Wir - Hier (3/4): Individualität vs. Kollektivität

·28 min·2 clips

A play asks how a nation celebrates itself and what happens to your 'I' when you belong—or don't belong—to a 'we'.

The episode opens with a rhythmic repetition of 'we' and 'here,' immediately framing its central theme: the conflict between individual identity and collective belonging. It begins with a reflective question about what happens to one's 'I' when part of social groups, referencing intergroup conflicts like East vs. West Germany. Anecdotes, such as the debate over 'Eierkuchen' versus 'Pfannkuchen,' illustrate everyday compromises in identity. The narrative then shifts to philosophical and legal questions about nationality, pondering where a child born mid-flight would gain citizenship and highlighting the arbitrariness of laws like jus soli and jus sanguinis. A historian, Valentin Gröbner, is cited defining nations as 'self-enlargement apparatuses' that create uniqueness through collective reference. The core of the episode features an interview with Mike Gugolski, a 47-year-old living in Bratislava, who describes his process of renouncing U.S. citizenship, sparked by disillusionment with U.S. foreign policy in the 2000s, including threats of atomic bombs against Iran. He details burning his Social Security card and undergoing an embassy interview to confirm his decision wasn't under duress, insanity, or tax evasion. Another segment introduces Christoph Heuermann, a German-born entrepreneur who advises on tax-free global living and sells a 'state-free freedom package' for 333 euros, framing statelessness as a mental and business model rather than a legal status. The episode also includes a conversation with diplomats from the Israeli and Palestinian missions in Germany, contrasting Israel's celebration of independence on May 14, 1948, with the Palestinian commemoration of the Nakba, or catastrophe of exile. It notes the legal restrictions in Israel on mentioning the Nakba and describes national rituals like sirens and memorial days. Throughout, the play interweaves poetic and surreal suggestions for alternative national celebrations, such as fasting or reversing day and night. It concludes with a call to rethink identity as performative and fluid, challenging fixed notions of nationality.

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