Q&A: The German Right and Elon Musk
The German Right and Elon Musk
Question
I estimate with 80% probability that you’ll answer that you’re not an expert in German politics, but I’ll try anyway:
Musk at the AfD conference:
There is too much focus on past guilt, and we need to move beyond that
And likewise he:
stressed the importance “that people take pride in Germany and being German,”
Do the Germans indeed need to carry the guilt? In principle? And from a utilitarian standpoint for us (Jews and/or Israel)?
Is there something wrong with, or dangerous about, calls for German national pride?
Answer
What does this have to do with expertise in German politics? This is a question of values. They absolutely do bear guilt, since the sin was collective and not private. The utilitarian question doesn’t interest me, and I have nothing to say about it. There is nothing wrong with German national pride, since that can coexist with bearing the guilt.
Discussion on Answer
I wrote that the guilt is on the collective, and that does not change with the смена of generations. One can also speak of responsibility more than guilt. And certainly there is an obligation to make sure it does not happen again.
In what sense does a generation that did not live at that time bear guilt?