German society is addicted. Addicted to a poison called reason, but which means paralysis.
We have replaced political debate with a stifling consensus and call it stability. We have made ourselves comfortable in the comfort of the status quo. But this comfort is the breeding ground for collapse.
A reckoning!
The greatest danger to an open society does not always come roaring from the fringes. Sometimes it creeps in quietly from the centre. It does not call itself dictatorship, but ‘pragmatism’. It does not wear a uniform, but the suit of the ‘expert’ – those who know me know that I prefer professionals and view experts with a critical eye. Its tool is not prohibition, but consensus. This analysis is an indictment of the tyranny of the moderate – a tyranny that, under the guise of reason, stifles opinions and muzzles our society while sleepwalking towards the abyss.
Dangerous cosiness: why the political centre is the greatest threat to progress.
Have you ever wondered why everything in Germany so often feels like a warm but slightly musty rehash of yesterday?
The answer lies in the seductive appeal of the political centre. It is our national comfort zone, a soft-washed space where stability is everything and no one should be hurt. This desire for harmony is understandable. It is human. But in a world that is burning, it has become a deadly trap.
Real progress is never comfortable. It is disruptive, it challenges privileges, it forces us to give up cherished habits. But the centre hates disruption. It wants to keep things running, not reinvent the machine. Every bold idea – whether for climate protection, social justice or a future-proof economy – is therefore treated not as an opportunity, but as a disruptive factor.
The result is a politics of eternal compromise. But this compromise is not a sign of strength; it is a political anaesthetic. It briefly alleviates the pain, but does not cure the disease. Solutions are agreed upon that are so half-hearted that they do not really bother anyone, but above all ensure that nothing changes at the core. This complacency is a loan we are taking out on the future. And the interest rates are murderous.
Reasonable to the point of ruin: A reckoning with the pragmatism of the middle ground.
How does the middle ground justify this dangerous inertia to itself and to us?
With a single, powerful weapon: the word ‘reason’.
But what if this reason is a lie?
In the language of the centre, the term has been perverted. ‘Reasonable’ is no longer what is scientifically necessary or morally right, but what does not jeopardise the economy, does not cost the next election and does not scare away one's own clientele.
The scientifically proven necessity to radically change our way of life in order to save the planet?
‘Ideological zeal.’
The call for a fairer distribution of wealth?
‘Envy debate.’
The little, cowardly brother of reason is called ‘pragmatism.’
‘We must remain pragmatic’ is the phrase that nips every vision in the bud. It is a code word for intellectual surrender.
Imagine a company boss telling his shareholders that, out of pragmatism, he would refrain from any innovation and continue to run the company until it went bankrupt. He would be chased out of his office. In politics, however, we celebrate exactly that as statesmanlike wisdom. The crowning glory of this self-disempowerment is the claim that there is ‘no alternative’ to one's own course. In doing so, the centre degrades citizens from sovereigns who determine the direction to frightened passengers to whom the pilot explains why the crash is unfortunately inevitable.
Those who fear the fringes must criticise the centre.
And while the centre celebrates itself for its level-headed lack of alternatives, it looks fearfully at the ‘fringes,’ which are supposedly growing stronger. This is the greatest hypocrisy of our time. Because these fringes did not fall from the sky. They are the home-grown product of an arrogant and ignorant centre. By crowding into a tiny corridor of what is defined as ‘decent’, all the established parties are simply leaving huge swathes of public opinion lying fallow.
The fear of decline among skilled workers, the concern about pre-cultural loss of identity, the anger about politics perceived as unjust – none of this finds a home in the smooth, academic language of the centre.
It is ignored, dismissed as ‘complex’ or morally condemned.
And into this vacuum rush the pied pipers. The AfD is not the cause of the division, it is its thermometer. And these pied pipers are not only called Weidel, Chrupalla or Gauland, a remnant of the Third Reich, but also Spahn, Linnemann, Ludwig, Klöckner, Söder, Dobrindt, and yes, Merz too.
It is a symptom that indicates that the political body is suffering from chronic inflammation of non-representation.
At the same time, any legitimate protest that goes beyond a hand-painted sign is used to link it to extremism with the help of the horseshoe theory. Through its ignorance, the centre is creating the very demons it then warns us about with a trembling voice.
The tyranny of the centre: how Germany's obsession with consensus is eating away at our future.
Let's summarise.
The tyranny of the centre is not one of tanks, but of expectations.
It is an invisible web of pressure to conform, media framing and careerism.
Those who step out of line are not arrested, but branded as ‘difficult’, “polarising” or ‘untrustworthy’. It is a gentle muzzle that is ultimately just as effective as one made of steel. It ensures that those who conform rise to the top and the courageous remain on the sidelines.
This state of affairs is not a harmless quirk; it is eating away at our future. It stifles innovation because real change is always uncomfortable. It erodes democracy because citizens feel that their votes make no difference anyway.
And it destroys our social resilience because, in our consensus-driven world, we are losing the ability to argue – the very skill that a democracy needs most in times of crisis.
The charge is therefore as follows:
In its addiction to tranquillity, the German centre has created a climate of stagnation. The price for this tranquillity is the future. And the bill is long overdue.
Let's break out of our comfort zone. Let's dare to argue. Let's be unreasonable where reason leads to ruin. Salvation from collapse does not lie in the middle, but in the courage to take a clear stand. Break the tyranny of the middle ground!
