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What can I hope for (from politics)? 1121
We have to choose; that is for certain. Economic globalism and
political centralisation are the realities of our age, but so too is the fact
that in Western civilisation freedom is considered the fundamental value
in politics and, in fact, there still remains in people a vague desire for
self-determination and control over the means of power. Ihese two
realities are irreconcilable. We choose the latter without hesitation,
because there is no case in world history where the concentration of
power did not lead to unchecked violence and the adherents of violent
rule did not, sooner or later, sacrifice their principles in the interest of
keeping power, exactly as described by Plato in the eighth book of the
Republic. It has also repeatedly been proven true that the other extreme,
the unchecked competition of the equally free, itself leads to the tyranny
of the stronger competitors, which the weak and vulnerable not only
endure but even eventually demand — here, too, Plato was right.
Therefore, ecological politics can be realised only if it can free itself
from the unprecedented concentration of material and intellectual power
that characterises our age and if its decisions are made with the
competent participation of those concerned, at a transparent, accessible
local level, in communities whose members do not have to fear becoming
victims to violence.
Participation, self-determination and decentralisation — behold, the
fundamental principles of green democracy. Its adherents hold that the
culture of solidarity and reasonable disagreement can develop anywhere
where interdependence makes those concerned interested in dialogue.
‘The sceptics hold the reverse: until there is no dialogue between them,
they are not open to trusting and the lack of trust renders dialogue
impossible. Formal logic supports them: Achilles cannot reach the
tortoise. Yet formal logic does not reckon with the constant interaction
of changes occurring in parallel, which decidedly improve the chances
of Achilles and reasonable dialogue. Communities’ self-determination
can be achieved, an institutional system of participative decision-making
can be established and the experience of successful cooperation can
create communities of solidarity.
4. The question of global justice
“Justice” has replaced the successfully privatised “common good” at the
centre of modern political thought. For a long time, the citizens of
liberal democracies did not debate their goals but rather who was owed