It’s getting worse and worse, and everything used to be better. The fairy tale of the great past should be actively fought, says Henning Schmidtke. He wrote the book “It all sucks as you think”.
Berlin (dpa) – Today’s world is not as bad as many think. In view of war and hunger in the world, and especially in times of a pandemic, that might read naive or stupid or even brazen.
But the cabaret artist Henning Schmidtke does not let himself be deterred and wants to get others carried away to see the present in a more positive light. His book “It’s not all as shit as you think – 30 reasons why the world is better today than it used to be” is thought-provoking and entertaining read, even on vacation or on the beach this summer.
If you watch the news, you have the feeling that the world is bad, says Schmidtke in an interview at the beginning of the book. “It’s not the world, it’s the news. If in doubt, they are negative, ”says Schmidtke. There are even studies showing that the headlines in the “New York Times” have become increasingly negative over the decades. But that is not bad and that is also not fake news. But it is in the nature of the media to “look where it stinks”. But many forget what is going well.
And so the author and musician has compiled 30 topics, on which he presents his optimism in a shrewd tone and confirms with data that everything is much better today than it was in the past. This also includes controversial issues such as integration and age.
On the life of people with a migration history, he writes: “84 percent of Muslims born in Germany regularly spend their free time with non-Muslims (and that doesn’t mean police officers). 96 percent of our Muslim fellow citizens feel connected to Germany. And German is the first language for 73 percent of Muslim children (more than for Bavarian children). “
And Schmidtke writes about seniors : “Grandpa hears everything in the best sound quality because his hearing aid has Bluetooth. The old-fashioned walker has disappeared from the streets. Enormous progress in knee and hip operations, but also the diplomacy of the Federal Republic of Germany, which avoids war, is creating a steadily growing senior society, trauma-free and with full limbs. “
Another example is alcohol . It is no longer consumed so carelessly and excessively. “The working class used to go to the pub after the shift and smoke and drink. Today you go to the gym in the evening. ”The picture of the chain smoker in the corner pub is history. “Likewise, puke basins with grab handles, which I found in every men’s toilet when I was a child.” Today’s kids find drinking more and more uncool.
Take teeth, for example: “In Central Europe, the teeth are getting better and better.” There is a kind of “dental gentrification”. “Crooked teeth must appear to today’s children like deformities. Braces as a cultural achievement are completely underestimated. “
Take stench, for example: these days, medieval markets pretend that this era was a time of fragrant loaves of bread, full of spices and cozy campfires. But the truth stinks: It was the time of “excrement and urine that runs through the gutters, horse poop, dog poop, goose poop, chicken poop, cow poop, goat poop, bird poop”. Leftovers and animal carcasses were driven through the streams. People stank all over. And that has been the case for a long time – until modern times, for example, when brushing teeth became affordable for the masses.
Take cigarettes, for example: “Young people today smoke less than ever before. In 2001 it was 28 percent of the under 18s, today only 7 percent. Cigarettes no longer match the fresh shower gel scent of the gym. “
Take noise, for example: Household appliances are much quieter today than they were a few decades ago, and trains travel anyway. In the past one sat on the train “in the midst of a cloud of noise and cigarette smoke” and had to shout at each other. And: The soundproof walls on the motorways also worked wonders. “When I lived in Essen, I once cycled through the residential areas along the A40 and was amazed at the idyllic calm that reigned there.” The noise of Europe’s busiest motorway sounded like the distant sound of the sea.
And of course the diet . Today it is extremely diverse and much, much better than it used to be, says the author: “Do you want to go back to the 50s? To “Heaven and Earth” and chicken fricassee? At that time sushi or shawarma would still have been taken for Indian deities. The further you go back in our history, the more bleak it becomes on your plate. “
Henning Schmidtke: “It’s not all as shit as you think – 30 reasons why the world is better today than it was”, softcover, Riva-Verlag Munich, 288 pages, 15.00 euros, ISBN: 978-3-7423 -1360-7
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210616-99-13031 / 3
Riva-Verlag: “It’s not all as shit as you think”
