Symbolic politics and questions that aim at trivialities. In the case of “Markus Lanz” (ZDF), the topic of the program remained unclear.
Hamburg – empty of content and shameful. This is how the former Federal Minister of the Interior Gerhart Baum (FDP) describes this year’s election campaign for the 2021 federal election in the current broadcast (07.09.2021) by Markus Lanz (ZDF). And he’s absolutely right about that. As well as saying that the uncomfortable truths that lie ahead must finally be addressed. And one can only agree with him on this point as well. In particular with regard to the impending climate catastrophe and the drastic measures that must be taken by the next government to halt it.
But instead of presenting solutions or at least ideas for the challenges ahead, the politicians try to divert attention from their own lack of ideas by belittling their political opponents. The psychologist Ahmad Mansour calls it symbolic politics.
In “Markus Lanz” (ZDF), a psychologist criticizes German educational policy and integration
The head of an initiative for the promotion of democracy and the prevention of extremism clearly emphasizes how dissatisfied he is with German education policy in Markus Lanz on ZDF. It is “not sustainable”. Both with regard to the upcoming challenge – he asks why things like robotics are not taught there – and with regard to the subject of integration. It would have “not really been able to convey the values of this society”.
For him, meeting in schools and in residential areas is the key to successful integration, and he refers to the controversial Danish “ghetto law”, which limits the proportion of people “of non-Western origin” in a part of the city. In general, Mansour, who has been under personal protection for years because of his work, has a very clear opinion on how to deal with people who permanently do not adhere to the values and laws of German societies: They should be deported. Of course only if it is a safe country of origin.
| Markus Lanz on September 7th, 2021 on ZDF | The guests |
|---|---|
| Gerhart Baum | Politician, FDP |
| Karin Prien | Education Minister Schleswig-Holstein, CDU |
| Hasnain Kazim | Journalist, Middle East expert |
| Ahmad Mansour | psychologist |
Many topics, little content: “Markus Lanz” (ZDF) lacks relevance and a common thread
The education minister of Schleswig-Holstein, Karin Prien (CDU), senses that these demands are again being overwhelmed by the educational system and explains why she is against the gender star: because it slows her down in learning German. But there are more pressing problems. Everyone, including moderator Markus Lanz (ZDF), agrees on this and one wonders why it is being addressed at all.
Just like the question of whether Friedrich Merz now knows the names of everyone in Armin Laschet’s future team. Gerhart Baums (FDP) assumption: No, he doesn’t. At the end of the day, as a viewer, you don’t really know what the real topic is: election campaigns, education, Friedrich Merz’s ignorance, the gender star or the withdrawal from Afghanistan. A topic on which the journalist and Middle East expert Hasnain Kazim will be asked.
Only the most important topic that overshadows everything, the containment of the impending ecological catastrophe, is only mentioned in passing. In the coming decades, up to 200 million people will be on the run due to climate change. (Bettina Schuler)
