by Jay Nordlinger, National ReviewEFL'd from his "Impromptus" column.
. . . As Merkel sits in the Congress Center, waiting to speak, she could not look more unassuming. A bit drab, very ordinary — a bit of a hausfrau. But when she opens her mouth, she reveals a formidable intellect, and a good deal of heart.
I'm getting ahead of myself, just a little. I want to record that, when Klaus Schwab — father of the World Economic Forum — introduces Merkel, he states that she has been coming to Davos since 1993, after she joined the cabinet of Chancellor Kohl. At the time, she was a "Young Global Leader of Tomorrow" — that is a category here in Davos. "And here you are today, as leader of your country!" exclaims Schwab.
The theme of Merkel's speech, essentially, is freedom. She sounds like a woman who grew up in a Communist country (which she did). Great chunks of her speech are thoroughly Reaganite, or Thatcherite. Heretofore, my impression of Merkel has been that she is a bit of what we, on the American right, would call a "squish." Sort of a German Nancy Johnson (congresswoman from Connecticut). But no: She certainly doesn't sound like that. At all.
Throughout her speech, she stresses the need for reform, and for flexibility, and for open-mindedness. In the past, Germany has been "paralyzed," she says, "by events and situations" — and that's no good. She asks for "more freedom of movement, more leeway, more freedom of action." She says that "we have to remove obstacles, open windows, breathe deeply fresh air." Germans and Europeans "have to see risks as opportunities, rather than hazards."
Not that she's a wild-eyed libertarian, mind you: "We are not exempt from responsibility," and the state has a strong role to play. But the individual — the creative individual — "must have the liberty to take action."
She says that, "as I prepared this speech," she thought of her predecessor, "the father of the social market economy": Ludwig Erhard. He knew that freedom and responsibility required order. He wanted men and women to have the freedom to pursue their own destinies, with a state allowing them to do that.
And get a load of this, folks: This new European leader, Merkel, says that she believes in "the mature citizen," able to think for himself, and take care of himself.
And people have always feared change, such as when society changed from an agricultural one to an industrial one. And now we are undergoing another change: to a "knowledge society," meaning that we have to "rethink."
This may sound Simple Simon to you, but it seems somewhat revolutionary out of a European leader's mouth.
Merkel says that "we have too few young people," and that Germany and other European countries are saddling future generations with debt — also "narrowing the room for investment and development," which is "morally indefensible."
Morally indefensible!
The economic environment must be congenial to the entrepreneur. "Increasing freedom has always led to better development in Germany." For decades, the country has bent under "overly rigid regulation," and "we must become more flexible now." Problem is, "we're binding, fettering, enormous energies in Germany," out of a social fear.
And you will especially enjoy this, I believe: "It is difficult for politicians to dismantle something they have created." Remember what conservatives said in Reagan's Washington, in the 1980s? We said that the capital had its own Brezhnev Doctrine: Once a program or agency is established, it's forever, irreversible.
Merkel: "We must get away from the idea that a directive is in place for all time, and must never be reconsidered" — because such stubbornness must "lead to greater insecurity for Europe."
And here is a very simple — and beautiful, and true — statement from this daughter of East Germany: "Freedom is an elementary good for mankind." Later, she mentions that "I did not expect to live in a free society before I reached the age of retirement." And so she is — and not just living in one, leading it.
Toward the end of her speech, she talks about James Watt, the inventor of the steam engine. "Two hundred years ago, he said that the most important thing in life is to invent." Where is this invention today? Merkel says that "we Germans" built the first computer, introducing the computer age. But "when I look at Microsoft, when I look at Google — I see that we haven't participated in" the ongoing revolution. And "this is a painful recognition."
Merkel enunciates a kind of credo (and I paraphrase, slightly): "I want to use my own strength, take on the risks of my own life, captain my own fate — and you, the state, must see to it that I'm in a position to do that." She continues: "The task of politics is to shape conditions in which people can have hope." Europe must junk a "protectionist point of view," looking instead to "competition that fosters the best ideas within the framework of the creative imperative."
And "The Creative Imperative," as I've noted, is Klaus Schwab's theme for the Annual Meeting this year.
Whew.
The applause for Merkel is not thunderous, but — significantly, I think — it is sustained. Hundreds of people just don't want to stop clapping. Schwab has Merkel stand up again, and acknowledge this applause — rather like a conductor encouraging a soloist.
Then, Schwab facilitates a brief exchange between the German chancellor and two businessmen from America: Henry A. McKinnell, chairman and CEO of Pfizer, and Michael Dell, of Dell Computers. McKinnell praises Merkel's "tone," saying that it is "frankly overdue in Germany," and in the rest of Europe. He says that creativity should be rewarded. You know, "it's okay to reward creativity" — you don't have to stifle it, to say nothing of punish it.
Merkel, of course, couldn't agree more.
At the close of the session, Schwab asks Dell to give Merkel one piece of advice — what is the one piece of advice he would impart, if he had the chance? (And he does.) Dell thinks for a moment and says, "You shouldn't earn as much when you're not working as when you're working." (We use the word "earn" loosely, please understand.) Merkel smiles, concurring: "Yes, yes: You have to have more when you work than when you don't. This principle isn't always applied in Germany, and that means we've had no real incentive." All the while, Merkel has been speaking in German. But at the end here, she smiles at Dell and says — in English: "Good advice."
Ladies and gentlemen, this has been an amazing performance. Again, all of this may sound elementary to you — but it's astounding, in the context of Davos, and of "Old Europe" generally. As a (right-leaning) buddy of mine remarks, Merkel, in her speech, said "freedom" about a hundred times. And she was amazingly self-critical — critical of her own country, critical of countries that have pursued a similar path. She didn't blame America once, for anything. There was no self-pity, no excuse-making, no self-congratulation. No resentment, no whining, no petulance. Just clear, sweet thought.
Watch this lady, and see if she can get creaking European machinery moving, just a bit. . . .