Last year, elections were held in France, the USA, the Netherlands, and Austria, now in Germany. Wolfgang Held spoke with Gerald Häfner.
WH: Do you think the elections show an overall worrying picture?
GH: They worry me because our democratic societies are at risk of breaking down. Democracy is built on creating a space where different points of view meet and change in order to reach decisions that are supported by as many people as possible. This space for discussion is eroding. Political forces that build up images of the enemy are gaining weight. The relentlessness with which people are arguing these days concerns me.
Is there a sublimated fear behind this anger?
The world is changing its face. This engenders fear. What begins as fear often ends in anger, especially if we’re not conscious of the fear and its call to transform ourselves. Enduring it takes strength. When I manage to get to the bottom of this fear in myself, I develop the courage to act. Anger is the opposite of courage; anger reveals weakness, a flight from fear. Anger is directed at others—without being re-forged through self-knowledge. Anger needs an object: the (supposedly) guilty parties. This is a highly dangerous game that many actors have mastered. The exploitation of anger has become a lucrative business.
What can help against such fears?
The key lies in the heart, in the soul of each individual. Especially in politics, where we’re often on frosty terrain; the moment when warmth can arise is what’s important. That’s when we have solid ground. All of a sudden, we encounter something in the other person that we can trust. Then, joint decisions become possible. Almost all the motions I introduced into Parliament have been interparty motions. I approached people running on a different platform because it was clear to me that if we could find agreement, it could last—in Parliament and society. We can and must always find this humanity in others, where relationships become possible and sustainable. It has become more difficult in politics today because we literally come together less often. Too many encounters take place virtually now. We can get a quick picture this way—but we can’t build a bridge.
Instead of building bridges, the talk today is more about demarcation.
Radical positions in politics have to do with people feeling misunderstood, not seen, or pigeonholed. Disregard creates hurt, often anger. Both darken that inner place of light and warmth. Sometimes this place becomes entirely undiscoverable. For me, that’s where the limits lie—not limits of understanding the other, but of collaboration. I would not be able to work together—even in Parliament—with people in whom I could not find warmth as the supporting substance of collaboration. I am convinced that this warmth exists in everyone, but it becomes dangerous when it’s buried under bitterness, hatred, coldness, and calculation. Still, I make it my duty to always listen to the people who follow others out of fear, to understand what triggers their fear and how it can be alleviated.
Is this omission of warmth the crisis of democracy across the globe?
I believe there is a common picture. Let’s turn away from Germany for the moment and look at Europe. Two blocs were hostile to each other. In 1989, it became possible to reunite Europe after decades of being torn apart and divided. But Europe didn’t do anything with this historic opportunity; instead, it slept; it didn’t fill up the center it holds in the world between East and West. Now the superpowers are once again communicating over and above Europe. The same omission applies to domestic politics: the traffic signal in Germany has not unfolded its potential as an intersection; Germany hasn’t fulfilled its task. In politics, we live with the tasks that time and the world set us. Time and again, a door opens for a solution. This is what the Greeks called kairos: the right moment to seize upon something. If this moment passes unseen, unused, then it’s too late for this particular solution.
Do you have an example?
Yes, let’s take the terrible conflict over Palestine. With the Camp David Accords, the Oslo Peace Plan, and the UN resolutions, the world was close to a solution. But the solution was never implemented. This has consequences. The door is closing; fear and violence are growing; the problem is becoming more toxic. If we look at Germany: I would say that we have had two and a half decades of almost complete political stagnation. Politics has just maintained itself; it hasn’t built anything new. There was a lack of courage to move into the future. Education, infrastructure, bureaucracy, climate crisis, economic transformation, peace in Europe? We’ve been asleep! After the Russian attack, we sent weapons—but never did anything to make a ceasefire, to make peace somehow possible.
In a linear concept of time, a missed opportunity is lost; in a circular concept of time, the opportunity will return. What is it like in a spiral concept of time?
What is past is past. There is no return of the same opportunity. But there will be new opportunities. There will be new “windows of opportunity,” as Friedrich Glasl and others call them—but it will then be on another level. It will require new skills and create greater demands on us. Missed opportunities are occasions to wake up and prepare for the future. One example: Today, oligarchs rule in the East; tech billionaires in the West. This shows that we have failed to tame capitalism since the 1970s at the latest.
How do we prepare?
The decisive factors here are being alert to contemporary events, consciously paying attention to opposing sources, and a compassionate heart. Political action doesn’t follow mathematical equations; it unfolds from the middle sphere within us. The prerequisites for action are: commiserating in the pain of the other, sharing fear or joy with them, then asking the questions of the time and the world in depth, really penetrating them, and seeking real solutions! Creating space for new paths, inwardly at first, then outwardly; keeping the solutions alive; looking for allies, forging tools, and being ready when the door opens!
In ancient times, seizing an opportunity while it was present was called an “air trail.” Are we in a similar situation today?
Yes, and that requires presence of mind and courage. The word “verstehen” [to understand] means that I move from one place where I am standing to another [Ger. ver-, denotes a transition; stehen, to stand]. The most important proposals I’ve made in Parliament were the result of discussions with colleagues from other groups. One example: for one bill, I went to a hotel in the Eifel with colleagues from other factions. We sat together for three days, went for walks, and wrote our draft bill. In my usual environment, fear and resistance would have prevailed. We need air! That’s part of the air trial. We must restore this space.
Translation Joshua Kelberman
Photo Plenary chamber of the German Bundestag. CC BY 3.0.
