It appears that Jack Rosenberg switched to a fake german name, "Werner Hans Erhard", as a sarcastic joke, but its darker too.
It could even be related to the Nazi perversion of Nietzsche's idea of the Ubermensch who is "Beyond Good and Evil" and who "creates values". (that seems to be behind the "Integrity" idea).
Nietzsche's idea of the Overman, is a person who literally "creates values" and of course it all gets very complex from there, and how that relates to human compassion, or lack thereof.
There does seem to be a connection here between ideas of the "victim" and the Superman.
Clearly, Werner Erhard, Jack, sees himself as being a Superman who is beyond there mere Morality and Legality of mere mortals.
Of course getting into Jack Rosenberg's relationship to things of that nature gets into very difficult territory, but where there is smoke, there is fire.
Something to research and keep looking into...
Jack Rosenberg-Werner Erhard-> Reality Reversal Propaganda
[
forum.culteducation.com]
Quote:
Barbara Walters: Let me discuss this first when ah… Why did you change your name from Jack Rosenberg to Werner Erhard? It sounds, first of all, like a Nazi prison camp waiter, and also there are a lot of people who feel you were trying to hide the fact that you were Jewish and that you’re really kind of basically anti-Semitic and ashamed of yourself.
Erhard (laughs)
Walter: Outside of that, I guess it’s fine.
Erhard: Yes, the truth is, Barbara, that about 16 years ago I left my family, and I have a very determined mother and an uncle who was a captain on the Philadelphia Police Department, and I didn’t want to be located. So, on the plane when I left, I was looking through a magazine and there happened to be an article on Germany that I was looking through. At the time, I decided I needed a name that would make it difficult to locate me. And the name coincidently came right out of that article.
Walters: (Interrupting) There’s no symbolism.
Erhard: There’s no symbolism to it at all.