Or: How something was already articulated in 2015 that today is considered reason of state
“We.Serve.Germany.”
That is not a sentence.
That is not a statement.
Those are three words separated by periods.
And that was exactly the test.
A supplementary video statement , published separately, documents the action in public space at the time and places it in political and linguistic context from today’s perspective.
Anyone dumb enough to automatically read “We serve Germany” into it is probably also dumb enough to let themselves be mobilized for чуж foreign interests.
Hartzer to cannon fodder.
I still know exactly when that was.
2014 or 2015.
City run in Halle.
The Bundeswehr had set up a recruitment booth there. Military police, branches of service, glossy brochures. “Career,” “security,” “employer.”
And I simply placed myself there.
As if I belonged.
Not in disguise.
Not parodistic, not in a clown costume.
But exactly in a way that looked completely authentic to outsiders.
And that was precisely the point.
The double layer
The soldiers were not amused.
They also didn’t quite know how to get rid of me.
Two of them eventually marched over to a nearby police patrol.
To ask for advice.
The police waved it off.
“We can’t do anything about that.
That’s Marla Svenja.
She just does things like this.
Artistic freedom and all that.
She’ll be gone again soon.”
And that was exactly the point.
I stood there.
I belonged—at least to everyone passing by.
And those people later went home and said:
“At the city run, the Bundeswehr was there.
They were saying things…
Like, really intense stuff.
About cannon fodder, about burning people up, about utility.”
It wasn’t me who said it. The system said it—through me.
Back then, sarcasm. Today, reality.
Back then I thought I was being extremely sarcastic.
Over the top.
Borderline.
Today—ten, eleven years later—we see:
It wasn’t sarcastic enough.
Today they tell us quite openly
that the arms industry is a blessing for Germany.
Because it creates jobs.
Because it drives the economy.
Because it generates growth.
This is no longer cynicism.
This is official policy.
The big lie about “jobs”
The arms industry creates no value.
It is fully financed by the net taxpayer.
The state pays for the arms contracts.
The state takes tax money for this.
The state then declares that it has created jobs.
That is not a market.
That is a cycle.
Every job in the arms industry is, in effect, a state-funded position.
No different from a civil servant’s salary—just with higher destructive potential.
Nothing is produced that has not been paid for in advance.
Nothing is created that has not been collected in advance.
And yet it is sold as an economic success.
Cannon fodder with career prospects
Back then, at the city run, people were still smiling.
Recruitment as a friendly offer.
“Find a job with the Bundeswehr.”
Today, people speak openly about it:
That we need people.
That we need sacrifices.
That someone has to “serve.”
Not peace.
Not the population.
But industry.
Geopolitics.
The interests of others.
And suddenly, what I once called “art”
is nothing more than an early test run of reality.
Three words. No sentence. A warning.
Federal.
Armed.
Forces.
We.
Serve.
Germany.
Anyone who automatically turns that into meaning
also turns nonsense into duty.
Coercion into honor.
Burning people up into responsibility.
Back then, I was just standing there.
Today, we are all standing in front of it.
And this time, it is no longer an art project.
📚 Further Reading – Partner Links
(Affiliate notice: The following links are partner links. If you make a purchase through them, you support Marlas Army at no additional cost to you.)
1. Hannah Arendt – On Violence
1. Hannah Arendt – On Violence
An analysis of the mechanisms of political control and public fear.
👉 https://amzn.to/3NDc0c8
2. George Orwell – 1984
The classic work on language control, truth, and surveillance.
👉 https://amzn.to/4bsO0SZ
3. Timothy Snyder – On Tyranny
Twenty lessons on how democracies die.
👉 https://amzn.to/3NcdiuI
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