Battle of the World Views

in German published 2018-08

Are the do-gooders winning the fight?

There was a struggle between the Catholic world view and the Protestant world view in the 16th and 17th centuries.

        And in the 19th century, the ideologies of socialism and communism emerged. Marx launched the class struggle.

The left and right world views are still in a fight today. The question is what world view is better for the country, the economy and all sections of the population.

In the second half of the 20th century the gap between the workers and the factory owners become increasingly smaller. There are more and more small businesses, and the workers are decreasingly unskilled and have more demanding jobs. Are there still clashes between the left and the right?

There are more and more intellectuals in the social-democratic parties. The classical left-right conflicts are losing their importance.

The new arguments are taking place between do-gooders, realists and populists.

                    Catholics ----- Protestants

                              Left ----- Right

              Do-gooders --- Realists --- Populists

Populists exist on the left and right.

The term “Realists” is also difficult to grasp. It could be equated with the concept of a “rational person”. For the left, the term “do-gooder” is a sarcastic, hateful or contemptuous denigration of individuals or groups.
In social media, the do-gooders resist the use of this term, but I have not been able to find a less negative synonym. Maybe “predominantly emotionally driven people”?

I described the negative influences of do-gooders on the development aid, foreign policy (e.g. the bloody attempt to remove Assad) and on family planning in my post “The Problem with Do-gooders” from March 12, 2018. But the influence of do-gooders is also precarious when it comes to the refugee problem. No one has a miraculous solution here, but Chancellor Merkel's “Welcome Culture” is certainly a prime example of the negative influence of do-gooders in politics. 

The introduction of the euro was also shaped by do-gooder thinking. No sincere person can claim that the introduction of the euro happened at the right time and to the right extent. The realists would certainly not have agreed to the introduction of the euro, nor would the populists. But the European economy would probably not thrive any better with the far-right populists.

Do the do-gooders have a do-gooder ideology? I think so, and like all ideologues it is hard for do-gooders to admit mistakes. The do-gooders still won’t admit that the introduction of the euro was a mistake. And they won't admit that they recently held the view that peace with Assad wasn't possible.

The more influence do-gooders have, the stronger the populists become! The repeated moralizing admonitions of the do-gooders drive people into the arms of the populists. You good people should just imagine constantly listening to the pious sayings of missionary Christians.

We need good people, but not do-gooders!

What world view do you have? Comments are very welcome.