The new virtue terror

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Thilo Sarrazin at the Leipzig Book Fair (2014)

The new virtue terror. About the limits of freedom of expression in Germany is a media-critical non - fiction book with autobiographical features published in 2014 by bestselling author Thilo Sarrazin at Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt . It is about the left-liberal “opinion conformity” perceived by the author in the media in Germany. Sarrazin set up “14 axioms of the delusion of virtue in Germany today”. The book was on February 24, on the show day, in almost every feature articles added more negative the German national print media, the Bild newspaper did, however, positive connotations preprints. The book reached number one on the Spiegel bestseller list in March.

prehistory

According to the social scientist Alexander Häusler from the research focus right-wing / neo-Nazism of the FH Dusseldorf can Tagesspiegel -Article The politically correct Germany (2012) of the conservative publicist Alexander Gauland , the Sarrazin later reference also takes as a template for the book The new virtue Terror (2014 ) to be read. In it Gauland argues that “positions that deviate from the mainstream [increasingly] would be forced morally out of their way”.

content

Sarrazin's book is divided into six chapters and an additional conclusion ("Ideology, Reality and Social Future"). In the first chapter he describes freedom of expression and its limits. So he also goes into the concept of political correctness . In the second chapter he uses a case study to explain how he came into conflict with freedom of expression. The third chapter is devoted to the elements of freedom of expression with explanations and a. on the philosophers Niccolò Machiavelli and Alexis de Tocqueville . In addition, he is dedicated to the adaptation of people in a society ("The New Behavioral Economics "). The fourth chapter deals with the language of “virtue terror”, including gender-equitable language . The fifth chapter is followed by a historical outline of “virtue terror” from Christianization to the present day and an excursus on “morality and certainty”.

In the sixth chapter he then presents his core messages in "14 axioms of the madness of virtue in Germany today":

  1. Inequality is bad, equality is good.
  2. Secondary virtues are not important, competitive performance is questionable.
  3. Anyone who is rich should feel guilty.
  4. Differences in personal living conditions are mostly due to the circumstances, hardly to the people.
  5. Human abilities depend almost exclusively on education and upbringing .
  6. Peoples and ethnic groups have no differences that go beyond purely physical appearance.
  7. All cultures are equal, especially the values ​​and ways of life of the Christian West and the western industrialized countries deserve no special preference.
  8. The Islam is a culture of peace. He enriches Germany and Europe .
  9. Western industrialized countries bear the main responsibility for poverty and backwardness in other parts of the world .
  10. Men and women have no innate differences except for their physical sex characteristics.
  11. The classic family image has outlived itself. Children don't need a father and mother.
  12. The nation-state has survived. The future belongs to global society .
  13. All people in the world not only have the same rights, they are also the same, and they should actually all have a right to the basic security of the German welfare state .
  14. Children are a private matter; immigration solves all major demographic problems .

reporting

Preprints of Sarrazin's book were published by the Bild newspaper . In mid / end of February 2014 five preliminary reviews were published, including a. by Helmut Schümann in the Tagesspiegel , by Joachim Mischke in the Hamburger Abendblatt and by Jan Fleischhauer on SPON . On the day of publication (February 24) with a first edition of 100,000 copies and the introduction, with introductory words by communication scientist Hans Mathias Kepplinger , in front of numerous journalists in the building of the Federal Press Conference in Berlin, Sarrazin's book received almost unanimous negative reviews in the German media.

He then gave interviews to several newspapers / magazines (including the Wirtschaftswoche ) and radio companies (including n-tv , Deutschlandfunk and MDR ). The media Cosmo TV , Kulturzeit , quer etc. reported. He held disputes with the journalists Jakob Augstein from Friday ( Peter Hahne ) and Daniel Bax from the taz (Das Duell). He also appeared at the Austrian Talk from Hangar-7 . At individual talk shows, e.g. B. People at Maischberger (ARD), however, he was unloaded again.

Sarrazin first presented his book at numerous author readings in Germany. a. at the Leipzig Book Fair . When it was first published , Spiegel listed the book at number four on its bestseller list for non-fiction books. In March it was number one for two weeks. When he wanted to present his book at a panel discussion for the magazine Cicero in the Berliner Ensemble in March , there was a scandal caused by demonstrators who prevented the opportunity to exchange views with shouting, mobbing, whistles and fights. In May he presented his book in Austria at the invitation of the FPÖ Educational Institute and the Liberal Club. In September 2014, a presentation followed at an AfD event in the presence of Armin-Paul Hampel .

