0 50jahre 1 Wind 2 Morgen 3 Sim 4 Und da 5 Komplexe 6 Lügen 7 Deppen 8 Rand 9 Links 10_Schwer 11_Gast 1 “Private Number”: A withheld phone number—which I generally don’t answer—has been labeled “private” for some time now. That’s interesting, because it implies that it’s an individual. Most of the time, that’s a lie. And the opposite of “private” would actually be “business,” which is just as wrong, because private individuals who don’t hide their phone numbers aren’t necessarily in business. It’s all nonsense. And a very regrettable symptom of the dishonest communication that has taken hold. Insolence and impudence are transformed and disguised as rhetorical subtleties. It remains what it is in substance.

2 “Trump”: I thought long and hard about where to put him. With his constant repetition of the same old falsehoods, he has clearly earned his place here. The crux of the matter is that it’s not about him at all. That there are people who are so foolish and megalomaniacal—the condition isn’t called “grandiosity”—and, mhm, unfortunately predominantly among men—is nothing new, at least not since Nero. Instead, it’s about the American people. This model of democracy, which has served us all for so long, has failed miserably. There’s also no question that we’ll be rid of this storyteller (how wonderful that often tilted head and that rising-and-falling chant) in the not-too-distant future, but the important question is: What will have changed after the Orange Man, what exactly will have been destroyed, that it will take decades to rebuild. At the moment, the consequences are not yet foreseeable; it even seems possible that China and Russia will divide the globe between themselves. At present, I do not believe it is possible for Europe to speak with one voice and act in unison—as would be necessary. And that may well be the tipping point that determines which way the whole situation will go. For many, there is good news: Climate change will be a secondary issue for a long time to come.

The Day After: The world held its breath. And what actually happened was what some had expected—though not most: Once again, it was all about the show. Regardless of the fact that we are very happy that the Iranian people still have a chance, and regardless of the fact that it is actually possible that the U.S. may have overreached, it is once again the case that this idiotic behavior and these bellicose, inhumane, delusional speeches are succeeding. Perhaps this is because the parties here are similarly inclined. What remains is the relief that a catastrophic escalation has once again been averted.