In dulci jubilo

This is the first line of a Latin German Christmas song.   

In dulci jubilo, nun singet und seid froh! Unsres Herzens Wonne, leit in praesepio und leuchtet als die Sonne matris in gremio. Alpha es et O.

In sweet jubilation, now sing and be joyous! Our heart's bliss rests in a manger and shines like the sun in his mother's lap. You are the alpha and omega.

And shines like the sun. This is the typical way you see Nativity scenes painted, whether in kitsch ...

 

... or in art:

     

Carlo Maratta (1625-1713): The Holy Night

Red Baron was always fascinated by Nativity scenes and, over the years, has taken numerous photos.

Nativity in the vestibule of Freiburg's Minster Church. While Mary presents the child to the shepherds,
Joseph sits next to the manger as a grumpy old man with his head in his hands.

I already wrote that foster father St. Joseph is embarrassing for the teaching Church. Paintings of the Holy Family frequently show the carpenter as a small, unimportant, and hidden figure, sometimes placed in a corner.

The one exception is the Nativity by Hans Baldung Grien. Looking at Joseph's white beard, there is no doubt that he isn't the father, but as a late satisfaction, he dominates the painting alone with his red coat.

In the nativity scene in a stained glass window in Freiburg's Minster Church, Joseph once more is pushed to the edge of the picture, but he makes himself useful by slapping the ox's mouth as it nibbles on Jesus' diaper.

But the nativity was not all glory when we read Luke 2, 16-19: And the shepherds came with haste and found Mary, Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.

Those pondered things may explain some of the Nativity scenes where both Mary and Joseph show great sadness: 

Woodcut around 1060: Maria im Capitol in Cologne

Baptismal font around 1150 in Abbey Church St. Boniface in Freckenhorst, Westphalia

Basilica di San Marco in Venice. North façade of St. Mark's Basilica, Venice

Nativity from the Book of Hours, Paris 1410

And when the days of Mary's purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, Joseph and Mary went to the temple where they met Simeon, who was waiting for the consolation of Israel. 

Luke 2 34-35: And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

The question is: Did the artists who created the above Nativities assume that Mary already knew in Bethlehem the prophecy Simeon had made in the temple of Jerusalem?

So it was not all in dulci jubilo in Bethlehem 2000 years ago, and this Christmas, with two wars waging, only a few people feel like singing and being joyous.

I just learned that Ukrainians are moving westward by no longer celebrating
Christmas on January 7, but on December 25. In Kyiv, this happens
under a Christmas tree made of military scrap (©Oleg Petrasyuk/EPA)

In German, we say Die Hoffnung stirbt zuletzt, where the proper translation and better expression in English is Hope is the last thing you lose.

 With this in mind, I wish all my readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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Ageism

©ZDF

On December 18, actor Brad Pitt became 60. He stated, "I don't want to run away from aging. It's a concept we can't escape, and I'd rather see our culture embrace it with slightly more open arms."

Old at 60? Red Baron is 88 and feels his body according to a German proverb, "When you wake up in the morning, and nothing hurts, then you're dead."

In 1966, at 22, Rolling Stones frontmen Mick Jagger and Keith Richards sang, "What a drag it is getting old". Now, Keith just turned 80, a date he commented on, "It feels like 120", while he is still staggering around the world's concert stages.

Although Oscar Wilde once wrote, "Old age is the junk room of life," Red Baron is grateful that his brain cells still work reasonably well except for retaining names.

I perform my daily tasks without help and like to watch and support my grandchildren on their way into their studies or working life, even financially.

Recently, I learned about ageism, i.e., discrimination of the old in daily life. The reasons for discrimination are negative and inaccurate stereotypes that often remain unnoticed.

The majority of people questioned agree that most of the old are severely hampered in everyday life by health issues, are lonely, are unable to adapt to changes, and thus are inferior to younger people. Old people contribute less to societal progress and even are obstructionists, but at the same time, they carry too much political clout. Finally, they represent an economic burden to society.

