The seed falls on fertile ground – an attempt to explain the matter

Comment by Mr Detlef Breuer

And here’s again distressing news about scandals regarding food in the Federal Republic of Germany. This time it’s nitrophene, hitting the industry of biologically produced food – astonishing the ones and pleasing the others. Politicians of all parties, lobbyists of all interest groups and so-called non-government organisations (NGO’s, such as Greenpeace, BUND, ...) take their advantage of this chance! Hasty comments and pre-convictions are most impor-tant during the discussions now – thanks to the presence of all mass media. A new guilty per-son is named almost every hour. Since that is part of political correctness nowadays; in any case it is modern style to dissociate oneself from the matter.

However, it remains still thrilling. A multitude of private and public TV- and radio stations send all-day reports about the ...-scandal; even Phoenix, the station that is close to the government, plays its role in this game. First demands were made on several ministers (at both the national and regional levels) to hand in their resignation. First denials were made as well as attempts at justification, ... Renowned print media find their chance only in their online reports which are more profound and much better investigated. Those reports are re-peatedly revised every day and are then transmitted to the world-wide web. Based on the motto: In fact, everything has already been said, but not yet by everyone!

This style of – oh so responsible! – reporting really reminds us of the CNN reports from the Gulf War about 10 years ago. The reports from the crisis areas in the Balkans and of Septem-ber 11, 2002 were still almost as far away as those from the Near East are. But thanks to the ...-scandal the self-portraitists from politics finally found something solid which might shake the German population to its very foundations. That’s what the Germans at least are made to believe. It’s media war in Germany, and this is not only since the Kirch media group has gone bankrupt. No doubt, the Germans made up for lost time ...

And we are there!

In these too heated times nobody really notices – which is all too good for both the politicians and the news agencies – that not even one single person in Germany has seriously been dam-aged so far by nitrophene, acrylamid, chloramphenicol, foot-and-mouth disease, BSE, carcass meal or other things. From an abstract an objective point of view, a problem is only found in communication!

People quite deliberately dispel the thought that the German controlling organisations do work indeed – quite unlike to elsewhere in the world!

That is exactly what controlling is good for: to show what’s wrong and get rid of it. However, getting rid of such wrong state of affairs serves many politicians, lobbyists and NGO’s to support their self-portrayals – with the active help of the media. The seed falls on fertile ground. Why does this alliance play the innocent and does not look after the real challenges of our society? As was reported just recently by the DLRG (a German society for rescuers on the beaches), 520 people in Germany died in swimming accidents last year. More than 5,000 Germans die in road accidents every year. And what about all those umpteen thousand dead persons who die as a result of smoking?

The present policy of consumer protection, which is pushed forward by the media, makes everyone involved in food production unsure and demoralises people – no matter whether they are from the biological-, economical-, integrating- or conventional, lasting- fields of production. The consumers’ trust in the uprightness of politicians and media has been weakened decisively. The policy of consumer protection which had been preached so eagerly for about 18 months now finds its basis mainly in the social and political imperfection of so-ciety and the uncertainty that comes along with it. Mrs Künast, the German Minister of Con-sumer Protection, and the Green Party make use of this trend. At first, for instance, the Ger-man people is being frightened by the spectre of genetically modified maize. Then, when they are completely helpless in the end, they are put under ministerial protection. To that, there are all sorts of reaction: apathy, cynicism, panic. So far, agriculture has always been acting freely within the framework of legal guidelines. This principle, however, has now been squeezed into a corset which is tantamount to the walled-in paradise. Enclosed by numerous market limitations, this new system is being nourished by stately sponsorship – thanks to subven-tions. In this system, we find Mrs Renate Künast to be the angel with the sword of flames, the German Joan of Arc, but reduced to the be green alternative to Mr Guido Westerwelle (chairman of the Free Democratic Party) in the year of parliamentary elections. She drives out the sinners, installs a network of stately (or considerable) controlling and sees to it that every-thing’s okay. Here it seems to be of no importance that the consumers’ sovereignty is being undermined – and why at all should it be important?

By the way, should there be anyone who has not yet noticed it: This year (the year of parlia-mentary elections in Germany), we have finally arrived at that kind of media republic which needs no longer be afraid of comparing itself to international standards.

The next ...-scandal is already being prepared. This is unmistakably true. But nothing else will be told now.