Reception by scientists

Hans Mathias Kepplinger from the Institute for Journalism at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz summed up despite isolated criticism: "The decisive question will be whether the media will keep quiet or take up his - Sarrazins - examples, or whether they will discuss them thoughtfully or discredit the author". Potsdamer economic philosopher Gerd Habermann , who is also chairman of the Friedrich August von Hayek Foundation is, on the one hand recognized liberal trains and described the author as "anti- egalitarian [n] journalist [s]".

In the journal Enlightenment & Criticism , however, the social philosopher Johannes Heinrichs noted : “I remain in doubt whether Sarrazin's central diagnosis of ideologically uniform equality thinking is fully correct (and is not the result of his neoliberal view) - or whether the devaluation of thinking in general and emotional followers Causes for the fear of opinion are. Whereby the question arises of the deterioration of the social discussion, including the communication of values, due to the failure to differentiate between argumentative and emotional components. "

On the platform Endstation Rechts , extremism researcher Armin Pfahl-Traughber spoke of straw man arguments and manipulation techniques on the part of Sarrazin. The Bonn political scientist Frank Decker from the Institute for Political Science and Sociology considered him to be an “extreme example” of a European right-wing populist . The Osnabrück migration researcher Klaus Jürgen Bade became clearer and attested Sarrazin in a specially prepared MiGAZIN analysis " cultural racism " and a " neo-conservative social philosophy". He described him as an "alleged taboo breaker ".

The media scientist Bernhard Pörksen from Tübingen sees the book as a sign of the “currently rampant media disaffection”.

The extremism researchers Uwe Backes , Alexander Gallus and Eckhard Jesse commented: "Many of his pointedly formulated Monita are not made out of thin air".

Reception in the print media

Germany

The journalist David Hugendick from the weekly newspaper Die Zeit spoke of a “narcissistic insult” and stated: “Thilo Sarrazin knows the limits of freedom of expression very well”. He considers it to be the "history of the reception of the so-called Sarrazin debate, from which its author has now derived a new diagnosis". The quality of the book is "Basis Nietzsche and Volkshochschul Freud ". Hugendick denied the "extermination" of Sarrazin and held against him: "bestseller list as a plebiscite against do-gooders ".

In the FAZ it was said by Jürgen Kaube : “It is not the legal dispute that could clarify whether he has been deprived of his freedom of expression, and it is not science, even if he pretends to be. It is the rhetorical battle of opinions in which anti-rhetoric is also rhetoric. The old sociological insight that quarreling makes those quarreling alike is also demonstrated in Thilo Sarrazin. He imitates what he attacks and summarizes some statements of the society in which we live "pointedly" "

Johann Osel from the Süddeutsche Zeitung commented: “Sarrazin is far removed from the regular table clumsiness, a lot is nicely packaged in technical language and garnished with all sorts of figures. He composed his arguments meticulously and the book was written with a cool head. But also with a cold heart. ”He went on to write:“ Sarrazin [...] puts people in corsets, which they should wear for life. Behind this is the worldview he likes to play with: from the time of the burning of witches . According to the book, anyone who criticizes this is practicing virtue terror. The author praises himself in the afterword: as a 'discussion veteran'. "

The world headlined “The pedant Thilo Sarrazin abolishes himself” and wrote: “His enormous presence in the media in recent years, a logical contradiction to the established silence.” He also carried his education “here ( sic ), sometimes but the self-proclaimed pedant Sarrazin does not live up to his own demands. "

The column by Jakob Augstein , who is also the editor of the weekly newspaper Der Freitag , opened with Spiegel : “Bad spirit of social coldness” and concluded with “He [Thilo Sarrazin] is working on the foundation of a new national-conservative ideology. Against women , homosexuals , Muslims , migrants and the left : Sarrazin closes the argumentative supply gap that opens up among the resentful petty bourgeoisie . It paves the way for thoughts and figures of argumentation into the middle of society, which have recently squeezed around on the far right. Thilo Sarrazin is the mastermind of a reactionary renaissance. "

The domestic editor Daniel Bax from the taz said: “Thilo Sarrazin has written another book. But there is not really anything new in it. Rather, it is an attempt to make new capital out of an old success story. "And" For Sarrazin, freedom of expression is above all his freedom to rise above others without being criticized for it. "

