Afterthoughts on the elections to the German “Bundestag”
Nearly for a whole year before Election Day, the German Chancellor stated that the Germans had “never before been so well off”. This was the motto of her public appearances – and the common theme of her responses to the citizens’ questions. Those asking question in TV shows were quickly satisfied by this, probably they had to… not a single question could be discussed in depth during these stagings. After all, these shows were more or less part of the controlled stage play “election campaign”.
Public appearances without preselection were different – even more different in East Germany. The Germans from the states Mecklenburg-Hither Pomerania, Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony and Thuringia seem to be more conscious of reality than their West German fellow citizens – and it is not fair to reduce their protest to tomato-throwing.
Many of them are employed in the low wage sector and for example are well aware that the lower 40% in the income distribution have fallen behind the rise in income of the upper 60% and partially even had to accept losses in their real wage1. One week before the elections, the Deutschlandfunk commented: “With this clientele, the parties’ programmatic messages must feel like the SED’s [the ruling party in the former GDR] slogans of the permanent exceeding of plans”, adding that “advertising material in the street campaign had never been so meaningless.”
Remarkable was: German foreign politics – except regarding the charged Turkey issue – was hardly an issue in the campaign. Securing peace, international understanding, international law… hardly worth a mention. At least not in the media subject to public law. Coincidence? Not relevant? Or maybe part of the stage play?
Back to East Germany. Many people there are interested in a good relationship with Russia, disapproving of sanctions against Russia, happy about North-Stream 2. Most likely they would also be happy about the “New Silk Road” – if factual information were available. Maybe they also wonder if the course of the German campaign had been planned precisely beforehand. Merkel was to remain Chancellor, whatever happens, after Donald Trump’s election victory. This was and is in the interest of the “deep state” in the USA. “Chancellor of the Western Allies” – this would be appropriate today.
It seems like the actual planning offices were not situated in Germany. Most likely a US American association called the Council on Foreign Relations, CFR, is much more relevant for Germany. In early September a highly meritorious Swiss institution called Swiss Propaganda Research has published a comprehensive study: “Die Propaganda-Matrix: Wie der CFR den geostrategischen Informationsfluss kontrolliert” (The Propaganda Matrix: How the CFR is controlling the geo-strategic flow of information)2.
This study should become compulsive reading in all circles concerned about understanding reality, in all schools and university seminars.
The statement in the introduction is confirmed when reading the study: “Be it Russia, Syria or Donald Trump: In order to understand the geo-political media reporting one has to know the key role of the American Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). For the first time the following study is showing how the Council’s network has created a trans-Atlantic cycle of information, nearly closed in itself, where nearly all relevant sources and reference points are controlled by members of the CFR and its propaganda organisations.”
The study is informing about the CFR’s history, its goal to secure the global US-American dominance. Since the foundation of the CFR in 1921, an institution for a “global American Empire” has been created “whose key positions have nearly consistently been staffed by the now almost 5,000 representatives of the CFR.”
In a well-documented manner and with descriptive graphics, the study demonstrates how not just German media are integrated in the CFR’s network but also non-government organisations, so-called think tanks and experts, the military, secret services, governments, press and PR agencies and also individual journalists – and also prominent actors.
The last paragraph of the introduction, however, makes optimistic: The CFR had created an “information matrix” which “is highly superior to classical government propaganda.” But “due to the success of independent media it is increasingly [losing] its efficiency.”
In the summary we read: “Due to the internet there are increasing possibilities to distribute information in a decentralized and cheap way, thus bypassing the gatekeepers of the Council. Meanwhile there is also a number German-speaking reader-financed media and platforms which challenge the conventional narrative, allowing for new perspectives.” Interesting links are given.
Hence: How long will the Merkel system work? The answer for this question will not depend on Merkel alone. It will mainly depend on us citizens. Those informed can recognise the stage play that is being performed. Nobody needs to know everything in order to understand: It is highly devious to claim that the Germans “had never been so well off”. The number and size of the tasks is huge. The general drowsiness which Mrs Merkel was trying to impose on the country can be suicidal.•
1 cf. <link https: www.diw.de de diw_01.c.550957.de themen_nachrichten external-link seite:>
2 <link https: swprs.org die-propaganda-matrix external-link seite:>swprs.org/die-propaganda-matrix/
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