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Wednesday 23 February 2011

Project Guttenberg II: The Minister Remains

A few hours after I published my last post about Karl Theodor zu Guttenberg, the German Minister of Defence made a speech before a meeting of Christian Democrats in the town of Kelkheim in Hesse. In it he admitted that he had made “grave mistakes” in his dissertation. He had spent the weekend examining his thesis once more. It was possible that in one place or another he “had lost his overall view over his sources.” It was, however, his own work and therefore he had to accept the responsibility for the “stupidity” he had produced.

He would therefore renounce his doctoral title and had already informed the University of Beyreuth of his decision. This decision was painful for him, he went on. The fact that portions of an article from the Frankfurter Allgemeinen Zeitung had found their way into his introduction was “embarrassing.” “I am a man with mistakes and weaknesses and I publicly acknowledge my weaknesses,” he went on, stating that he wanted to apologise to those he had offended with respect to his dissertation.

He further stated that he would continue to carry out his office as minister with all his strength and then quipped, “I didn’t come here [this evening] as the Minister for Self-Defence.”

Zu Guttenberg is being backed by his party colleagues, including Chancellor Merkel; the general tenor of their position is that his job is to be a government minister and not an academic, so that with his decision to relinquish his doctoral title the issue is basically closed.

Comments from the University suggest that, while they welcome the minister’s decision, it is up to them and not to him to decide whether the recognition of his doctorate should be withdrawn. They will examine the case and make their decision in due time.

So, zu Guttenberg thinks that admitting that there were “grave mistakes” in his thesis and therefore giving up his doctorate is sufficient to deal with the matter. And Merkel, whose party lost an important election in Hamburg last Sunday and thus is not prepared to relinquish one of her most popular ministers, finds his decision “good.” The opposition will howl but, as long as the minister has the backing of his own party, he seems likely to continue in office.

It is very hard to believe that all the plagiarisms contained in zu Guttenberg’s thesis were the result of honest mistakes, particularly as in many of the passages in question a number of words and phrases were slightly changed, which makes the author’s claim that he had simply lost his overall view of the sources ridiculous. This copying, pasting and amending on such a scale cannot be seen as anything but intentional. It is cheating – pure and simple.

Apart from being a blow to his vanity, giving up his doctoral title costs zu Guttenberg nothing. He does not work in the academic area, where such an action would have cost him his job. In a country in which a refuse collection worker can be summarily fired for taking a child’s bed, which was put out on the pavement, home rather than bringing it to the incinerator, his attitude seems supremely cynical.

The whole affair shows that basic moral character no longer plays any role in the fitness of a minister to hold office in Germany. In a number of discussions with Irish friends about the abysmal lack of responsibility shown by Irish politicians over the past few years, I have given the example of many German politicians who have accepted the consequences of personal mistakes and resigned their positions – the most notable being Willy Brandt in the seventies. I will no longer be able to use this argument.

I wonder how German parents are now supposed to make clear to their children that cheating is wrong. At the end of my last post I expressed the view that the German political class would not risk losing the last vestiges of moral authority they had and that therefore zu Guttenberg would be told to go. Obviously I am still far too naïve.


The quotations in this post are taken from two articles in Der Spiegel from February 22, 2011 (http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/0,1518,746886,00.html http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/0,1518,746888,00.html)
The translations are my own.

Picture retrieved from:

9 comments:

  1. Sadly politicians like Willy Brandt are a dying breed, if not already dead.

    Depressingly, it seems that the whole affair has helped zu Guttenberg's popularity rather than hinder it.

    Aside from members of the CDU/CSU wanting to turn a blind eye to the whole thing, I suspect many people don't just know enough about the process of getting a PhD to realise just how big a deal this is. Or how it shows fatal flaws in his ethics and judgement.

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  2. The University of Beyreuth put a lid on the whole thing this evening. They withdrew the title of doctor from zu Guttenberg. In their statement they commented that given the fact that the minister had himself admitted that there were major flaws in his thesis it was not necessary to further examine it. As a result, there is now no official way to investigate and have ascertained in how far the various plagiarisms and other questionable sections of the work were clearly "mistakes" and which were obviously the result of intentional fraud.

    The cowardly bastards are kicking for touch. They're also ignoring their own lack of standards in failing to pick up on the whole business; instead giving a summa cum laude for a work which, by all accounts, wasn't particularly original anyway - even if the author hadn't cheated. Obviously, zu Guttenberg was given the VIP treatment by the university and those concerned want to put the thing to bed as quickly as possible.

