In a traditional German lavatory,
the hole in which shit disappears after we flush water is way in front, so that the shit is first laid out for us to sniff at and inspect for traces of some illness; in the typical French lavatory o on the contrary, the hole is in the back – that is, the shit is supposed to disappear as soon as possible; finally the Anglo-Saxon (English or American) lavatory presents a kind of synthesis, a mediation between these two opposed poles – the basin is full of water, so that the shit floats in it – visible, but not to be inspected. No wonder that Erica Jong […] in her half forgotten Fear Of Flying, mockingly claims: "German toilets are really the key to the horrors of the Third Reich. People who can build toilets like this are capable of anything." […] The reference to lavatories enables us […] to discern the underlying mechanism of this triad (German conservatism, French revolutionary radicalism and English moderate liberalism) in the three different attitudes towards excremental excess: ambiguous contemplative fascination; the hasty attempt to get rid of the unpleasant excess as fast as possible; the pragmatic approach to treat the excess as an ordinary object to be disposed of in an ordinary way…