Appeal to the courage of responsibility
By Sándor Sabazios (aka Stefan Vogt)
Europe is at a tipping point today. This term is often used in relation to climate change, but it originally comes from sociology and mass psychology. That fits well with the current situation. We are also at a tipping point - a comprehensive tipping point of the social, political and ecological climate. A look at three devastating crises with great urgency makes this clear: the war in the Middle East, the war in Ukraine and the project in Serbia's Jadar Valley, where the world's largest lithium reserves are to be opened for mining. Alarmingly, those responsible in politics, business, diplomacy and the military are failing to fulfil their responsibility to act courageously and intelligently at this point. This appeal is therefore addressed directly to them. Because: in all three cases, they are demonstrably acting against the will of the population.
To get a more concrete sense of this all-encompassing climate, it is enough to think of the Middle East. There is a frightening blindness to the far-reaching consequences that unbroken support for Israel will have for the countries of Europe. Watching how war crimes are continually committed in front of the eyes of the media public leaves deep scars, the destructive consequences of which will lead to internal disintegration. Seeing the suffering already causes bitter pity. To realise on a daily basis that these crimes are tolerated and elaborately cushioned, hidden or relativised also causes a feeling that is difficult to describe and altogether unbearable. With regard to Israel, there is often talk of the ‘only democracy in the region’. Have you thought about how this is received and understood by others? By people from societies outside our Western bubble - in an environment in which these incomprehensible conditions are not masked? What impression do you think humanity takes away from the model of democracy when we point to this hateful, inhumane and war-criminal state and say: ‘This is a democracy’? A state that carries out pager attacks, which former CIA director (!) Leon Panetta says is ‘a form of terrorism’. Have you ever wondered whether these moments, wrongly disregarded as details, might have something to do with the development that you constantly deplore, namely the worldwide decline of democratically orientated countries? (Not least in Europe!)
There are two sad assumptions here. Either that you have never asked yourself this question. Or that you asked yourself this in passing and came to the conclusion that the answer is ‘no’, that the one has nothing to do with the other. But this is precisely where your lack of leadership can be localised, in your inability to consider the crucial connections. It is almost impossible to assess the damage that has been done in recent weeks, months and years. We are thinking of Gaza, which has been carpet-bombed across the board, countless times. But I would venture to suggest that the true origin of this material and physical damage lies in a spiritual and ethical ruin. And we are furthering this ruin on our own side by failing to distance ourselves resolutely and effectively from a government and its dealings that commits such crimes and does so with incredible complacency.
That such connections are very real and by no means speculative should be easy to recognise from examples such as the knife attack in Solingen. All the desperate resentment was directed against Muslims on the one hand and against parties that had allegedly done too little against illegal immigration on the other. It is clear that Muslims are the favourite scapegoat these days. But this attack was not generally launched in the name of Islam, but in the name of ISIS. And where did ISIS come from? It didn't fall from the sky, but crawled out of the chaos of the Iraq war. The US war against Iraq, which violated international law, was the event that caused ISIS to flourish and spread. This is a proven historical fact and no secret. Is it too much to ask to point out these disastrous connections, to hold public debates about them and to draw state-supporting conclusions from them?
In Europe, we are no longer in a position to make independent and courageous decisions. There is no other explanation for the categorical refusal to engage in peace talks between the warring parties Ukraine and Russia. The fact that politicians who are now speaking out in favour of a change of course away from war and towards negotiations are being branded as Putin's mouthpieces is the actually uncanny thing. Did anyone realise that the late but quick-witted Henry Kissinger recommended that Zelensky should enter into negotiations with Russia? Kissinger was many things, but not a pacifist who would have shied away from confrontations. Unless they made no sense at all. And this raises the question of what prospect the current approach offers, apart from destroying Ukraine and devastating the rest of Europe? Another prospect should not be forgotten: that of an escalation of the war through nuclear weapons. Can anyone answer the question of who would lose anything if we at least made a serious attempt to conduct such a round of negotiations?
Negotiations always raise the question of who is at the table and who is not. And who benefits or not from which development and in what form. This also applies to the planned lithium mine, for which the fertile and life-giving Jadar Valley is to be sacrificed. At the table: the Serbian government, the EU, the German government, Mercedes and Rio Tinto. Not at the table: the Serbs. Because the latter can be found on the streets, where they are organising the biggest public protests the country can remember. In opposition to these negotiations, in opposition to this mine that is being pushed through without the consent of the population. Is this third crisis secondary to the wars that are also taking place on Europe's periphery? Not at all. It is precisely such decisive events that a breathless society initially overlooks, but which later close in on it when their catastrophic effects unfold. Because who even knows about it? Who is talking about what kind of shock is brewing in this south-east European region, with unforeseeable consequences for the groundwater?
Hardly anyone. It is more likely that people in Germany will hear about it when the Chancellor gives a sermon on human rights and democracy in China. But we know that a majority of Serbs are against this project, for which he flies to Belgrade, over the heads of the protesters directly to Vučić - strange, since the same Vučić must also listen to a lecture on democratic standards every now and then (and very rightly so), in a different context, of course. This is where the connection between cultural and ecological climate as a criterion for a credible democracy takes shape, isn't it? Incidentally, the same applies to the global military sector: it is not only responsible for deadly wars, but also for greenhouse gas emissions that exceed those caused by civil aviation and shipping in global trade combined.
Our simple demand for all three crises is: STOP! Stop the advances, agitation and chain reactions - it is this spirit of escalation and expansion that is inflaming the climate. We urge you to change your behaviour. Otherwise you will go astray and will continue to do so - both on the merits and in principle. On the merits, for the reasons outlined above, because at present the main effect is devastation. In principle, because you are - demonstrably - acting against the will of the population (see links). Against this background, you must be aware that you may one day be called to account if you continue to fail to make the only justifiable decisions. Nobody has the right to destroy our common climate in this way, on which our habitat depends.
You are clearly underestimating how acute the danger of the tipping point is today. You underestimate what is threatening to tip over. You are failing to realise how disturbing the developments are for a growing number of people here in Europe. And that these people are already beginning to turn their backs on the representatives and institutions that are running the world down in their name. You are ignoring the voices that are saying: This is no longer my West. This is not my Europe. We have lost respect. We have also lost esteem. Soon we will also have lost the love that alone could give us the strength to rebuild all that we have lost together. We are among these voices that are making this appeal to you.
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Quellen zu Meinungsumfragen:
Israel-Palästina:
https://yougov.de/politics/articles/49647-die-yougov-sonntagsfrage-im-juni-2024
Ukraine:
https://instituteforglobalaffairs.org/2024/06/modeling-democracy-the-new-atlanticism/
https://instituteforglobalaffairs.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IGA-Modeling-Democracy-2024-The-New-Atlanticism.pdf
Serbien, Lithium:
https://n1info.rs/vesti/za-ili-protiv-litijuma-sta-je-pokazalo-istrazivanje-u-srbiji-sta-misle-ljudi-u-portugalu/
https://forbes.n1info.rs/vesti/istrazivanje-nspm-protiv-rudnika-litijuma-555-odsto-gradjana-a-protiv-nacionalnog-stadiona-531/