    The whole issue is absolutely disgusting; one of the nastiest things being the tactic of stirring up feelings of resentment among the Joe Sixpack faction in the population against academics. "What are the eggheads getting so excited about, the minister is doing a decent job, leave him alone! All these professor types aren't able to change a lightbulb without using a manual!"

    As you say, "flaws in ethics and judgement," But, sadly, who gives a fuck? A sad day for German society!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Remember this one?

    Jocko Homo by Mark Mothersbaugh

    Thay tell us that
    We lost our tails
    Evolving up
    From little snails
    I say it's all
    just wind in sails

    Are we not men?
    We are Devo
    Are we not men?
    DEVO

    We're pinheads now
    We are not whole
    We're pinheads all
    Jocko homo

    Are we not men?
    We are Devo
    Are we not men?
    DEVO
    Are we not pins?
    We are Devo

    Monkey men all
    In business suit
    Teachers and critics
    All dance the poot

    Are we not men?
    We are Devo
    Are we not men?
    DEVO
    Are we not pins?
    We are Devo
    Are we not men?
    DEVO

    Forget about God made man
    But he used a monkey to do it
    Apes in the plan
    We're all here to prove it
    i can walk like an ape
    talk like an ape
    i can do what a monkey can do
    God made man
    but a monkey supplied the glue

    Are we not men?
    We are Devo
    Are we not men?
    We are Devo
    Are we not men?
    We are Devo
    We must be
    DEVO
    We must be
    DEVO
    We must be
    DEVO
    Okay let's go

    It appears that rules are made that some need not follow.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Somehow, you are pessimistic. Also quick into (maybe) thinking that his shameful action will not have a long range effect on Guttenberg's life and career. In the country of the soul (where I have chosen to live) God has a way to reveal lies and to illuminate Truth.

    What happened is certainly disappointing for many people, but it's not the first time that we have witnessed the crippleness of over ambition.

    Are we to believe that human nature never has good moments? Let me quote Will Ariel Durant (Story of Civilisation):

    To those of us who study history not merely as a warning reminder of man's follies and crimes, but also as an encouraging remembrance of generative souls, the past ceases to be a depressing chamber of horrors; it becomes a celestial city, a spacious country of the mind, wherein a thousand saints, statesmen, inventors, scientists, poets, artists, musicians, lovers, and philosophers still live and speak, teach and carve and sing. The historian will not mourn because he can see no meaning in human existence except that which man puts into it; let it be our pride that we ourselves may put meaning into our lives, and sometimes a significance that transcends death.

    While Guttenberg lied to get his doctorate, I know a few friends who didn't. In my long and short existence, I have met splendid, gifted, honest people in all public and private areas of life.

    Let that "big little" man function as best and as long as he can in his own corner of the world. You can be sure that he's already paying for what he has lost. He has betrayed a lot more than the faith and hope of his country. He has betrayed his soul.

    Thank you, Francis, for helping me to extend my thoughts today, and at other times. And for your patient hospitality.

    ReplyDelete
  5. "Attempted Essays" has been included in this weeks Sites To See. I hope you like the image I featured, and I hope this helps to attract many new visitors here.

    http://asthecrackerheadcrumbles.blogspot.com/2011/02/sites-to-see_25.html

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ah Claude, your comment here puts the whole affair into a much better, deeper perspective. Merci, cherie!

    The discussion is still raging here in Germany but few have your insight. Zu Guttenberg has, as you point out, lost a major chance for growth in his own personal life. Taking the long view, I see quite a large possibility that his failure to accept the consequences of his - let's call it - mistake will follow and diminish him for the rest of his life.

    Nevertheless, the issue remains important. There are occasions where a country is given an opportunity to have a look - as it were - at its own soul, its own collective values. This affair provides Germany with such an opportunity; an opportunity to look beyond issues of power and economics to ask ourselves what kind of society we want to be - independent of any narrower political views.

    This is why the view of the majority, that the whole thing isn't so serious and that, therefore, the minister need not resign, saddens me so much. But the discussions which still continue may yet bear fruit. I can only hope so.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Francis, I created a link.)
    Do you think Saud el_Ghaddafi and Karl Theodor zu Guttenberg are buddies?.))))

    ReplyDelete
  8. @ Internation Musing Thanks, Hans! :-D

    ReplyDelete
  9. If Germans are anything like Americans when it comes to this type of situation, they will forget all about it and the chancellor will go about his usual business. His attitude is rather cavalier but that is typical of arrogant men in positions of power.

    I like your musical choice!! I posted this same video on my blog a couple of years ago. Gotta love Syd!

    ReplyDelete

Your comments are, of course, welcome. I've had to reinstall captchas recently as - like most other bloggers - I was being plagued by spambots.

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