The Rise of the New Normal Reich (Redux)
So I’ve got some good news and some bad news.
I’ll give you that news in just a minute, but, first, I need to do a recap for any readers just now tuning in. Regular readers, please bear with me, or just skip down to below the Spiegel image, because a bit of repetition follows.
OK, here we go with the recap.
As I explained in my previous column a few days ago, Germany’s supreme court has refused to issue a ruling on my appeal to overturn the overturning of my acquittal on bogus “hate crime” charges.
So that’s it. My “hate crime” conviction stands.
The “hate crime” is the cover artwork of my book, The Rise of the New Normal Reich: Consent Factory Essays, Vol. III (2020-2021). I can’t show you a picture of the book, because, if I did, the authorities would probably send the police to raid my home again, and terrorize my wife, and our cats, as they did in November of 2025.
So, instead, as in my previous column, here’s a picture of an issue of Der Spiegel.
My book cover art is more or less exactly like that, except the swastika on my book is behind a medical-looking mask, instead of a German flag, as on the Spiegel cover. The German authorities are not prosecuting Der Spiegel. They are prosecuting me, because I compared them to the Nazis, instead of comparing the AfD to the Nazis.
OK, that’s the recap. Now, the good news, and the bad news.
The bad news is, I am now, officially, a criminal, with a criminal record, in Germany. And my book is officially a crime in Germany. Selling my book is a crime in Germany. Advertising my book is a crime in Germany. Reading my book is a crime in Germany.
I am the publisher of this criminal book, and I live and work in Germany, and thus, I have no choice but to withdraw the book from distribution.
If I do not withdraw it, the German authorities will prosecute me, over and over, and they’ll send the police to raid my home, and terrorize my wife, and our cats, over and over, and impose fines on me until I am totally bankrupt, or possibly even send me to prison. And it’s not just my wife and the cats I’m thinking about. I have been dealing with these tyrants for going on three years now, which has taken up a lot of my time and energy, and caused a lot of stress, which probably contributed to the illness that put me in the hospital recently.
OK, let me get the good news in here, before this column gets too depressing.
The good news is, Skyhorse Publishing is going to publish a second edition of the book. And thus, The Rise of the New Normal Reich: Consent Factory Essays, Vol. III (2020-2021) will remain in print and available worldwide.
Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., is an American independent publisher in New York City (i.e., not in Germany), and the publisher of my most recent collection of essays, Fear and Loathing in the New Normal Reich: Consent Factory Essays, Vol. IV (2022-2024). My dystopian novel, Zone 23, is published by Arcade Publishing, a Skyhorse imprint.
I am extremely grateful to Skyhorse Publishing, and to its president and publisher, Tony Lyons, for coming to the rescue and keeping this book in print.
OK, now a little more bad news.
As I mentioned, I’ve been doing legal battle with the German authorities and courts for almost three years now. I entered into this battle with a few naive assumptions.
When I first learned that I was under criminal investigation for two tweets about the Covid mask mandates, I assumed that a German court would vindicate me, because I understand the relevant legal statute. A German court did. The Berlin District Court acquitted me in January 2024, but the Berlin District Prosecutor appealed the verdict, and the Berlin Appellate Court overturned my acquittal.
At that point, it was clear that the German authorities and courts have no respect for the rule of law, or Germany’s constitution, or basic democratic rights, like freedom of speech and artistic expression. To the German authorities and courts, the law is just a weapon, a cudgel they can use on anyone they perceive as their political or ideological enemy. They will openly, brazenly, apply double standards (see the Spiegel cover above) and pervert the law however they have to in order to persecute their enemies. They do not care, not at all, if it makes them look like hypocrites, or … well, you know, fascists.
That, in my opinion, is pretty bad news.
The other bad news is, throughout this three-year-long nightmare, I kept waiting for the German legal community to speak out about the blatantly authoritarian behavior of the German authorities and the courts, and it never happened. They did not speak out. Apart from a few notable exceptions—for example, Clivia von Dewitz, a judge, author, and an expert on Germany’s statutes regarding the use of Nazi symbols, who published several articles about my case—the silence from the legal community has been deafening.
The German press have been likewise unwilling to hold the authorities and courts to account. Again, with a few notable exceptions—independent outlets and journalists like Multipolar, Aya Velázquez, Bastian Barucker, Ralf Hutter, Mathias Bröckers, and others, and a few mainstream newspapers like Die Zeit, Berliner Zeitung, and Neue Zürcher Zeitung—the German press have conducted themselves like the proverbial Goebbelsian piano.
“Think of the press as a great keyboard on which the government can play.”
― Joseph Goebbels
This is not a healthy, democratic culture. This is a nascent totalitarian culture.
If this were only the state of affairs here in Germany … well, that would be one thing. Unfortunately, it is not. This type of authoritarian behavior is on display throughout the West, in the U.K., the U.S.A., and elsewhere. The targets of the repression differ, but the totalitarian tactics and the messaging are the same.
Yes, messaging. The Powers That Be throughout the West are sending us a message. They have been sending us this message for years. They sent it during the Covid era. They sent it during the Russiagate era. They sent it in Gaza. Most of us can’t hear it, because we think it is coming from “the other side.” It isn’t. Both “sides” are sending us the message. Because both “sides” are sides of the same global system. A system that doesn’t need to pretend to respect our democratic rights anymore.
“The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it’s profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way, and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater.”
― Frank Zappa
I’m a satirist, so a lot of people assume that I am just indulging in hyperbole when I come up with nicknames like “GloboCap” and book titles like “The Rise of the New Normal Reich.” I am not just indulging in hyperbole. At this point, if you cannot see that brick wall, if you cannot perceive how societies are being radically restructured, how the democratic rights we thought we had are being stripped away, if you cannot sense the new, nascent form of totalitarianism coming into being, well, I don’t know how to get through to you, exactly.
In any event, that’s my news … the news about the book, and my criminal status.
My heartfelt thanks to everyone who has contributed to my “legal defense fund” and otherwise supported me during these last three years. Whatever I have achieved with this legal battle so far, I could not have done it without your support. Seriously, I am your debt forever … spiritually, I mean. I can’t repay you with money. By the time the Germans get through with me, I’ll be fortunate if I can still pay my rent.
I’ll let you know, of course, when Skyhorse Publishing releases the second edition of The Rise of the New Normal Reich. In the meantime, if you want to read about my case, and other disturbing aspects of the New Normal Reich …
CJ, I don't even know what to say. The reality of life in the modern world (that your situation clearly proves) is still so new, so sharp-edged. It's painful to hear about the this ridiculous judgment, and also to understand that the majority of people refuse to see and address what is happening right under their noses.
Believe me, I'm sending about a mountain of light to you and your wife. I know there are those who will say that's bullshit sentiment, but I disagree. In spite of what is happening in the faltering democracies of the world, we still have our power, our human power to care deeply about fellow travelers on the Earth. I hope that you are at least out of danger as regards imprisonment, and I also want to tell you that I will keep up my subscription no matter what. It isn't much, but if a lot of us do the same, it adds up.
Your courage is kind of rare these days, you know. It is noted by many.
Man it’s nice to hear it reiterated. Political analysis these days, even the relatively sharp stuff, resembles sports commentary more and more. It’s this angle vs that angle, none of which point to the beating heart of this whole shit show. Just matches and tournaments of argument and counter argument arguing various flavours of the same shitty drink instead of ordering a different drink. I suspect there must be some sense of relief from the closure, even unfavourable as it is.
I hope it gives you some space to recover :)