MICHAEL NAUMANN
93
cent) or "partly correct to do away with degenerated life for the sake
of the nation's health and unity."
According to the researchers, at least 20 percent of the German
population would choose some sort of "right-wing" nationalism, if
only they had a chance . Yet, it would be wrong to blame this intellec–
tual, nationalistic deficiency solely on the right fringe . There are,
after all , a few indications that German neonationalism also caters to
a number of leftist ideologies. As 41 percent of the Germans prefer
the "old German way oflife," they simultaneously air their antima–
terialistic, anticapitalistic prejudices (which, in turn, closely connect
to anti-Americanism).
National prejudices correlate to a dominant feeling of unhappi–
ness, of" alienation" as in the nineteenth century; 68 percent of the
population share the feeling that "everything changes so quickly
nowadays that one doesn ' t know where to turn to."
If
one looks at
the 78 percent of the German population who think that the word
lizterland
is "very important" (27 percent) or at least "important "
(51 percent), one will also find that 71 percent of the Germans who
share this belief are discontent with their life. They suffer from
Zukunftsangst, Angst
of the future.
This feeling of insecurity, of an indescribable
grand malaise,
reflects, on an emotional level, the official unhappiness of Bonn :
harassed by inflation, huge deficits , sinking productivity, unemploy–
ment, and enormous regional, eco-political changes, Germany's
politicians-at least those in power-usually feel betrayed by cir–
cumstances .
Simple answers to the complexities of modernity have been the
main attraction of German nationalism in the past. Their applica–
tion to reality brought about the downfall of the German nation, at
least in its nineteenth-century version. And although the world will
see this nation never again , its cultural ideas linger beautifully, its
political symbols survive, and its dark ideological attractions con–
tinue to deceive: Germany's eternal utopia.
