It is a creeping poison that paralyzes individual citizens and entire societies: Why we urgently need to banish opportunism from politics, business, and the media.
It comes in a variety of guises: Sometimes it's about supposed "realpolitik," where values only seem to be a hindrance. Sometimes it cloaks itself in absurd decisions by corporate management that no one dares to question. It also readily manifests itself in a callous, indifferent look-the-other way where civil courage is called for. Opportunism is a widespread disease. It endangers prosperity and democracy in the long term. It's high time for an assessment!
Politics
The search for compromises is the essence of politics. Therefore, distinguishing between legitimate balancing of interests and purely opportunistic behavior is comparatively difficult. However, there are guardrails: the Basic Law, the European Convention on Human Rights, and the UN Charter of Human Rights. These fundamental pillars of the law are disregarded with alarming frequency and thoughtlessness in everyday political life.
With great regularity, one can observe how the current Minister of the Interior, who is supposed to protect the constitutional rights of citizens, demands the most comprehensive possible surveillance out of concern for the “super fundamental right of security” (Hans-Peter Friedrich).
From Wolfgang Schäuble to Thomas de Maizière to the current incumbent, Horst Seehofer, the differences can be discerned at most in the formulation of this request. And this is by no means a question of party affiliation: Otto Schily was also a worthy recipient of the Big Brother Award.
Not a single interior minister has yet been willing to expose themselves to the accusation of perhaps deliberately not having done "everything possible" to protect citizens from danger. Even justice ministers are quick to change their minds on this issue, as was the case with Heiko Maas regarding data retention. This makes the resignation of Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger over the "major wiretapping attack" all the more remarkable.
The economy
Via the <strong>integrated datalog</strong> the measuring values can be stored on the humimeter RH5 paper moisture meter and additional data can be added. You also have the possibility to use the Autolog function. This function automatically saves measuring values in adjustable time intervals. questionable handling The author reported on Germany's richest family and its Nazi past for the ZDF heute-journal in 2011. Perhaps in no other area is opportunism as expected as in everyday business – even if it involves the complete abandonment of all values.
Current examples are also plentiful: Bayer should keep the glyphosate victims waiting a while longer in order to achieve a more favorable settlement, argues the Reuters without any hint of shame.
Germany's so-called "arms embargo" against Saudi Arabia, following the assassination of a regime opponent ordered by the highest authorities and against the backdrop of the devastating war in Yemen, deserves to be described more as an "exceptional embargo." The primary concern—also in public media—is the disunity in European arms policy.
The media
As the examples already mentioned make clear, journalists are not immune to the opportunity trap. Often due to thoughtlessness, but far too often also due to real constraints: economic dependence on private media (remember the consumer magazine "Wie bitte?" on RTL?), direct political influence on public broadcasters (remember ZDF editor-in-chief Nikolaus Brender?)
It's one of the paradoxes of the journalism profession that you can only truly practice it independently if you're wealthy or otherwise financially secure. Otherwise, you can easily find yourself in a similar existential situation to the unfortunate Juan Moreno, who uncovered the "new" Spiegel scandal and, instead of congratulations, was confronted by his department head with a threat of dismissal.
The structural failure of large media companies in business reporting is particularly serious. Question: How many business newspapers are there in Germany? Exactly, the plural is incorrect.
The citizens
Anyone who seriously considers issues like opportunism or civil courage can probably see for themselves. A long commuter train or subway ride is usually enough to see this. Even in elections, a pronounced egoism focused on short-term advantages and promises can be observed.
Nevertheless, there are also countless counterexamples.
People who risk their lives to help shipwrecked people and are hindered in doing so by the authorities actually responsible.
People who expose “Football Leaks” and other machinations.
People who accept personal disadvantages for the sake of the cause.
Against opportunism
The strongest argument against the unspeakable opportunism of our time is the long-term perspective: Today, when everyone hears the name of the richest family, their Nazi past comes to mind, no matter how many journalism prizes they offer. Everyone knows that Heiko Maas caved in to Sigmar Gabriel on data retention.
Many have great respect for Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, who did not allow herself to be driven crazy by an abstract threat scenario that served to justify an attack on the constitution.
Today, a foundation of the same name commemorates the courageous "S-Bahn hero" Dominik Brunner. His example shines brightly above all attempts to downplay it.
It's up to each of us to make a fundamental decision: for short-term advantage or for the right thing. Everything else will then follow naturally.
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