking of the AfD. No text of mine without them. We must overcome pride. Because it redefines our mindset. That is very easy. Because there is the word "happy". And because happy is a completely different feeling. Happy makes sense. It is sensual. And meaningful. That is why there is happiness. And not pride.

"I am happy to be German" sounds completely different. And it means something. I am happy that my daughter has made it! That is what you actually want to say about your feelings. Or think of the young Spaniard Jamal. He was happy. Really happy. Some who are not yet overwhelmed may think that this is quibbling over words. But it is certainly not. It is emotional adjustment. And our feelings control us as human animals much more than we want to admit. Our minds simply do not function so well without this support. Let's leave pride aside. It is the first of all deadly sins. But since I, an agnostic person, cannot derive such a thing, I will just mention it. One wouldIt has always been clear how dangerous all this is. There is a world without pride. It is more peaceful and joyful. It recognizes and benevolent of others. It is motherly and unifying. If Trump himself wants to reconcile, we should be able to do that too. Or at least try.

Now all we need is Confucius: "The moral person has dignity, but no pride. The ordinary person has pride, but no dignity."

In this sense, I will put the canon of our childhood into their ears, without jealousy or envy:

"It takes little to be happy, but he who is happy is a king."

Have a nice week.

07/16/24
*Kai Blasberg worked in the private media in Germany for 40 years