Special assets or just debts?
Today I was a bit lazy again. I flicked through Zeit magazine and got stuck on a headline by Harald Martenstein: “What special assets and eggplant farts have in common.” I started reading, but I quickly lost my motivation. The beautiful new favorite word in politics was too present for me: special assets.
Words that are meant to deceive
A lot could be written about politically motivated terms. If the aim really was to use clear and understandable language, it would be: debt financing. It sounds less nice, but it hits the nail on the head: it's about debt. And debt is currently very much in vogue. Admittedly, politicians have always been good at being generous with other people's money. But what we are currently experiencing is beyond imagination: running up debts like there's no tomorrow. So let's remove the framing word “special assets” from our vocabulary. Let's call it what it is: debt. The mountain of debt is growing - for all of us. Thanks to the politicians.
Who is responsible?
My debt? Your debt? Our fault? Whose fault is it really? Certainly also that of future generations. Even those who are still floating somewhere in the ether will be happy if they are already mired in debt when they are born. Because where there is debt, there are also creditors. We rarely know them personally, but they do exist. They are not anonymous institutions - they are people. People with faces, with interests, perhaps even with souls. And they don't live on air, love or hope. They demand repayment. Over decades. Over generations. That's how the system works. And not just since yesterday.
Debt wherever you look
Debt is incurred unscrupulously - as if there were no longer any moral compass. A political elite is saddling our descendants with debts on a historic scale - for projects that often have no sustainability. We finance wars. We are still providing development aid to China - madness to the power of ten. We are building cycle paths in Peru, while in Germany entire areas are on the road at GDR level (I was on the island of Rügen last year, I know what I'm talking about). Instead of promoting infrastructure, education and security, we are leaving behind a dilapidated country - with broken roads, decaying schools and a pile of special assets. Sorry. Debt.
The real wealth: education
Wouldn't it make more sense to leave our descendants real wealth? One that lasts? Education would be such a legacy. An education system worthy of the name. Because education creates security, prosperity, humanity - and a future. Of course, education also includes the moral dimension: What kind of people do we want to be? And what kind of society do we want to leave behind?
Instead, we leave behind... Debt.
When politics fails - we take over
If the political class is unwilling or unable to fulfill its responsibilities, then we take over. The task of educating. To educate. To remind.
“Those who know nothing must believe everything.”
- Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (1830-1916)
I once read this sentence on a banner at a Protestant church in the Rhineland on the day I started school. It made me smile. Not anymore. Today the sentence is like a wake-up call.
Kant already knew it in 1784
Immanuel Kant wrote his famous essay in 1784: “Answering the question: What is enlightenment?” In it, he formulated a guiding principle that is still valid today:
“Enlightenment is the exit of man from his self-inflicted immaturity.”
According to Kant, immaturity means the inability to use one's own intellect without the guidance of another. And it is self-inflicted if it arises not from a lack of intelligence, but from a lack of courage.
His appeal:
“Have courage to use your own mind!”
- or as he says in Latin: Sapere aude!
Language shapes thoughts
Kant also speaks of guilt. Of self-inflicted immaturity. And he speaks of the courage to free oneself from it - through thinking, education, language. Because language is power. It can clarify or conceal. Those who understand language recognize manipulation. Whoever masters the word shapes the thought. And those who control language will eventually control thought itself.
A final suggestion
When you hear the word “special assets” - on TV, on the radio, in a speech - do the following: Cross it out in your head. Say out loud what it means: debt.
Because at this very moment:
Sapere aude!
S. Noir
The link to the original German text: https://www.ganjingworld.com/s/zQXzy4bXw6