Hannes Swoboda, Chairman of the Board of the European Tolerance Talks, fears that politics is maneuvering itself into a situation from which it can no longer find a way out. Since the ideological and religious frameworks have largely dissolved, we should not be surprised that we are now stumbling into a society of madness, said the former PSE parliamentarian in a panel discussion on “World in Turmoil – Little Man, What Now?” in Vienna. The event can be followed on pressetext.tv. “If you look at it from a historical perspective,” says Swoboda, “the great advances since the monarchy have always been the result of intelligent constitutional processes. And then there were the respective ideologies: the Christian-socialist, a socialist, a communist – and, of course, still the Catholic religion. These were stable frameworks that gave people the opportunity to find a role in the state and in society – over time, also as voters, acting according to a certain ideology.” The disappearance of ideologies is not progress These ideologies have disappeared in recent decades, but this was only seemingly progress. Because they led to chaos, and even more so to authoritarian leaders who essentially no longer have a real ideology. This applies to Putin as much as to Trump or Xi Jinping. Here, it’s no longer about the competition of ideas or concepts of a society, but rather only about the pure assertion of power through violence. This also accounts for the insecurity in which we live today. People no longer have anything to hold on to. Swoboda stated that the conditions under which people once found a home—a religious home, a political home, or even a national home—have been lost. He stated that this was a problem for which he also had no answer. “And then there’s all the digitalization, social media with its diverse opinions—and we’re faced with chaos, or whatever you want to call it, where perhaps literature, if read, could provide some support.” Continue on pressetext. A video recording of the panel discussion is available here.
