CORRESPONDENCErnLetter FromrnGermanyrnby Michael WalkerrnFat and ImpotentrnIn modern Germany, where even discussionrnof political ideology is a matterrnwhich has to be treated with extreme circumspection,rnpolitical debate centers onrnthe safer area of financial management,rnand in recent years the main purpose ofrnfinancial management in Germany hasrnbeen to ensure a smooth path toward fullrnEuropean unification. Since the currencyrnreform of 1948 and the Marshall Plan,rnthe citizens of the German Federal Republicrnhave been bribed with the carrotrnof constantly increasing living standardsrnin return for their political acquiescencernto the Western world order, a formularnsummed up in Churchill’s unforgettablernpostwar wish that the Germans stay “fatrnand impotent.” The German FederalrnRepublic became the milk cow of numerousrncostiy projects, including the establishmentrnof the state of Israel, financialrnassistance to the East, the financingrnof the Gulf War, and, not least, the GommonrnMarket; Germany pays 80 percentrnof the European Union’s budget.rnGermany’s lack of political clout hasrnbeen tolerated by her citizens because ofrna standard of living which until recendvrnwas the emy of her neighbors. The citizensrnof the “strawberry Reich,” as UlrikernMeinhof called the Federal Republic ofrnGermany, accept the loss of nationalrnpride and sovereigntv’ because they seernthat the international order ensuresrnthem security and wealth. The fate ofrnCarthage and the outcome of the ThirdrnPunic War is deeply imprinted in thernGerman psyche. National arrogance orrnfeelings of superiority toward the Poles orrnRussians are channeled into an exclusirnely economic superiority. This superiorit)rnwas embodied in the Deutschmark.rnThe mark is the proof both of Germanrnsuccess and of acquiescence to the postwarrnorder.rnThis is the background to the gro\ingrnGerman unease about the common currencyrnproject, and in particular the shockrnwhich has accompanied recent admissionsrnfrom the government that all is notrnwell financially. Theo Waigel, the financernminister, has had to come to termsrnwith a projected shortfall in the nationalrnbudget. Of course, as a master of diplomacy,rnWaigel does not use such emotivernwords as “bankrupt,” but one does notrnhave to be a financial wizard to understandrnthe meaning of an eight billionrnmark gap in the state budget this year.rnSince the deficit is over three percent ofrnGNP, Waigel had intended to revaluernGermany’s gold reserves in order to meetrnthe criteria for financial union, which hisrnown administration has insisted on as thernsine qua non of monetary union. ThernGerman central bank was reluctant torncooperate in the government’s financialrnprestidigitation, and in the debate thatrnfollowed, Germans finally learned detailsrnabout the countr}”s financial responsibilities:rnwhile Germany pays 80 percentrnof the E.U. budget, Spain receivesrn21,000 marks every minute from Brusselsrn(II billion marks last year and likelyrnmore this year).rnThe Germans are effectivel}’ the paymastersrnof European union, but theyrnhave not even been asked whether theyrnwant monetary union. The country’srnfour major parties, however, are all in favorrnof European unit)’. A referendum onrnmonetary union could go either wa’,rnand most commentators agree that a rejectionrnof, sav, the Maastricht Treaty in arnreferendum would jeopardize the E.U.rnitselfrnOutsiders may wonder how the governingrnpart}’, the Christian Democrats,rncan soldier on in the face of its abysmalrnrecord of growing unemployment (nowrn4 million), declining educational standards,rnenvironmental degradation,rnmounting criminalit)’, the near certaintyrnthat the state cannot guarantee nationalrnpensions in 30 years time, national selfhumiliationrnon an unparalleled scale, arngrotesque abuse of public funds, and arnmounting national debt. There are severalrnreasons: first, the use by the rulingrngovernment of the constitution to silencernits more radical critics. Opposition thatrnthreatens to undermine the constitutionrn(as defined by the mainline political partiesrnthemselves) is subject to harassmentrnand observation by the state; calls for arnreferendum on the single currency arerndenounced as unconstitutional. Second,rnthe tradition of compromise andrnnonideological opposition is ingrainedrnin the German constitution and postwarrnGerman political life. Third, there is thernGerman tendency to take authority onrntrust. AUes ist gut was von oben kommt.rnAuthority, as the saying goes, is an argumentrnhalf won in Germany, and Kohlrnexudes plenty of it. The opposition SPDrnis chary of any breath of nationalism andrnhas been unable to come up with an effectivernchallenger to Kohl. It still has onernfoot in the tarpits of macroeconomicrnstate planning, and this divides those opposedrnto Kohl between the state plannersrnand the economic liberals. All the mainstreamrnpolitical parties support Kohl’srnchief political ambition: the merging ofrnEurope’s leading nations in a financialrnand political bloc dedicated to makingrnthe world a better place for the rich.rnWhat is the alternative? The communistrnPDS (the former SED of East Germany)rnand the nationalist Republicansrnhave declared their principled oppositionrnto the project for monetary union,rnbut both are personae non gratae in thernmainstream press and fear being labeledrnVerfassungsfeindlich (an enemy of thernconstitution), which is political suicidernin a countr)’ where political respectabilityrnis next to godliness.rnMost Germans realize that Kohl’s ambitionrnis not to fulfill his inaugural oathrnto “serve the German people” but to becomernthe man who restores the empirernof Charlemagne and destroys the Europeanrnnation-states. Germans have indicatedrnthat they are able to li’e with thernpostwar system and Kohl’s political ambitions,rnbut they are now beginning tornask themselves if they can continue tornlive with his economic agenda. ThernBundesbank is finding itself in the unlikelyrnrole of speaking for the commonrnpeople against the machinations of a governmentrnwhich mau’ Germans belie-ernrepresents a self-sering, antidemocraticrnclique. If the criteria for monetary unionrnare weakened, the new money whichrnwill replace the beloved Deutschmarkrnwill bring Germans down economicallyrnFEBRUARY 1998/33rnrnrn