Markus Lanz (ZDF): What is left of the American dream?

Shortly before the anniversary of the storm on the Capitol, Markus Lanz spoke to foreign policy experts about the state of the USA in the first ZDF talk of the year. The TV review.

Hamburg – The American dream was never as rosy as it has often been described, certainly not for people who did not meet the norm. Annika Brockschmidt, historian and author of the influential book “America’s Warriors of God: How the Religious Right Endangers Democracy”, emphasized in Markus Lanz on ZDF that the American dream was mostly only a realistic possibility for white Americans and for many years also for men, to free oneself from poverty and to live the much invoked from rags to riches. As a black, non-heterosexual person, on the other hand, the situation is clearly different.

That this is slowly changing is already too much for many white Americans who fear being ousted by minorities. Some of them made their way to Washington DC on January 6, 2021. But among them were not only fanatics and racists, as Brockschmidt explained. Many elderly Americans were among the protesters, people who could afford a trip to the capital and had time to show their displeasure.

Markus Lanz (ZDF): USA experience “Dawn of Democracy”

This was a consequence of the increasing polarization, said Brockschmidt, the two camps – Democrats and Republicans – have developed increasingly from the center to the fringes in recent years, which makes constructive discussions and an agreement on compromises increasingly difficult. “The USA is experiencing a twilight of democracy and the turning towards an authoritarian state,” fears the historian.

Sigmar Gabriel, former Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor, also expressed skepticism to Markus Lanz on ZDF about the state of American democracy and society. “For decades there has been growing dissatisfaction with the way the country is governed,” said Gabriel, the impression that there is hardly any chance of rising above one’s origins creates a feeling of helplessness that is increasingly radical expresses. “A decade full of foreign policy unreasonable” is ahead of Europe and thus also Germany, said Gabriel, a rethink is necessary, perhaps also the realization that the USA can no longer be the model of the West, at least for the moment.

Markus Lanz (ZDF): Division of the USA is growing due to Corona

Johannes Hano, journalist and New York correspondent for ZDF, is observing the situation on site, albeit from one of the coasts that is anything but representative of the country. There are still many immigrants living in New York who believe in the American dream, who work hard under circumstances that are often difficult to imagine for Europeans, but that is only one aspect of the USA. “The division of the country has become even greater as a result of Corona. Who is for and who is against vaccination runs clearly along the party lines, ”said Hano at Markus Lanz on ZDF.

Is that why American democracy is at risk? While Johannes Hano believes in the country’s self-healing powers, Annika Brockschmidt was more skeptical. The gap between rich and poor is growing ever greater, in San Francisco people with an annual income of just over 100,000 US dollars are already considered close to poverty, an insane development that also increases with the excesses of corporations such as Facebook, Google and Apple has to do.

Sigmar Gabriel showed hope with Markus Lanz on ZDF that Joe Biden can change something in the neoliberal course of the last few decades, but the old man is running out of time: At the beginning of November, the so-called midterm elections are due, in which the Democrats in all probability have a majority will lose in the Senate and House of Representatives and with it the at least theoretical possibility of getting legislative packages through. It is written in the stars where the path of American democracy will go. However, they no longer shine too brightly. (Michael Meyns)