…am German.
I grew up in a district called Paradise in Konstanz, in the Bodensee region. Embedded in a diverse beauty between snowy mountains, extinct volcanoes, crystal-clear lakes, humid forests and lush grassland.
The region of Bodensee is not just blessed with beauty, it is also the center of the weapon industry in Europe. And Germany is the country with the third biggest weapon exports in the world.
For 14 years of my life I went to school and I did so with little effort to receive an unexceptional degree.
Supported by the money of my parents and a system that allowed me to study for free, I had the outrageous possibility to leave my hometown, to do a study of my choice, to change perspectives and to search for the meaning of my life.
Today I have an average German income, which makes me one of the 2% of the richest people in the world. (www.richlist.com)
My daily life of housing, eating, transport, and consumption, which i would indicate as »normal,« requires more than three times the resources the earth provides sustainably for one person.
Observing this I ask myself: »What of this do I really deserve? How is my life linked to the pain in the world? And what responsibility do I have?«
