occasional reflections on culture & politics
https://youtu.be/AasjWiIFu_g If you see yourself as a believer in justice, as dedicated to the fight against oppression and exploitation, ask yourself: What is the biggest justice? What is the purpose of the fight against oppression and exploitation? The answer can probably only be as follows: The preservation of human life, ideally of all life, in… Continue reading #229: Fighting for Love in Times of War
There is a wide-spread and pernicious argument which has been circling for quite some time, saying that the Western World is in decline, that it is in crisis, and that new challengers have arisen to dethrone the West. Okay, let’s unpack this a bit. First, we need to ignore the real question within – what… Continue reading #218: The West Is Not in Decline
There is an occasional tendency to view the past with a certain sense of nostalgia and even benevolence. “Things couldn’t possibly have been as bad, certainly, now things are worse than ever before.” Etc. Unfortunately, this has recently also affected the GDR, the so-called German Democratic Republic (former Socialist/Communist East Germany) – especially when it… Continue reading #217: Thoughts on June 17: The GDR Was an Inhumane Dictatorship
Mikhail Gorbachev was one of the greatest politicians of all time. Without him, the world today would be less free, more than 500 million people would still live in fear of an evil system that enslaved and terrorized them all over the world. That does not mean, of course, that he succeeded with everything he… Continue reading #191: Remembering Mikhail Gorbachev
Whenever we speak, it is important to be precise. Communication depends on it. Words have a meaning for a reason, and once we change the meaning of words in our society, we risk not being able to describe things accurately. Words are words, violence is violence. Some words may call out for violence directly, but… Continue reading #187: Words Are Not Violence
Monument to the Burning of Giordano Bruno at the Campo dei Fiori in Rome.“A BRUNO – IL SECOLO DA LUI DIVINATO – QUI DOVE IL ROGO ARSE”(“To Bruno – from the age he divined – here where the fire burned”). To my shame, I must admit that to this day I have never read any… Continue reading #186: Salman Rushdie and the Case for Free Speech
It is strange to have to look up the meaning of a central holiday of the country into which you have immigrated. I grew up in Socialist/Communist East Germany, and that was a criminal state, I did not care for its traditions. The Catholic Church dictated most of my holiday schedule – the Protestants varied… Continue reading #166: Reflections on Memorial Day
Frequently, we hear the line “we have to learn to live with Covid.” It sounds nice. It sounds like there is a way of coexisting with the spikey bugger. But it is not realistic. We have seen now that countries that used to be able to open up (Denmark, the UK, Sweden, even to some… Continue reading #122: Only a Zero Covid Strategy Will Bring Success
Francis Fukuyama has been much ridiculed for allegedly claiming that we had reached the “end of history” in the 1990s after the victory of democracy over socialism. His argument, however, was more complex, and consisted rather in an update of Hegel’s analysis of the consequences of the dual victory of Napoleonic France (and its proclaimed… Continue reading #83: The Purpose of History, or, We Need to Explain Democracy Better
It is important to not take everything for granted. The dangers of authoritarianism are always real, and simple answers to complex questions should never satisfy the curious mind. There is a reason dictatorships always want to limit free speech and even thinking itself, and any attempts at limiting free thought and free expression need to… Continue reading #58: Question Everything; But Also Yourself
Saying that free speech is an absolute value that needs to be protected against all odds, against all possible and impossible detractors, in order for democracy to be possible, is one thing. But how do we make this happen? This is what is called the problem of the public sphere, be it constituted by the… Continue reading #40: Enabling Free Speech, or, the Problem of the Public Sphere
The dividing line between a just society and barbarism is whether free speech is valued or not. With “free speech” I mean any speech, no matter how offensive. With protected, I mean that the only answer to speech you do not like shall be counter-speech. The truth will win out in an equal, peaceful, respectful… Continue reading #39: Free Speech is Absolute
Erratic Attempts 