futur eins đź’Ś | Democracy(s) at the crossroads
Democracy(s) at the crossroads
Hi there (here's your name in the newsletter),
Today, the United States may be heading toward one of the most consequential elections in its history:
Will Americans once again choose the 45th president, Donald Trump, and thereby opt for a path toward fascist autocracy? Or will they reaffirm their commitment to democratic neoliberalism under the leadership of Kamala Harris?
We’ve seen similar crossroads in other Western democracies — from Italy to France, from Germany to the UK. Across these nations, we witness recurring tensions and hybrid forms: on the one hand, neoliberal centrism (Macron, Scholz, Harris); on the other, right-wing populism (Le Pen) and even post-fascist tendencies (Meloni, Trump, Höcke).Why do alternative political visions seem to have lost their power to inspire?
Where are the new ideas, the bold visions, the real-life superheroes of politics?
As if neoliberalism or post-fascism truly offered honest answers to the defining challenges of our time — from the climate crisis to deepening social inequality. Yet perhaps these are the only political currents still capable of making themselves heard in our increasingly dysfunctional public spheres — spheres shaped by the forces of mediatization and oligarchic power structures. So what are we left with? The primacy of hate and division versus the primacy of libertarian market logics. No wonder Elon Musk — who seems to play both sides — is seen by many as a kind of nemesis of democracy.
Both developments are deeply troubling.
Because deep down, we want something else:
We want democracies that solve real problems.
We want politics that respond to people’s needs and translate them into fair and just laws.
We want a public sphere that fosters understanding and focus instead of outrage and distraction.
And we want an economy that offers prosperity for the many, not just the powerful few.
Yet the idea of democracy is steadily being eroded. Our political and economic systems risk slipping into deeper dysfunction — unless we act.
In a conversation with Sham Jaff, who writes the great newsletter “What happened last week”, we discussed the development of American democracy, which likes to refer to its 200-year history. But if we measure the term democracy strictly in terms of actions and opportunities, this period is actually quite short: from 1964 to around 1981, because it was not until 1964/65 that the Civil Rights Act & Voting Rights Act made voting rights truly available to all Americans, regardless of skin color.
Since the 1980s, a growing body of research has revealed a troubling pattern: legislation in the U.S. Senate and Congress no longer primarily serves the common good, but rather the interests of a small number of powerful special interest groups. As political scientists Martin Gilens (Princeton) and Benjamin Page (Northwestern) found in their landmark 2014 study: “While the preferences of the wealthiest citizens and the interests of business groups exert substantial influence on policy outcomes, the views of average citizens have a statistically insignificant impact.”A politics that no longer reflects the needs and voices of the many can hardly be called democratic.In the words of political theorist Wendy Brown, democracy under such conditions becomes an “empty signifier” — a word drained of meaning, still invoked, but no longer alive in practice.
And so we must ask: Who is truly served by the system we call democracy — and who is left out, unheard, unrepresented?
Too gloomy? Perhaps we need a more honest look at our “democracies” in order to draw a vision that we want to move towards again, instead of - as is currently the case - only defending democracy from those who want to dismantle it completely without having a positive narrative for the future themselves.
This is exactly where our work at futur eins begins: with constructive narratives about the future. We make our modest contribution to resilient societies, with new ideas for democratic and functional systems: better, constructive journalism; a news-competent society; forward-looking politics - with the common good and the interests of all in mind. Nice that you are here too.
Sincerely
Alexander
Chief Impact Officer
Prof. Dr. Tong-Jin Smith
More Team, more Topics, more Tacheles
This year, we have officially been joined by Prof. Dr. Tong-Jin Smith, with whom I have been working closely for years, particularly in the field of information and news literacy, and we could hardly be more delighted. Tong-Jin is not only a proven expert in all fields of resilient information ecosystems, but also a passionate thought leader and political scientist. Welcome on board!
But not only is our team growing, so are our topics. In late summer, we reorganized ourselves in an 8-week strategy process and realigned our Think & Do Tank topics under the new umbrella of Time and Space for the Resilient Society. Six focal points in three fields form the nucleus of our work: Resilient information ecosystems (focal points: Resilience against Disinformation and Populism; Digital Information and News Literacy & Constructive Journalism), Psychological Resilience (Growth) and Democratic Resilience (Systems Theory & Gross National Happiness and Utøpiå: Democracy in the Age of Artificial Intelligence).
Last but not least: the Future Council. From now on, we will be accompanied by an intersectoral committee of constructive and smart people from all areas of our society, including Frederik Fischer, who we were able to win as Chairman of the Future Council, Maren Urner, Aline LĂĽllmann, Felix Kartte, Martin Fehrensen and many more. Take a look at our website to find out more about the people who have one thing in common with us: a focus on the common good.
futur eins in the media
This summer, we launched Fake Train, a format we co-developed with the Federal Agency for Civic Education (bpb). In this Amazon Prime quiz show, Rezo and Gen Z influencers tackle questions on media and information literacy. It’s an unconventional approach—even for the bpb—to creatively and digitally reach new audiences online. The six-episode first season is also available in the bpb media library.
Together with Ciani-Sophia Hoeder, Tong-Jin talks about the division of American society in six episodes of the ZDF Terra-X podcast “USA - The Rift”. The podcast focuses on the history and context of exactly what will be decisive in today's election: How deep is the rift in American society? And how do the media, religion and racism, for example, contribute to the divide?
Alexander was a guest on the closing panel of Democracy Reporting International's DisinfoCon, where he discussed the state of American democracy just before the election and the latest findings in the disinfo debate with Melinda Crane, Brandi Geurkink and Duncan Allen. For those who missed it: The entire panel and conference were recorded.
What we are reading right now: bell hooks „all about love“
“Love is as love does”, says bell hooks and clears up a major misunderstanding. Above all, love is a verb and not a noun. It must be measured by deeds and must not be a conceptual shell - as we have already established above with democracy. The American literary scholar and feminist bell hooks presents a work that no library should be without and which succeeds in providing the great cement between the interpersonal on a small scale (psychology) and on a large scale (sociology). “To truly love we must learn to mix various ingredients - care, affection, recognition, respect, commitment, and trust, as well as honest and open communication.” This not only encourages critical reflection on our own traumas and deficits, but also shows where we have lost “love in society”. After all, we also demand these universal criteria - trust, honest communication, recognition, etc. - from the systems of our society - politics, media, business, etc. The civil rights activist Maya Angelou writes about the book: “Each offering from bell hooks is a major event, as she has so much to give us.”
Ciao, Elon!
Can we still use X with a clear conscience? The answer is short and sweet - no. You won't find us there anymore. But on our redesigned website and here in the newsletter. And shyly and rarely on Instagram and LinkedIn. Want to change that? Write to us, give us criticism, give us suggestions, give us ideas, give us impulses (e.g. at info@futureins.org) or call us on +49 171 206 2568 – we look forward to hearing from you.
futur eins
over and out 🚀
