Category: Politics

I cannot do it anymore

In an open letter, ARD employee Ole Skambraks speaks out against one and a half years of Corona coverage: Skambraks has worked as an editorial assistant and editor at the public broadcaster for 12 years. ...

“Shut up and get the jab!”

If some things don’t make you lose your sense of reason, then you have none to lose. Gotthold Ephraim Lessing First we were told that vaccination was the only way out of the pandemic. Unfortunately for our politicians, this seems less and less likely. Then we were told that...

1,200 ignorant people cannot be ignored

We were supposed to be separated, but we have united. We are supposed to remain ignorant, but we have learned so much. We are supposed to obey, but we choose freedom. We are supposed to be afraid, but we are becoming more and more courageous. We are told to keep our heads...

Zur Charakteristik der Geschwurbel-Verächter

Wenn es sich um Corona-Maßnahmen handelt, scheint jeder Wissenschaftler, jeder Politiker, aber auch jede nationale oder internationale Institution als Schwurbler zu gelten, die von der harten Linie der selbst ernannten „Verantwortungsvollen“ abweicht....

The Time of Crises (2)

The crisis of modernity is conceived as a “total social phenomenon”, in analogy to the medical model of the pivotal moment when the patient survives or perishes. In the 19th century, the four major concepts of crisis emerge, with which we interpret, manage and instrumentalize crises until now....

The COVID-19 Catastrophe

This expanded, updated, and completely revised edition of The COVID-19 Catastrophe is the authoritative guide to a global health crisis that has consumed the world. Richard Horton, editor of the medical journal The Lancet, scrutinises the actions taken by governments as they sought to contain the novel coronavirus. He...

The time of crises (1/3)

The 21st century has already triggered or gone through an astonishing number of crises: a crisis of globalized terrorism, economic crises, an ecological crisis, migration crises, debt crises and now a health crisis that will probably precipitate another economic and sovereign debt crisis. However, the inflationary use of the concept...

The children of the pandemic

From 22 February 2021, masks were compulsory in schools. This was justified by an assessment of the epidemiological situation in a press conference of the Ministry of Education on 12 February. A critical examination of this argumentation leads to the question of the proportionality of the measure, and a...

The exclusion of dissenters – a letter to our critics

On 16 July 2021, I (50) stood at the top of the 3-metre diving board in Lutry on beautiful Lac Léman and couldn’t believe my eyes: from below, it didn’t look so high after all! Next to me stood a smiling boy of about 10 years old who politely...

The egg, Corona and some news about vaccinations

A year ago, a remarkable article appeared in the British Medical Journal [1]. I wrote about it in more detail in my column in Karger Compass Pneumonology. Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health rehabilitated the egg as a food after more than 50 years of research. No:...