These observations fall in line with the ideas of two greats of the US tech industry. Vinod Khosla, one of the founders of the software company Sun Microsystems, spoke out a long-known common wisdom of the scientific community, "When it comes to new ideas, people over 45 are practically dead." Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said more bluntly, "Young people are simply smarter."

When Red Baron was young, he was trapped in the narrative of unstoppable progress and a constantly improving life. My parents, who lived through the war, saw my younger generation as having an advantage over them.

Today, this narrative has changed radically. The climate crisis, the pension dilemma, and the mountain of debts led to the radical idea that younger people are systematically disadvantaged in our present world and sometimes downright exploited. Will the young generation face a Grandpapocalypse Now and/or a Grandmageddon?*
*Opacalypse Now and Omageddon were proposed German titles for a book by sociologist Stefan Schulz that was eventually published under the name Die Altenrepublik (The Republic of the Old) and became a bestseller.

While many institutions and organizations address racism and gender bias, it turns out that society accepts age bias.

Does Red Baron feel discriminated? No, except for a silly little detail. I get furious when someone tries to push past me in a queue. Then I get loud and turn into an ugly old man. I am entirely biased by the thought that the culprit is reasoning, "With that old man, I can get away with it."

Dr. Miranda Leontowitsch at Frankfurt University, working on intersections of aging and gender, care and caring in later life, as well as intergenerational relations, claims, "The widespread belief that older people are a burden on society without being able to pay anything back leads to the fact that there are so many active old people today." Does this mean that we old people act out of a guilty conscience?

She continues, "You could also say that older people are not discriminated against as long as they are not regarded as old." Muss ich mir diesen Schuh jetzt anziehen (Do I have to put this shoe on now)?

My answer instead is: My steady muscle training at Kiesers, my prolonged daily walks, my duties as webmaster for two local societies (here and here), my own websites (here and here), and writing this blog are what keep me alive. And while I already sit in front of my PC or iPad for too long, I hate watching mindless TV entertainment.

I have to manage the time that I have left, facing the fact that most of the daily routines take longer, alone buttoning a shirt.

The world may have to put up with me a little longer.
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Raffelhüschen 2

Last Saturday Red Baron listed to Claudia Raffelhüschen‘s Bericht aus dem Deutschen Bundestag*. She sits in parliament for the Free Democrats and, as a studied economist, became a member of the Bundestag's budget and finance committees.
*A report from the German parliament

The name Raffelhüschen should ring a bell for my faithful readers. Her husband, Bernd Raffelhüschen, is an economist and Professor of Finance at the Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg. About one year ago, he gave a talk at the Museumsgesellschaft on public debt, inflation, and low-interest rates: An explosive charge for the economy and social affairs. He showed many graphics on demographic development with extrapolations in the future.

Claudia at the rostrum of the Teutonia fraternity house 

Claudia's report was more down-to-earth and entertaining. One topic was Germany being dogged by bureaucracy. Here is an example:

 
Not only in Germany, the birth rate is a political issue given an overaged population. In the past, there were many financial pots out of which parents with children were supported. The breakthrough to a single parental allowance (Elterngeld) was celebrated as a breakthrough in simplification, but it resulted in the demand for 3200 additional jobs in the administration. A reduction in bureaucracy looks different.

Last Saturday, at the time of Claudia's talk, the three leaders* of the traffic light coalition were still busy plugging a hole in the federal budget for 2024. This hole of €17 billion had been opened by a decision of our Supreme Court. Red Baron reported.

*The chancellor and his ministers of economy and finance

It was exceptional that no information was leaked from the small circle of the chancellor and his two top ministers. So Claudia, too, ignored what was being discussed behind closed doors at the chancellery. In the meantime, habeamus budget for 2024 without touching the Schuldenbremse (debt brake).

I have never understood why the Free Democrats insist on this brake with their general secretary, even bragging that we are beginning to see the consolidation of Germany's national finances.

