Complaining about Trump and Scholz: How the strength of the weakest becomes a role model

Wednesday, late evening. The end of a memorable day. While a human caricature triumphs in the USA and shows once again how far apart wishful thinking and grasping reality can be, a government in Germany is falling victim to this realization.

When the Chancellor finally presented his lack of sovereignty to the astonished sovereign by practicing little dialectical treadology (stepping back while avoiding stepping back), one could fall into gloom.

If there weren’t people who defied this mood. The one that conveys an infectious confidence, even though their situation is far more hopeless than that of a republic on the therapy couch.

On that Wednesday evening I was a guest at the so-called ALS night in Berlin.

Do you remember the Ice Bucket Challenge? In 2014, videos went viral of people, including many celebrities, pouring a bucket of ice water over their heads. She draws attention to the nervous disease ALS. A previously incurable disease that mercilessly leads to death after usually three to five years. My grandfather died a variant. The ice water was said to cause a feeling of paralysis, including respiratory paralysis, which sufferers must endure for the rest of their lives.

Like so many things, the actual purpose soon fell victim to the dynamics of our excitable society. Most people only remember the delicate cannabis plant on Cem Özdemir’s terrace, which served as the backdrop for the ice shower.

Now one could say: What is forgotten does not lose its value, but rather its significance for the present. However, no ALS sufferer will be helped by this overwrought wisdom.

Wednesday paints a differentiated picture. While some politicians forget themselves, others fight against forgetting. Doctors and researchers at the Charité. Generous donor. But first and foremost, those affected by ALS themselves.

They wage a bitter battle against their bodies. At the same time, they make necessary compromises with their deficits and reflect on their strengths and resources.

The political and social reality of our country, and perhaps Europe, would hardly be described with this sentence.

Likewise, our carefully cultivated culture of complaining cannot be reconciled with the sick people’s affirmation of life and their gratitude for the moment. An attitude that seems to laugh at the grimness of fate.

With every minute of the event, Trump and the domestic government crisis wither away. From a supposedly fateful threat to a simple call to action. As if a bucket of ice water had poured over us all.