image by
August Sander

Arbeitsloser. Köln, 1928
Unemployed man

That´s it.

Unemployment
looks different now in Germany.
But it´s essence stayed the same.

Being unemployed means,
having lost your place in society.

Being unemployed means,
having been pushed aside,
standing with the back to the wall.

Being unemployed means,
standing on the brink.

It means the loss of structure,
it means the loss of sense,
and it means the loss of self-esteem.

It means poverty.

It means to be called
a “benefit scrounger”,
by those to be heard endlessly in the media.

It means to be walked over,
it means to be dragged in the mud,
by those who never will be unemployed,
because they belong to the untouchable class,
because they belong to the class in power,
justifying themselves and their position,
and their privileges with efficiency,
and the enormous responsibilities
they have to bear in the name of society.

They never are held responsible,
those in power,
they always walk away as winners,
leaving behind the debris of disastrous politics,
leaving behind the debris of disastrous management,
resulting in wars, financial crisises,
and the unemployment of thousands and thousands
of ordinary man and women,
now to be called “benefit scroungers” .

Kuhle Wampe (with english subtitles)

Kuhle Wampe – To Whom Does the World Belong? – Whither Germany? ENGLISH SUBTITLES VERSION Kuhle Wampe ( the full title is Kuhle Wampe oder Wem gehört die Welt) is a German feature film, released in 1932, about unemployment and left wing politics in the Weimar Republic. The title refers to a tent camp in the countryside near to Berlin. The script was conceived and written by Bertolt Brecht. He also directed the concluding scene: a political debate between strangers on a tram about the world coffee market. The rest of the film was directed by Slatan Dudow. The impact of this black and white film is enhanced by the cinematography of Gunther Krampf and a musical score by Hanns Eisler.