Being Human - Part One

With the world making a major turn to right side of the political spectrum I feel as if it is time to throw in my opinion on what is going on in Europe and the rest of the world. This won't be as positive as my last post since - well - most of the headlines nowadays are simply terrifying. But I'll try something my most favourite TV show host does: If you read this quite saddening post you'll find a video at the very end of it of an armadillo playing and not being able to stand on its tiny tiny feet while trying to catch a pink teddy bear. It sounds awesome and it will make you adore an animal that I never thought could be cute. But it is, trust me. This is on the internet and as we all know - it has to be true. Thank me later. And John Oliver of course, too.

The title of this post says "Being human" which I chose because somehow the people who are trying to qualifiy themselves as our political leaders are lacking a certain quality: Humanity. I'll try to explain this with some examples which are mostly from Europe. Furthermore, since we can no longer ignore Donald Trump as the candidate for the republican party, the United States will be featured, too.

"There's a storm coming, Mr. Wayne. You and your friends better batten down the hatches, because when it hits, you're all gonna wonder how you ever thought you could live so large and leave so little for the rest of us." - Selena Kyle, The Dark Knight Rises

I love movies, especially comic book movies. Even though most of them are simply made for our entertainment, some of them have quotable dialogue.
Let's start with a country that should know better: Germany. The last time we made this horrible mistake of being led by a leader who promised simple solutions for complex problems, a single nation caused World War II and the Holocaust. A few generations later we are on the same damn path and the events of 1933 seem to repeat themselves. 

Germany is good at exporting useful stuff. We are promoting our cars and quality. But do you know, what we are really good at? Exporting war. Germany is in the top five of the biggest exporters of military equipment. 
Surprise, surprise: If you sell those tanks and automatic rifles to someone, they will be used sooner or later. I'm not going to talk about "right or wrong" when it comes to wars, because this is a topic that deserves a differentiated consideration depending on the individual case. Still, one aspect is simple: If you're selling arms and war equipment you should not be surprised that somewhere someone will be running from war, bombs and death. So while we are enjoying one of the best health care systems in the world and don't pay a single dime for education, this luxury is partly bought with death and terror. 

The top ten exporters of arms. Source: SIPRI and Tagesschau

This math seems to be way too complicated for a new right wing party. Although they started out as a party that saw too much power in Brussels and wanted more autonomy for the states within the European Union, the AfD (Alternative für Deutschland - Alternative for Germany) joined forces with the worried and is now a solid xenophobic group that manages to collect more and more votes. 

That swoof looks suspiciously like the Nike logo. Let's just hope they don't stick with the "Just do it". Copyright by the AfD

They are spreading hatred and prejudices. Blaming the media, the government and in particular refugees, migrants or simply non-german people for things that did not even occur, causing fear and panic even though the situation is far from escalating. 
What they are saying and what I do not doubt is that not all of those who are seeking for help at our borders are "real" refugees. Yes, many of those who are coming to Europe and in particular to Germany are economic refugees. This means they are not running for their lifes or are not threatened by war. They are leaving their homes, roots and known environment behind fleeing from poverty, hunger and economic hardship. 
Shortly the typical things that make you "illegal" when you finally reach the promising european border. But this is the current law and my opinion on this one is: Maybe our international economical system should stop exploiting those nations that have little to nothing except for crises and corruption. Instead we should've thought about possible consequences before they started knocking at our door. Just saying that it can't be right to cause so much imbalance and then take no responsibility.  We should stop reacting to the results of our actions and look at the problem's cause. This is the way we can change something for the better.

The AfD has other suggestions on how to gain back the control at the border. First they wanted a maximum for the number of asylum-seekers. Because those human beings with not much more than their lifes and families - those are considered the lucky ones - are being held responsible for crime and an overstraining of the welfare state leaving the retired, unemployed and others relying on the state behind.
When other more influential politicians from other partys supported this idea, some reasonable people asked the most important question: How?
It took them a few months to work this one out. The honest statement by Frauke Petry, the representative leader of the AfD was: Shoot them.
I'm not kidding you. This is what she suggested. It does not end here. It gets worse. Another party member that even has a seat in the European Parliament added, that if it ever comes to defending the border against asylum-seekers with armed force, the firing order includes families; children and women. Fathers with their children on their arms. Pregnant women. I guess she did not want to discriminate anyone based on their age or gender?! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU.

