At the beginning of April we had the honour of welcoming former Federal President Joachim Gauck and the author Thea Dorn to a panel discussion on the subject of “70 years of the Grundgesetz: from the head to the heart” . The frank and absorbing discussion could certainly not answer every question, but it gave plenty of food for thought. Here is the position paper summarising the evening.
Propositions by Joachim Gauck
- Even someone who has only ever known freedom can appreciate freedom.
- Anti-liberal groups exert a strong pull, because they appear to offer people simple solutions to situations perceived as complex, or relieve them of responsibility for the struggle to maintain freedom.
- Dealing with freedom must therefore be learned, and this should begin early in a child’s upbringing. During the school years children can be positively influenced so as to bring them up as self-assured, mature citizens. Only in this way will they be able to bear the position of others without becoming aggressive.
- In conveying the values of freedom it must be borne in mind that not everyone can handle the opportunities available and the great freedoms without support. What is needed is an open exchange of arguments, including controversial opinions. A society that is confident of its values must also be able to withstand robust debate – a society without contrasts, often extreme ones, is not possible and quickly becomes one-sided and unfree. Those who are wrong must be met with arguments.
- Germany is once again able to distinguish between right and wrong, and a positive return of the terms “Heimat” (homeland) and “nation” is therefore possible.
- Scaremongering distracts from what matters. What is needed is therefore less focus on the fringes and more attention to the network and to those who want to live in freedom.
- In practical terms: films, songs and poems can move the emotions of a country. Positive potential must be strengthened, and we must reflect more on everything we have achieved. We must bring together people who feel a sense of nation – combining constitutional patriotism with closeness, familiarity and a sense of belonging.
Propositions by Thea Dorn
- People with a different socialisation also have a need for freedom (though they do not want their everyday lives dictated to them) and possess an “urge for freedom”. This urge must be awakened.
- We need a breath of fresh air in our emotional experience. Freedom (this fresh air) can also feel cold. Upbringing must achieve that people understand freedom not as the dissolution of security but as an opportunity.
- Values-based patriotism can become emotional and tangible – for example by school classes travelling to the Paulskirche, or by giving themselves a constitution in class and developing their own ideas. The same applies to integration courses.
- New media strengthen anonymity and reflexive reactions oriented towards one’s own peer group. Lessons must therefore teach how to conduct discussions and listen to others. Digitalisation needs education.
- A patriotism for those with a weak sense of self must strengthen people as citizens: on the one hand through support and “safe spaces”, but also through headwind. Someone who does not know where they belong has weaknesses.
- A vital state needs diversity AND unity. We must be able to endure this bipolarity between difference and togetherness.
Proposals for conveying values
- Position 1: Low-threshold and early transmission of a mature culture of discussion to children and young people.
- Position 2: An emotional approach through a direct and personal relationship to the abstract values of the Grundgesetz: constitutional patriotism must appeal to closeness and familiarity, must feel like home and must connect people.
- Position 3: A concrete experience can give rise to an emotional connection to something general – for example through identifying with the enthusiasm for the home football team.
- Position 4: The centre of society must be the focus of positive attention, not the fringes.
