Ethics & moral philosophy
October 2020
PRISM A lesson for our democracy
Aus dem Versagen lernen: Wie uns die NSA-Affäre bei Corona helfen kann
by Bernd Liske
German history knows many stories of failure. It has not yet been decided whether history will include the current corona pandemic. When history is said to repeat itself, there is a systemic reason for it: patterns of behavior repeat themselves. Reflecting on history is always helpful, and there is no doubt that the 2013 NSA affair is a story of failure. Edward Snowden's revelations determined the political discussion in Germany for months and the media every day. But the lack of experience in sovereign action and the political culture led to the fact that the CDU and FDP government and the opposition parties indulged in mutual blame and the affair ultimately turned into a big entertainment show, from which little substantial in terms of more security grew . This was certainly also due to the upcoming federal election campaign. Based on a construct of a redesign of the networks originally developed by him in the BITKOM Defense Working Group, the author describes his personal experiences as a citizen of Germany in the effort to turn the revelations into substantial action which prevents spying on the German economy and society as a whole. He describes in detail how he turned to the political elite in Germany and encountered a wall of silence. He added scenes of his own to the show, in which he acted and was able to follow the actual action up close, but the author, who has dealt with socio-political issues for many years, is interested in more. Similar to the corona epidemic today, the NSA affair offered a deep insight into the state of society, which in turn gave rise to action on all levels of society. His experiences with the political elite led to the question of the reasons for the agony he perceived in Germany in coping with the increasing social challenges. In addition to the NSA affair, he also deals with the parties' election programs for the 2013 federal election, the famous speech by Barack Obama in front of the Brandenburg Gate, speeches by the then new Pope Francis, doping in Germany and the Gustl Mollath. The book, which illuminates the period between June 5, 2013 and June 19, 2013 and was created within three weeks in August 2013, is an autobiographical and contemporary document that enables deep insights into the constitution of German society. of substance development towards the values that it has set for itself, as well as the individual and social abilities to cope with problems and the common sense as a people to tackle upcoming challenges together, makes it closed highly topical and extremely useful reading. The extensive list of sources is very helpful, ranging from Kant and Hegel to the Declaration of Independence of the United States and texts of the Vatican up to contemporary events and enables the reader to read beyond the book based on his own interests.
