Op-Blog: The collaborator
By Poul Højlund, March 22, 2006:
It’s funny. Islam caught naked. The hangings in Iran, the beheadings in Saudi Arabia, the capital charges in Afghanistan, the terror, the shari’ah, the fatwas, the killing, the murder of disobedient daughters, the daily suppression in every Islamic country around the globe.
No, that’s not funny. Not funny at all. The funny part is the amount of collaborators on our side.
How dare they be so stupid, how dare they be on the side of the oppressors and the hang men, when even the most innocent child – or not even, but of course the most innocent child knows what this is all about.
In Englishcollaborator collaboration is a positive word. In Danish it’s the opposite. A Kollaboratør collaborated with the Germans during the occupation. Kollaboratør’s were rounded up after the liberation on May 4, 1945. Some were shot, some imprisoned, and all of them for ever shamed.
What blindfolds a collaborator? What makes a collaborator? What does a collaborator do?
Scavenius, the greatest of all Danish collaborators, defence minister during WWI, foreign minister and later prime minister during the first part of WWII, chairman of the board of Politiken – yes, that paper has some traditions – Scavenius, he knew: Unconditional cooperation!
That’s the game of the collaborator. Always cooperate because if you don’t, it might get worse. It’s feeding the crocodile hoping it will eat you last. So Scavenius issued a statement on the great victories of the German army when Churchill was issuing his statement on fighting from our beaches.
Scavenius by no means was stupid. On the contrary, he might have been the highest ranking IQ ever in Danish politics. And he was not a man without principles, nor without humour. But he missed the one most important part: he had no values but to survive.
That’s the stuff collaborators are made of. No values but to survive. Collaborate, because it might get worse. And even when it is bad it might still get worse. So collaborate again. And again. And again. Whilst still claiming to your self and others that you’re not one of them; you’re not the enemy, you’re just trying to prevent things to get worse. For the good of all of us.
That’s a collaborator. Beginning to spot them here and there? Well, they come by the dozen these days. Here in Denmark and abroad. Shame on them.
It’s funny. Islam caught naked. The hangings in Iran, the beheadings in Saudi Arabia, the capital charges in Afghanistan, the terror, the shari’ah, the fatwas, the killing, the murder of disobedient daughters, the daily suppression in every Islamic country around the globe.
No, that’s not funny. Not funny at all. The funny part is the amount of collaborators on our side.
How dare they be so stupid, how dare they be on the side of the oppressors and the hang men, when even the most innocent child – or not even, but of course the most innocent child knows what this is all about.
In English
What blindfolds a collaborator? What makes a collaborator? What does a collaborator do?
Scavenius, the greatest of all Danish collaborators, defence minister during WWI, foreign minister and later prime minister during the first part of WWII, chairman of the board of Politiken – yes, that paper has some traditions – Scavenius, he knew: Unconditional cooperation!
That’s the game of the collaborator. Always cooperate because if you don’t, it might get worse. It’s feeding the crocodile hoping it will eat you last. So Scavenius issued a statement on the great victories of the German army when Churchill was issuing his statement on fighting from our beaches.
Scavenius by no means was stupid. On the contrary, he might have been the highest ranking IQ ever in Danish politics. And he was not a man without principles, nor without humour. But he missed the one most important part: he had no values but to survive.
That’s the stuff collaborators are made of. No values but to survive. Collaborate, because it might get worse. And even when it is bad it might still get worse. So collaborate again. And again. And again. Whilst still claiming to your self and others that you’re not one of them; you’re not the enemy, you’re just trying to prevent things to get worse. For the good of all of us.
That’s a collaborator. Beginning to spot them here and there? Well, they come by the dozen these days. Here in Denmark and abroad. Shame on them.
posted by Poul Højlund at 11:42 PM
2 Comments:
While collaboration (in a project) does not have a negative connotation, collaborator does, at least in the US. Collaborator usually brings to mind the French, but it seems to apply in this case as well.
You entry on collaborators brought to mind an adaptation of a cartoon on appeasement by Theodore Giesel, better know by his alias Dr. Suess, the children's author. It can be found at the DANEgerus blog out of the US.
http://www.danegerus.com/weblog/Comments.asp?svComment=13783
Mange Tak for your blog, as I am interested in knowing what the opinion is in Denmark, by my Danish skills are by no means ready for blog reading.
I stand corrected, thank you.
So are you trying to pick up some Danish? Some job, but imagine the welcome you will get here when you visit the country.
Venlig hilsen og tak for interessen
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