In the Cicero , Alexander Marguier , it was said: “All this, dear comrades, is once again no reason to have to believe that Thilo Sarrazin should be excluded from the SPD . After reading his neo-conservative agenda in chapter six (“Fourteen axioms of the madness of virtue in Germany today”), one wonders why Sarrazin did not leave this party of his own accord long ago. Perhaps because it can be provoked more effectively in the media with the appropriate party membership? "

The Wirtschaftswoche with their authors Tim Rahmann and Roland Tichy reviewed on: "In the desire to polarize and to justify his initial thesis, Sarrazin shoots out over the target. The question of how freedom of expression is restricted, a 'voluntary synchronization' (as Evelyn Roll said years ago in the Süddeutsche Zeitung) in an otherwise so liberal society that picks up on any censorship, he answers only fragmentarily and argues over long stretches of self-reference . But without a doubt: The debate is necessary - and it is beginning to create space. "

Walter Bau ( WAZ ) stated that “not every thought in Sarrazin's book is absurd”, but one could also denounce the “kind of arrogance and self-styling” that Sarrazin cultivates. After he had "argued" about an alleged "Jewish gene" in his first book, he "dared to make sticky comparisons again"; he considers the term “ negro ” to be a “completely neutral term”. Furthermore, “you can hardly be wrong”. Sarrazin apparently escaped the fact that terms are also shaped by the way "how they are used by whom".

Austria and Switzerland

Anne-Catherine Simon commented in the daily Die Presse : “The book brings all these findings, which are not new at all, clearly, calmly and somewhat pedantically. It is stimulating popular literature [...] ”. And further, one can “often discuss hasty conclusions and insufficient evidence. However, they are not common practice in such strictly scientific publications, but are gladly ignored as long as they support the prevailing opinion. "

The reviewer Birgit Baumann summed up in the Austrian standard : “The controversial SPD politician and ex-federal banker Thilo Sarrazin presents a new book. In it he complains about left wing virtue terror in Germany. Nobody wants to see the truth about Muslims or women. And that he himself is always right, of course not ”.

In the Austrian weekly newspaper Falter , the art critic Matthias Dusini noted : “Sarrazin has once again proven that he does not allow his heart to be softened by affectionate integration officers and caring transgender advisers. Nevertheless, after reading this book, one can give the all-clear. For the time being, rather unconsciously, this difficult Teuton demonstrates his willingness to integrate. "

The publicist Gerd Habermann came to the following conclusion in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung and in peculiarly free in the “Commentary from Berlin” for the family entrepreneurs (ASU): “Sarrazin's book [is] another precise and sober liberal contribution to a confusing debate is only just beginning, but urgently needs to be led by the liberal side. The book is a treasure trove of clever arguments and analysis and astonishing intellectual courage. "

expenditure

Audio book

In 2014 the book was also published as a phonogram by audio media Verlag in Munich. The box contains a total of eleven CDs with thirteen hours. The Munich actor and voice actor Michael Schwarzmaier took on the role of speaker ; the director was the chief editor of the audio media publishing house Annegret Augustin .

Others

After controversial statements by Andreas Mölzer and - under pressure from the party leadership - the renunciation of the FPÖ's top candidacy in the 2014 European elections, the headline of an April edition of the weekly newspaper Zur Zeit, co-edited by Mölzer : "Virtue terror - who is next?" This was sometimes interpreted in the Austrian press as an allusion to Sarrazin's book.

The Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg, Winfried Kretschmann , picked up the word virtue terror with reference to the French Revolution and said: “I am a very strict opponent of this Jacobinism . Virtue terror does not lead to anything good. "

