Great speech by Helmut Schmidt: The Ethics of Politics

[Skybird]

german language, but if you can understand written German, this is a worthy reading by one of Germany's smartest political thinkers after WWII.

http://debatte.welt.de/kommentare/21...tikers?print=1

A very great (and long) basic speech by Helmut Schmidt, on politic's relation to terms like ethics, religion, reason, conscience, peace and compromise.

I had written some comments on where I agree (almost all) and disagree (in principal only on his acceptance for christian hetitage not mentiined in the Eu consitution, and his (U-turned?) view of islam (about which he had much more pessimism to express in the past), and collected some quotes - but then, like so often, browser and forum software collided one more time and deleted all any everything, so you will need to live without a summary of the highlights.

Except this, which illustrates why I hold Schmidt in such high regard, since he has followed consistently his own demands he sums up here. Most politicians I could name today fail in this, and often fail miserably:

Tatsächlich gibt es aber auch üble Kompromisse – zum Beispiel zu Lasten Dritter oder zu Lasten einer späteren Zukunft. Es gibt unzureichende Kompromisse, die das vorliegende Problem nicht lösen, sondern nur den Anschein hervorrufen, als ob sie es lösen. So steht also der notwendigen Tugend des Kompromisses die Versuchung zum bloßen Opportunismus gegenüber. Die Versuchung zum opportunistischen Kompromiss mit der öffentlichen Meinung oder mit Teilen der öffentlichen Meinung kehrt alltäglich wieder! Deshalb bleibt eben auch der kompromisswillige Politiker auf sein persönliches Gewissen angewiesen.
Es gibt Kompromisse, die ein Politiker nicht eingehen darf, weil sein Gewissen widerspricht. In solchem Falle bleibt ihm nur der offene Dissens, in manchen Fällen bleibt nur der Rücktritt oder der Verlust des Mandats. Eine Verletzung des eigenen Gewissens untergräbt Anstand und Moral – und das Vertrauen anderer in die Integrität der eigenen Person.
Es gibt aber auch den Gewissensirrtum. Die eigene Ratio kann sich irren, so kann auch das eigene Gewissen irren. In solchem Fall ist ein moralischer Vorwurf nicht gerechtfertigt, gleichwohl kann daraus ein schwerer Schaden entstehen. Wenn in solchem Falle der Politiker später seinen Irrtum erkennt, so kommt er vor die Frage, ob er den Irrtum und die Wahrheit eingestehen soll. In solcher Lage verhalten sich die Politiker zumeinst ähnlich allzu menschlich, wie jedermann in diesem Saal: Uns allen fällt es ganz schwer, einen eigenen Gewissensirrtum und die Wahrheit über uns selbst öffentlich hörbar einzuräumen.

Related literature by the same author:
Helmut Schmidt: Auf der Suche nach einer öffentlichen Moral
http://www.amazon.de/Suche-%C3%B6ffe...8672818&sr=8-7

[ASWnut101]

Do you have a translator for the quoted article?

[fatty]

Mein deutsch ist kaput.

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by ASWnut101

Do you have a translator for the quoted article?

NO. Do not even dare to ask me to translate it. That would be a day-filling job. It simply is too long. It's sad that such a good material only will find a limited audience here, but I can't help it. Also, automatic online translators are of no help. they are only good enough to make any understanding far worse.

[ASWnut101]

Originally Posted by Skybird

NO. Do not even de to ask me to translate it. That would be a day-filling job. It simply is too long. It's sad that such a good material only will find a limited audience here, but I can't help it.

I thought you could speed type!:p (J/K)

Also, automatic online translators are of no help. they are only good enough to make any understanding far worse.

Heh, Google is good at that.

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by ASWnut101

I thought you could speed type!:p (J/K)

You wouldn't recognize the English through the sheer number of typos!

Heh, Google is good at that.

You sure? You may want to change your mind, maybe. The following is a Google-translation of the paragraph I quoted in the opening post:

Originally Posted by Google

It in addition, bad compromises actually give - for example debited to third or debited to a later future. There are insufficient compromises, which do not solve the available problem, but only the appearance cause, as if they solve it. Thus thus the temptation faces the necessary virtue of the compromise to the bare Opportunismus. The temptation to the opportunistischen compromise with the public opinion or with parts of the public opinion returns daily! Therefore evenly also the compromise-willing politician remains dependent on its personal conscience. There are compromises, which a politician may not die, because its conscience contradicts. In such case for it only the open disagreement remains, in some cases remains only the resignation or the loss of the mandate. An injury of the own conscience undermines behaviour and moral - and the confidence of others into the integrity of the own person. In addition, there is the conscience mistake. The own reason can itself errs, then can also the own conscience err. In such case a moral reproach is not justified, nevertheless can from it a heavy damage develop. If in such case of the politicians it recognizes his mistake later then it comes before the question whether it is to admit the mistake and the truth. In such situation the politicians behave to once just as all too humanly, as everyone in this hall: Us all falls it completely heavily to grant its own conscience mistake and the truth about us publicly audibly.

Word-Salad!