Germany, the Staatsschuldenquotenweltmeister (World leader in government debt ratios)©ZDF

When we compare the national debt ratios of the G7 countries, it turns out that Germany has by far the lowest ratio. So why should we limit our debts if other countries don't?

I asked Claudia whether it wouldn't be better to incur debts and earmark the additional money, making targeted investments in the future.

While the US spends most of the money on the military, they have started the EPA Greening America's Communities Program, financed by an ever-increasing federal deficit, although an investment in the future.

So, why can't Germany invest borrowed money in the repair of its dilapidated infrastructure, e.g., railroad and bridges, in the rapid expansion of renewable energies, and the realization of power lines from the windy shores in the north to industries in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. Our grandchildren will surely profit from those investments.

In addition, the latest poor results of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) have shown that Germany, a country poor in raw materials, needs to invest much more in educating its children. In this context, I don't accept Claudia Raffelhüschen's objection that schooling is up to the federal states.

We need a national effort taking lots of money to lay the foundations of a sustainable future for our grandchildren.

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On Economic Growth

Red Baron gets his economic insights from reading the news and articles on the Internet. This means I am no expert, but since my youth, I have always found the credo of a capitalistic liberal economy suspect: Economic growth guarantees prosperity.

On the other hand, capitalism needs economic growth to be stable. Otherwise, crises with millions of unemployed people will create social unrest. But is it possible to grow infinitely in a finite world?

We had accelerated economic growth in the past. It was based on cheap energy and exploiting seemingly unlimited oil, natural gas, coal, ores, and mineral resources.

You may like to add the recent UN Climate Change Conference COP28 in Dubai.

For a long time, we have known that burning fossil fuels accelerates climate change. There were many solutions to reduce the emissions, but action should have been followed. Now we are in front of the shambles or, if you prefer, with the back to the wall. We are now forced to work fast on transforming our economies to green standards to limit global warming.

Some optimists think climate protection and economic growth will go hand in hand. If there are only sufficient incentives for technical progress and innovation, technological progress will generate new jobs and economic development.

 

But will the amount of growth be sufficient to guarantee a stable society? Anyway, it will be necessary to move towards a circular economy. This is the only way to ensure that future growth consumes fewer natural resources.

I fear green energy will only be enough if we learn to limit ourselves. Many managers, entrepreneurs, engineers, and bankers know this but dare not speak out that there will be no green economic growth.

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Our Unknown Neighbor Switzerland

... and the former director of the Wiesneck Study House of the Central for Political Education, Dr. von Schrötter, added, The strangest democracy in the world.

Dr. von Schrötter started his lecture with a short reminder on Swiss history. While Napoleon carved out some French-speaking parts of Switzerland and made it French territory, he imposed a Republican Constitution upon the rest, thus creating the Helvetic Republic.

In 1815, the Vienna Congress reestablished the Confederation, guaranteeing its borders and demanding Swiss neutrality as a buffer between Austria and France.

The Sonderbund War. Protestant cantons are green,
Catholic cantons are violett. Neuenburg and Appenzell IR (orange) remained neutral.

In 1847, conservative catholic cantons founded a Sonderbund (a separatist alliance) that culminated in a civil war. It lasted from November 3 to 29, 1847, and resulted in the September 12, 1848 Federal Constitution, unifying Switzerland into a federal state.

In their constitution, the Swiss copied the American form of government with its two chambers. The Nationalrat (National Council) corresponds to the House of Representatives. The deputies are elected according to the number of people.

The 23 Swiss cantos

The Swiss cantons correspond to the states in America. Each canton sends two senators called Ständeräte (State Councillors) into the Council of States (Ständerat), which participates in the legislation.

There is a disproportion in the number of senators per inhabitant in the States. There are two senators for 0.58 million people in Wyoming and 39 million in California, i.e., a ratio of 65. The ratio in Switzerland is only 43, with two Ständeräte for 0.037 million people in Uri and 1.58 million in Zurich.

