From Civic Alarm to Political Consequence In our previous contribution “From paralysis to action – a stepwise approach” we described a familiar but deeply uncomfortable situation. The words are spoken. The warning signs are there. The scientific findings are published. The declarations, speeches, targets and solemn promises are present as well. And yet, the necessary action […]
Humanity faces major challenges. This is a well-known fact. We have pointed it out repeatedly in our last series “Why we need the Europeans of the Planet”, published on Friday, 2026-07-10. There is no need to repeat ourselves here again. Nor do we stand alone with our political demands. Admittedly, there is a distinct and […]
Dies ist das fünfte von fünf Kapiteln unserer Reihe „Warum wir die ‚Europäer für den Planeten‘ brauchen “, die jeden Freitag erscheint. Kapitel 4: „Das Ende des automatischen Fortschritts? – Warum immer mehr Menschen spüren, dass etwas nicht stimmt“, haben wir am letzten Freitag veröffentlicht. Wenn die auf den vorangegangenen Seiten dargelegte Diagnose im Großen […]
Dies ist Kapitel 4 von 5 unserer Reihe “Warum wir die ‘Europäer des Planeten’ brauchen”, die jeden Freitag erscheint. Kapitel 3: “Die Psychologie der Untätigkeit – warum wir nicht reagieren”, wurde letzten Freitag veröffentlicht. Während großer Teile der Neuzeit, insbesondere im industrialisierten Westen, wurde das Mantra von einen fortwährenden Fortschritt beinahe wie ein säkularer Glaubenssatz […]
This is chapter 3 of 5 of our series “Why we need the ‘ Europeans of the Planet’, published each Friday”. Chapter 2: “ Prosperity Amid Depletion — the paradox” was published last Friday. How do societies respond when confronted with threats that may unfold over decades rather than days? The answer is less encouraging […]
One of the great ironies of human history is that the period in which humanity has exerted the greatest pressure on the natural world has also been the period in which human well-being has improved most dramatically. When Thomas Hobbes [5] published Leviathan in 1651, life for most people was indeed precarious. Disease, famine, violence, […]
This is chapter 1 of 5 of our series “Why we need the ‘Europeans of the Planet’, published each Friday. Humanity’s demand on the biosphere currently exceeds the Earth’s capacity to regenerate many of the resources and ecological services upon which modern civilisation depends. According to the methodology of the Global Footprint Network, humanity is […]
Conscience, Expression, and the Secular State Figure 1. The inner forum may be absolute; the outer manifestation cannot be. I. Introduction: The Liberal Promise and Its Tension For John Stuart Mill, freedom of opinion was not an ornament of liberal society but one of its enabling conditions. In On Liberty, he formulated the principle with […]
On 13 April 2026, Beatrice Achterberg, an editor at the conservative publication NZZ Deutschland, titled her newsletter Der andere Blick am Morgen with the remark: “He moderates where he should decide, and lets things happen where he ought to lead – Merz is reminiscent of Angela Merkel.” Yes, we are being unfair to Friedrich Merz. Yet […]
A Political Thought Experiment for April 1st Taking advantage of the ambiguity that this date offers for all manner of news items, jokes and provocations, I would like to set out here a bold but logically compelling utopia. Hence this essay embraces a daring hypothesis, yet treats it with full seriousness: could Switzerland’s long experience […]
