John Kampfner on Why the Germans Do it Better | PoliticsBooksToday

In this interview I was joined by John Kampfner. John is the former Editor of the New Statesman and is now a regular writer for The Times, the Guardian, and The New European. He is the author of Why the Germans Do it Better: Notes from a Grown-Up Country, which we discuss here.

[uweinhamburg]

I am German, born a short time after WWII
Lol... the observation of the 2006 championship and acceptance of patriotism here is so true 🤣
At the time seeing cars with German flags was a bit strange, but it added some nice color-spots to a beautiful summer.
It has been a really relaxed time and nobody would have confused patriotism or the support for a good German team with nationalism.

I do have a small problem with the depiction of the AfD. Of course there are a few madmen in this party. Each new party attracts these fringe elements. The (big) majority of the voters are basically disappointed conservatives who 15 years ago would have voted CDU. They didn't change a lot - the CDU has.

Good interview.

[SM-pcdx]

I like Kampfner, but his comments on Trump being a fascist are incorrect. Fascism and "anti-democratic" have overlaps but are not the same- Trump is the latter.

[AJ-emcj]

in which year did you were Korrespondent in Bonn?

[musashimiyamoto]

I'd be very careful with expressions like "murderous history". As a German I have to say I take exception to Kampfner using that term in his article in the Guardian. The fact that what was committed was murder is true for basically every war ever ever fought or are we calling that act patriotic cause everybody agrees on it or it is to the benefeit to whoever wages it? In fact, there are quite a few nations who share that dubious "accolade" with Germany and have killed, raped and plundered on their way to more land, riches etc. If you compare that to the holocaust, the intention to me is quite similar, i.e. eliminate any resistance to what you want to achieve. The only difference to the Germans: they did it openly, in an orchestrated manner, and you cannot even call it imperialist because it happened within our own borders in central Europa and in the 20th century.
So why not call the English, the French, the Turks, the Mongols, the Greeks, or any tribe or nation that has every waged an aggressive interventionist conflict against another throughout history, and as a special case, the Russians and Americans murderers from now on? So Germany has a murderous history like many others and Israel is about to create its own. Are we all happy now?
I grew up in the 60s, thankfully 20 years after the war but not late enough not to be lambasted by the aftermath and the horrible memories of the genocide (in view of that nobody speaks about the people dying because of or during WWII itself, streange). As kids we showed the V sign to US soldiers, watched anti-war movies and rooted against Germany all the while carrying a dark shadow with us. I felt it looming over me until I turned 50 (When I finally decided it is enough) and I think that should be plenty pennance for a person having to deal with such a heritage. I know it is a difficult thing dealing with that history in modern times, but like with all other conflicts, no matter where you put them on the scale of atrocity, it will pass into history and be remembered like the invasion of Europe by the Romans, i.e. as a fact of history.

[Babalouie]

Update. This book and Kampfner's opinions are now totally out of date. Germany became dependent on Russian energy and are now seemingly doomed economically.