He Died When We Needed Him the Most

I have often referred to Habermas in my lectures on democracy's global decay. I have also quoted the German philosopher in this column, in the face of commercial law, politicians, and others who confuse dialogue with claims that people without power do not recognize. 

Naive, some would claim

This is at the core of Jürgen Habermas' philosophy, a fundamental, and some would claim naive, belief in how the good arguments would prevail if space were created for public discourse. Or as he also put it:

"The power of the better argument."

Such statements fare poorly in the international discourse, in which the power of weapons completely overshadows the argument.

At the same time, the civil society's only weapon is the word, the argument, and the dialogue. That our viewpoint can handle being challenged. That we can acknowledge an opponent and even change positions if others' arguments trump our own. 

Such reasoning performs poorly in our time.

Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and Benjamin Netanyahu have a shared objective of bombing other countries' civilians and military to death, without as much as an attempt to argue for this dictatorial right to decide over others' lives. The means, alongside weapons, are lies and forgery.

From this perspective, dialogue has long lost its right.

Where dialogue is cultivated

Therefore, it is even more important to defend the remnants of democratic processes where they still exist. Not least to protect the arenas in which debate and dialogue can be cultivated.

At a time when an increasingly bigger share of public expenditure is to be shifted from civil society to the Armed Forces, the democracies are extremely vulnerable, even in peacetime.

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Almost shamelessly, stock traders are praised for earning millions on a stock exchange that is governed by weapons production and draining oil reserves that are not replenished.

On the other end, we find those who struggle to combine increasing petrol prices with a food budget that is supposed to defend the grocery chains' billion-dollar profits. One of the major Norwegian chains had an operating profit of NOK 4 billion last year.

While the interest rate continues at its relatively high level, the head of DnB, the biggest bank in Norway, takes out an annual salary of about NOK 18,7 million, an increase of NOK 1,8 million compared to the previous year. Well, not all of it is salary.

It also includes a bonus for being able to squeeze extra money out of the bank's customers at a time when many struggle to service their debt.

This is not about what is fair, as Habermas often reminded us of. It is about what is most profitable. Most of us have been reduced to customers. Or users and clients when our accounts are empty after the food barons, bank managers and traders have had their share.

New voices

During his long life, Habermas also took part in the debate about what the digitalized society does to public discourse. It worried him, perhaps especially fake news and the significance of algorithms for public discourse, which is also reported here in the newspaper.

At High North News, we have an open comment section on our social media accounts. With few exceptions, we do not have to moderate the posts. Dialogue is cultivated over arrogance and ad hominem arguments.

Jürgen Habermas was criticised from both the right and the left. From the left for being a naive reformist, from the right for not accepting the market's superiority in the face of democracy. Yet, he led by showing the ability to change his own positions.

This political space should be the largest in a democratic society, but it is constantly shrinking under the designs of architects driven by narcissism and a passion for authoritarianism.

A great and relevant philosopher is gone. Perhaps it opens the way for new voices that can shake us if we no longer "see the power of a better argument".