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In truth, I had the same reaction and I expect the downvoters are unacquainted with the associations to Nietzsche's concept of ubermench and its appropriation b
by n72 12y ago
In truth, I had the same reaction and I expect the downvoters are unacquainted with the associations to Nietzsche's concept of ubermench and its appropriation by the Nazi's as well as the phrase in the German national anthem "Deutschland uber alles" which was mistranslated intentionally by the allies for propaganda purposes (per Wikipedia: German grammar is sufficiently precise to distinguish "über alles" i.e. above everything (for me), from "über allen", meaning "above everyone else". The latter misleading translation was purposely chosen by the Allies during the First World War for propaganda purposes.)
Anyway, because of those associations, my view of Uber the company is that it has chosen to market itself for those better than the unwashed masses, the rabble, the hoi polloi. This may of course have not been their intent with their marketing, but that, FWIW, is where I go unconsciously when I hear the name.
- allendoerfer 12y agoAlso keep in mind the historical context: The lyrics where written as a poem in 1841 and go on like "wenn es stets [...] bürderlich zusammenhält" (if it always sticks together brotherly), to encourage the German states (Austria, Prussia, Bavaria etc.) to unite as they will be "über alles" and survive against France only if they do so. Nevertheless the first verse describes the old borders, and the second mentions German women along with wine and singing, and would therefor today be killed by gender activists anyway :D
- jrochkind1 12y agoIs "gender activists" the new phrase to use when insulting strawman (strawwoman?) feminists?
- allendoerfer 12y agoI don't know. I did not want to insult anyone, so I avoided the general term "feminist", because not all of them want to enforce every aspect of gender-neutral language, which can be quite annoying in a language like German, where everything has a gender. Of course this case (listing women next to wine and singing) is quite extreme.
- jrochkind1 12y agoFor the record, I don't think you succeeded in not insulting anyone.
- allendoerfer 12y agoThat is too bad. But if you try hard enough, you can feel insulted every time someone says something. So I suppose it is not really possible to succeed, especially on this topic.