Here, the similarities with the States end in particular with those four national languages in Switzerland.

I will start with a statement with which Dr. von Schrötter ended his lecture: The Swiss people are the true sovereign, who not only determine the composition of parliament every four years through elections but can also prevent any act of parliament through referenda.

So, Switzerland has no supreme court. The people decide any argument in the interpretation of the constitution, and they must approve any constitutional change in a national referendum.

Switzerland has neither a head of state nor a head of government but is governed by a college of seven ministers called Bundesräte (federal councilors). The number seven is defined in the constitution.

In Switzerland, concordance means considering the will of the voters when forming the government. The major parties should be represented according to their electoral strength, i.e., the populistic SVP (Swiss People's Party), the SP (Socialist Party), and the liberal FDP (Free Democratic Party) have two seats. In contrast, the smallest, the CVP (Christian People's Party)*, has one federal councilor. Concordance democracy thus reflects the strength of the individual parties and their different positions.
*To win over voters other than Christians, the CVP now calls itself the Middle

Since 1884, the Free Democrats (FDP) have been in the government without interruption, i.e. for 175 years.

On October 22, the Swiss elected the 200 deputies of the Nationalrat. The strongest party in parliament, the populistic SVP, and the SP, gained while the liberal FDP and particularly the Greens lost. The Middle remained constant.

This national vote is traditionally followed by an election of the seven federal councilors. They are elected individually by the Bundesversammlung (Federal Assembly), i.e., in a joint session of the National Council and Council of States.

©CH Info. All other slides are ©Dieter von Schrötter

On December 13, all seven federal councilors must and will be elected in a secret ballot. Only one SP councilor who retires is replaced; the other men and women will surely be re-elected for another four-year term. 

 In principle, the magic formula holds. The SVP with 62, the SP with 47, and the Mitte with 45 votes in the Federal Assembly should have two federal councilors each, while the FDP, with only 41, should fall back to one Bundesrat.

However, the Swiss concordance assures that nobody will be deselected. Will one seat of the Liberals, still in fourth place, become vacant, then a crucial vote for a second seat for the Mitte may result.

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A Dinner Show

Red Baron remembers well the first dinner show he attended in Las Vegas in 1981. The star on stage was Shirley Bassey. At that show, she possibly performed All by Myself, one of her hits then.

42 years later, I went again to a dinner show at Europa Park north of Freiburg. The park is organized like a Disneyland. People come from France and Switzerland with or without kids and sometimes stay for a night at one of the hotels on-site.

This particular annual dinner show is organized by Freiburg’s Münsterbauverein, and attendees are supposed to donate the same amount of money as for the show to support the Minster Church.

You may remember that Red Baron is a Münsterpfleger. So once in my life,  I wanted to attend the special yearly dinner show on the condition that transport between Freiburg and Europa Park was provided.

On the last Wednesday in November, our coach left Freiburg at 15:30 to give us a chance to walk around the winterly installations of the park.

Replicas of buildings from the federal states of Berlin, Bavaria, and Hamburg
line the central alley. They are marked by their respective flags.
In the back, the Nuremberg Christkindle greets the rare visitor (Click to enlarge).

A slimmed-dow copy of Freiburg's Kaufhaus

It was getting dark.
The rape of Europa on the back of Zeus turned into a bull.

In the Roaring 20s, dinner shows were typical in Paris, London, and Berlin, but the show culture was all American.

     

Ouverture

The dinner show at Europa Park was no exception. The songs performed were already in English. Red Baron was delighted to listen to music he remembers well:

Smile though your Heart is Aching

I am Singin’ in the Rain

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

One Moment in Time

Here are some stage photos.

Note the ceiling painting: Europa and the Zeus bull.

Flying high

Out of the bathtub

A strong equilibritist

More dancing and singing

The end is near.

Thank you audience

They placed me at the table already filled with seven members of one family. They were all nice; the conversation flowed, and the dinner was excellent.

Will I be able to re-attend next year?

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