Web links

Interviews

Reviews

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Alexander Häusler , Rainer Roeser: The right ›courage‹ citizens. Origin, development, personnel and positions of the »Alternative for Germany« . VSA, Hamburg 2015, ISBN 978-3-89965-640-4 , p. 52 ff.
  2. ↑ Helmut Schümann: The drawer of dangerous nonsense . In: Der Tagesspiegel , No. 21951, February 7, 2014, p. 1.
  3. ↑ Joachim Mischke: Back to the author unread . In: Hamburger Abendblatt , February 8, 2014, No. 33, p. 25.
  4. ↑ Jan Fleischhauer: SPON - The Black Channel: The fairy tale of the poor victim Sarrazin . on: SPON February 13, 2014.
  5. ↑ Lenz Jacobsen: Sarrazin's therapy session . on: Zeit Online , February 24, 2014, No. 9.
  6. ↑ SPIEGEL bestseller list: Thilo Sarrazin's “Virtue Terror” in fourth place. A victim that sells well . on: buchreport.de , February 24, 2014.
  7. ↑ Bestseller: Non-fiction books . In: Der Spiegel , 11th edition, March 11, 2014, p. 125.
  8. ↑ Bestseller: Non-fiction books . In: Der Spiegel , 12th edition, March 17, 2014, p. 129.
  9. ↑ Alexander Marguier: Demonstration against Sarrazin. How to ruin democracy . In: Cicero , March 3, 2014.
  10. ↑ Carina Kerschbaumer: “An exotic from the Piefkeland” (interview). In: Kleine Zeitung , May 12, 2014, p. 11.
  11. ↑ Dr. Thilo Sarrazin: The New Virtue Terror , FPÖ Educational Institute, accessed on October 26, 2014.
  12. ^ Bernhard Honnigfort: Gladly elsewhere . In: Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger , September 24, 2014.
  13. ↑ Eva Prase: The Critic of the Critic . In: Freie Presse , February 25, 2014, p. 1.
  14. ^ A b Gerd Habermann: Thilo Sarrazin: «Tugendterror». The religion of equality . In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung , March 5, 2014, No. 53, p. 28.
  15. ↑ Johannes Heinrichs: The current review . In: Enlightenment & Criticism 21 (2014) 1.
  16. ↑ Armin Pfahl-Traughber: Millions-bestselling author as a victim of a lack of freedom of expression? . on: Right end of the line , February 27, 2014.
  17. ^ Matthias Hanselmann : Right-wing populism. “Sarrazin wants to touch taboos that are not really taboos” (interview with Frank Decker). on: Deutschlandradio Kultur , February 28, 2014.
  18. ↑ Klaus J. Bade: The world is unjust - and that's a good thing! . In: MiGAZIN . Berlin 2014, pp. 2, 4.
  19. ↑ Joachim Huber: "Everyone finds a platform for exclusive madness" (Interview with Bernhard Pörksen ). In: Der Tagesspiegel , No. 22284, January 15, 2015, p. 26.
  20. ^ Uwe Backes , Alexander Gallus , Eckhard Jesse : Annotated Bibliography . In the S. (Ed.): Yearbook Extremism & Democracy , Volume 27 (2015), Nomos, Baden-Baden 2015, ISBN 978-3-8487-2522-9 , pp. 445–475, here: p. 469.
  21. ↑ David Hugendick: Thilo Sarrazin. He now again . on: Zeit Online , February 24, 2014, No. 9.
  22. ↑ Jürgen Kaube: Thilo Sarrazin's “Virtue Terror”. The inequality apostle . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , February 24, 2014.
  23. ↑ Johann Osel: With a cool head and a cold heart . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , Munich edition, February 25, 2014, p. 17.
  24. ^ Daniel Friedrich Sturm: Sarrazin writes about Sarrazin . In: Die Welt , February 25, 2014, No. 47, p. 5.
  25. ↑ Jakob Augstein: SPON - When in doubt, left: Evil spirit of social cold . on: SPON , February 24, 2004.
  26. ↑ Daniel Bax: Now with even more taboos! . In: the daily newspaper , February 24, 2014, p. 17.
  27. ↑ Alexander Marguier: Thilo Sarrazin. From the eternal victim of virtue terror . In: Cicero , February 24, 2014.
  28. ↑ Tim Rahmann, Roland Tichy: "Book about freedom of opinion". Sarrazin writes in a rage . on: WirtschaftsWoche Online , February 24, 2014.
  29. ↑ Walter Bau: Thilo Sarrazin cultivates his arrogance with “The New Virtue Terror”. www.derwesten.de, February 24, 2014
  30. ↑ Anne-Catherine Simon: Sarrazin writes about "virtue terror" - and is often right . In: Die Presse , February 25, 2014, p. 25.
  31. ↑ Birgit Baumann: Sarrazin is now fighting "virtue terror" . In: Der Standard , February 25, 2014, p. 5.
  32. ↑ Matthias Dusini: The Confessions of a Secondary Youth Guard (review). In: Falter , 12/2014, March 19, 2014, p. 20.
  33. ↑ Gerd Habermann: Review: Thilo Sarrazin: The new virtue terror . In: strangely free , March 24, 2014.
  34. ↑ Strache and the "virtue terror": Mölzer's gentle reckoning . on: DiePresse.com , April 15, 2014.
  35. ↑ Quoted from: "Virtue terror leads to nothing good". In: Die Welt , August 2, 2020.