Es war sonderbar
Unter sich zu sein
Sich fremd zu fühlen
Zu wissen, ich bin allein
Die Nation bindet
Mich aber nicht
Schwarz oder weiß
Wirklich innerlich
Rassen, Sprachen, Kulturen
Geschlechter auch
Immer blieb, getrennt, zurück
Eine Empfindung im Bauch
Geistig Gleichgesinnten
Laß mich finden
Sonst lass mich immer
Den Unterschied empfinden.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije
2019: Das Jahr der deutschen Dichtung
How does a nation communicate with itself? How are messages passed, orders given, thought patterns and processes prescribed, and proscribed, consensus reached, an understanding made binding on all? Without words.
How does a nation tell itself what to believe, what to say, how to act, where to go, which lie to tell and which truth to reveal? How does a nation converse with itself, argue with itself, consult with itself, agree with itself, without betraying itself?
Long before the Internet, long before the television and the radio, long before telephone and telex, long before railways and planes, long before highways, long ago, when not everywhere was motorable and some places were unreachable and remote, and journeys were laborious dangerous enterprises that took weeks and months. Long long ago, when Human was young, how did Nations learn to think as one and to perceive as a unit?
There is something that unites people deep down in their souls sometimes, the reverberations of a common Inner Voice. And so, one word can last them a thousand years and sustain them and not go out of fashion and never be misinterpreted by them, because at its origin they all gave to it the same meaning. It becomes like a root, and however far and wide their flowers flourish or their fruits nourish, they draw from the root of the same word. And that word is their secret ancient name, in which their destiny is encoded.
Nations have changed so much. Sometimes it‘s hard to know to which nation you belong – and when you know it, you cannot find it anywhere. And when you find it, you do not belong there where you think you saw it. Everything is in daily motion, and tomorrow the world will mix up the different parts again.
Once upon a time, there were nations and you belonged to one of them. Today, when you feel lost, close your eyes and listen for those whose Inner Voice are similar to yours. They are your Nation.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije
What really runs a country is a system of thought, habits and behaviour to which a group of people subscribes. Not politicians. Not civil servants. Not a constitution. But simply an inner life in which all participate, and from which an intangible system of thinking arises that unites everybody who ascribes to it. It unites them and “runs” them according to a set of core rules which these people, in their inner being, unthinkingly believe to be the true reality.
This hidden level of surrender to their version of reality lies deeper that what is generally called culture and tradition. On the contrary, culture and tradition arise gradually from this foundation, simultaneously influencing its further development reciprocally – positively or negatively – even as it itself continues to reinforce the culture and tradition it birthed.
And then, after the level of “culture and tradition” has been formed, they in turn midwife the mentality that thinks out not just the surface laws and constitution of a country, but also the understanding of whether these laws are to be obeyed at all or in what way they are to be interpreted, implemented or circumvented. A recognizable national “way” comes to life which becomes attributable to that nation by everyone who visits it or lives in it. You just know: this is the way these people are.
Thus to influence or direct the path of a nation, you have to have power of this hidden level of reality, power over the nation’s inner life. You have to understand it, be homogeneous with it, so that you understand it and it understands you. You have to know it’s fears and hopes, the sources of its joy, and what is “real” to it. Only when you have mastered it on this inner level, will it follow you when you pull. You have to be it, but the better version of it. Sometimes, though, unfortunately those who grasp this are also the worst version of a nation’s inner life.
They have come to grasp that it is not really they themselves personally that rule the country – all they do is guide and manipulate an animal that already exists. Their job is simply to understand and feed the animal, by swinging in unison with the nation’s inner life. Because it is this hidden inner mentality that really runs a country, chaperoning it from generation to generation, reacting or not reacting to globalization and digitalization, focusing on the issues it focuses on, condoning the things it condones, evolving in its own way, determining its place on the global theater of nations and peoples, characterizing it as either a pawn, a puppet or a captain of its own ship.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Nation must dig deep into
The luminous garden of soul
For new spirits must incarnate
Nation must dig deep into
The forgotten regions of soul
For sleeping spirit must awake
If we don’t change inside
Nothing will change outside.
We will merely pile up academic degrees.
– che chidi chukwumerije.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 