There they are. From the left: Frauke Petry ("Shoot them") and Beatrix von Storch ("Yeah, the kids, too"). Source:imago / Christian Thiel

Basically it would work like that: Uhmm... 799 998, 799 999,  800 000 oh and there we have more. Well, how unfortunate. SHOOT.
Later on when the bashing would not stop (thank you united forces of the internet) the second lady clarified that she does not support violence against children. Nevertheless her party sees this as the last resort in order to stop migrants and asylum-seekers from coming to Germany.

This is madness in its pure form. In case you are not that familiar with german history here is a brief review: The Holocaust happened because people followed orders and the law allowed them to commit dreadful and cruel crimes against millions of people. When Germany was divided into two countries during the cold war the government of the GDR passed a law that included a firing order to prevent people from fleeing across the border. The border guards had to shoot everyone who was trying to get to the FRG, also known as West-Germany.  We do call this the dark chapters of recent history and try not to talk about it. Maybe we should change this.
When World War II was over the "Radbruch Formula" was developed and it has been since used to convict those committing crimes based on certain statutes. It is based on the idea that if the legal concept behind the statute in question seems either "unbearably injust" or in "deliberate disregard" of human equality before the law the following action can not be right.
How is the last resort of the AfD any diffrent from the crimes in the past? Are they that big fans of the Radbruch Formula that they don't want it to be forgotten?

No, no armadillo yet. There is still more. But you deserve a break. Here, look at that cute Quokka, the happiest animals on earth:

To talk again about humanity. What if not mercy, kindness and helpfulness makes us human? Who are we to decide who is supposed to live and to die only based on the fact that they are seeking for help? The german law system does not even include the death penalty. Not that I want to change that, but if the cruelest murderer has the right to be treated like any other human being with dignity, how can we take that right from someone who has not even proven yet if he or she is nice, awful, great, mean, intelligent, and or whatever shapes his or her personality?

“Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement.” - J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

The AfD offers a less cruel recommendation, too. Of course. This solution is basically Peek-A-Boo for adults. If you don't look at the problem it should no longer bother you. And if you dare to risk a look? You'll have to bear the cruel images. People suffering. Crying children. Because this is common sense on how to solve a problem, right? 
Apparently it is, because this is basically a translation of what Alexander Gauland (another representative) said. We are supposed to close the borders for everyone and find a way to move on knowing that there are people starving and dying because of us. And all those children you are asking? Those are only there to blackmail us with their children eyes! They are suffering to torture us! Learn to ignore it, we have to put us first. 
Yeah. Great logic. Did he forget what can happen to your psyche if you close your eyes on the wrong things and decide to never ever talk about it again? Quick reminder, it is called posttraumatic stress syndrome.
Even if you look at this from an objective point of view, the main cause would be, that people would vanish into illegality in order to get into this country - at least somehow. I'm not that naive to believe that only nice and educated people are crossing the borders right now. It is absolutely normal that a large group includes good and bad people; not only academics but also criminals. You can't possibly want them to disappear, you have to maintain a certain control and overview over who is coming into this country.
I can only question his beliefs and everything he says, especially considering the fact that he escaped from East-Germany when he was a young man. Do you know why he decided to leave everything behind? Because he was not allowed to study in the GDR. No bombs were thrown at his hometown, no one threatened to kill his family, no one cut his access to essential supplies. 
And no one threw stones at his new home and questioned the fact that a single young man fled from home leaving his family behind when he made it to West-Germany. He is supposed to understand those refugees or at least he should not be the one slamming the door in their faces.

Maybe not the chosen one. But could he at least be a bit more sympathetic?

Now you have an overview on who is gaining power in this country. Right now they are in third or fourth place, depending on where the latest polls were taken. Third place means they receive up to 19% of the votes. And they've been in the game for less than four years. I don't know what your thoughts are, but I'm scared of what they can become within another four years.

Now you deserve the armadillo with the teddy bear, have a look: 

Thank you for staying with me till the end. I'm planning to write more on this topic, as you see this is only part one. I promise there will some positive posts, too. Stay tuned!

Lots of love,

Curlina