In the setting of Brecht’s “The Threepenny Opera,” Robert Habeck stood to conduct a political conversation beyond show—in a somewhat different role, as he said. It was the opening event of his series “Habeck live” at the Brecht Theatre “Berliner Ensemble”.
The conversation should, as the former vice chancellor repeatedly pointed out, explore the systemic causes underlying the problems of liberal-democratic contemporary politics, and to address the cascading crisis developments productively. But that is a level that the system of the media society finds hard to reach, because it does not satisfy its habits and needs (Who is to blame, who is stupid, who is offended?).
Correspondingly, most journalistic reflections on the event seem off-topic, which only confirms the suspicion that political failure is linked to media failure. Habeck’s guests, former ARD talk-show host Anne Will and the long-time FDP top politician and traffic-light coalition transport minister Volker Wissing, also had difficulty delivering the depth of conversation sought on a large scale.
Absurdities of Party Politics
Nevertheless, it was a conversation of high quality that not only analyzed the deficits of the usual talk shows but also delivered the claimed qualitative advantages of podcasts themselves.
In particular, Wissing is likely to have left an impression on the audience because he described the media-fostered absurdities of party politics, using the government formed by the SPD, Greens and FDP as an example.
Broadly speaking, the prevailing culture of the compulsion to differentiate prevents focusing on solving problems, and leads to the coalition parties seeking visibility through a contrived detail dispute. Just as in talk shows politics is reduced to a punchline and the stroking of one’s own tribe, so in the media society the dividing detail is systematically emphasized.
Those hoping that the Ampel protagonists would admit how bad they were were disappointed this Sunday. In light of the rapid decline in popularity of the new government and the new chancellor, I believe it is more important to address the fundamental political, media, and societal structural and cultural deficits that underpin the failure of the Ampel and will confront the current government.
