Kultur 3

I enjoyed the article about pessimism. My mother is always optimistic and my brother and I are pessimistic and often bring her down. The article went from funny

"It can be pseudo-intellectual:

• According to Nietzsche, God is dead, the world sucks, we’re all doomed. It's no use to even try.

• Romantic love is just a vestigial construct of the Victorian era; human nature runs counter to long-standing relationships.

Or a personal favorite, which someone actually told this author once:

• Anyone with any intelligence could never be as happy as you."

 to being rather deep in the history and minds of the German people

"Deep down inside, however, it seems as if even the most pessimistic Germans yearn for a certain Leichtigkeit (lightness) that their apparently genetic neuroses, cultural heritage, perhaps even inherent fears of erring, make difficult for them to achieve in their everyday lives (notice their zeal for mandated fun like Carnival or soccer games, or propensity to go stark raving mad while abroad). The only tack to take is to show them that there is, indeed, another way.".

I enjoyed this change in tone. Most articles we read don't humanize Germans as much as they deserve, and this one did.