New book
With Robert Habeck “up the drain”
Before Robert Habeck became a politician, he was an author. And he remained that way as Vice Chancellor. His new book is about populism – and what can help against it.
Robert Habeck lets you watch him think. “Up the drain. A course chart,” is the name of his new book, which the Green Party candidate for chancellor published less than six weeks before the federal election. Anyone who listens to Habeck often will not be surprised by any of the 144 pages: readers get the Vice Chancellor in a nutshell.
Who might be interested in the book?
If you want to know exactly how the Greens want to relieve the burden on families, reform pensions or ensure medical care, it would be better to take a look at the election program. Habeck is becoming more specific in his core area, economic policy, and is expanding his ideas on how to increase investments or transform the economy in a climate-friendly manner. But above all, it’s about the big lines. About democracy, its enemies, their mechanisms and possible answers. And about Robert Habeck. In his words: “A new phase is beginning for the country, and for me too.”
No matter how shocking the political events are, it’s mostly about how Habeck experienced them. “When I lay down late at night on February 23, 2022, I went to sleep knowing that Putin’s troops would invade Ukraine in the early hours of the morning. (…) I kept waking up at night, looking at my cell phone, chatting with it “The Chancellor listened to the news and then, in the early hours of the morning, saw what shocked the world: the news of Putin’s attack.”
Perhaps the joy of the first-person narrative is due to Habeck’s understanding of politics. Approachability and trust are crucial in representative democracy, not sophisticated party programs. “Things are so complex, the viewpoints are so diverse, that voters are less guided by concepts, values, ideas and more by: people.”
Debates and “uncultured discussion”
Political and social debates and how they are conducted are a favorite topic of Habeck and the Greens in general. Populism wants to destroy social debate through polarization and exaggeration, writes Habeck. Every problem is declared a crisis, every possible solution is discredited. “The populists sow fears in order to feed on them,” he writes. “The increasing impossibility of a reasonable conversation then gives rise to the accusation that a democratic society is incapable of solving problems. And from this it is in turn derived that an authoritarian leader is needed.”
Habeck is strong in analysis, but somewhat less so in problem solving. What is needed is an understanding of the other side’s perspective and a willingness to listen, he writes. In political practice, the struggle with the debate culture sometimes leads to the Greens refusing to participate – then discussions take place without them.
The calm during Angela Merkel’s (CDU) sixteen-year chancellorship was deceptive, writes Habeck. Necessary decisions have been postponed. “The expansion of renewable energies was delayed, as was that of the electricity grids, hydrogen networks were neither planned nor built, gas and sometimes oil heating systems continued to be installed, fossil combustion cars were seen as the eternal future. The train is notoriously late instead of literally being on time, and classes are canceled “Daycare places are rare.” The list goes on.
The outgoing Vice Chancellor also explains the spectacular unpopularity of the traffic light coalition made up of the SPD, Greens and FDP with these legacy issues. “We have started to remove the mountain of problems that have built up over the years. We have paid a price for this, a political and a personal one. The approval ratings of the governing parties have fallen sharply; and I have bodyguards around me, even when I go jogging or to the cinema go.”
Thesis: People want optimism
Habeck’s entire election campaign is based on one assumption: “That more people want optimism than to sink into pessimism.” The self-declared Alliance Chancellor hopes that many people in Germany will long for politeness in political debate, for an honest attempt not only to describe major problems, but to address them. “Unleashing these powers is what it’s all about.”
This is intended as a counter-strategy to populism. “There is a pretty high probability that Germany will go down the drain if the politicians of the democratic center rely on the means of populism if pessimism prevails in society. Because the negative and the bad-mouthing are always quickly outdone by the next Catastrophe, the even nastier insult, the even nastier hostility.” Hence the title “Up the Stream”.
dpa
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
