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Augstein, Jakob
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4 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.
Divide between Muslims and Westeners absurd
The 9/11 attacks opened up a deep global divide but there is cause for hope, writes publisher Jakob Augstein in his column for the news portal Spiegel Online: "Many Muslims and Westeners continue to see each other as dangerous fanatics (the Muslims consider Westeners to be corrupt and greedy). The world continues to be perilously and absurdly divided into Muslims and Westeners, and it seems deeper and more insurmountable than anyone could have believed even before the term 'clash of the cultures' was coined. This division separates states and continents, but also tears through Western societies: the pathological Islamophobia that is spreading all over Europe and creating right-wing populist parties and movements would be unthinkable without 9/11. The crimes of mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik are inconceivable without 9/11. ... So ten years on is there only cause for despair? No. ... Osama bin Laden lies dead at the bottom of the sea, George W. Bush has retired to some farm in Texas and in North Africa the Arab Spring has begun. A change in direction."
» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » History, » Weltanschauung, » Global
Jakob Augstein on why the US is not a Western state
Political conflict and aggressive militarism have turned the US into an undemocratic state, comments the German journalist Jakob Augstein in the opinion portal Komment: "Last week the United States came within a hair's breadth of bankruptcy. The country has split in two and now looks more like a failed state than a democracy. ... Once upon a time the term 'Western' actually meant something. ... Today it seems to belong to the past. There is no West any more. All those who use the term to refer to Europe or the United States can't help but pause for a moment. No matter how you look at it, the US is no longer a Western nation. It has mutated into a country whose government apparatus is irrevocably in the hands of the elite. Its dogged, aggressive militarism has sparked two costly wars in the last ten years. Its society is split in two, not just politically and socially: its ideological blindness has persistently removed it from the core of democracy."
» full article (external link, Hungarian)
More from the press review on the subject » Politics, » U.S.
Fake enthusiasm for women's football
All the fuss about the Women's Football World Cup is just a sham, writes publisher Jakob Augstein on the news portal Spiegel Online, saying the fake enthusiasm is just a placebo for true equality because the competition "is being exploited by clubs, companies and politicians alike in the debate about emancipation. ... There are plenty of reasons to expand the institutionalised promotion of women. Only 3.2 percent of the management positions at the top 200 German companies are held by women. But a couple of months ago Angela Merkel said that she didn't believe imposing a quota would make any difference. She would have to take on big industry for that. It's much easier for the chancellor to open an exhibition with the theme 'Women make football history' and have photos taken of herself in raptures at the opening match. ... If the German women win the World Cup they could pull up their T-shirts at the celebration party, but only so far that you can see the words 'Equal pay now'. That's exactly eleven letters."
» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » Sport, » Gender equality, » Germany, » Global
Jakob Augstein on German and French worries
In his best-selling book Indignez-Vous! (Get indignant!) the former diplomat and resistance fighter Stéphane Hessel calls on the French to be more socially active and fight for their values and ideals. Jakob Augstein, publisher of the leftist weekly Der Freitag, compares the debate in France with that triggered in Germany by Thilo Sarrazin's book: "By French standards the print run for Hessel's book [900,000] is about as high as that for Thilo Sarrazin's book in Germany. And this book is also based on indignation. But what are the Germans indignant about? 'I don't want the country where my grandchildren and great-grandchildren live to be largely Muslim, with Turkish and Arab being spoken in many areas, women who wear headscarves and a daily rhythm dictated by the calls of the muezzin. … ' When Frenchman Hessel expresses concern about France's future he is worried about justice. Sarrazin's concern about Germany's future revolves around money and genes. … The French make a book about hope into a bestseller. The Germans do the same with a book full of malice."
» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » Integration, » Social movements, » Demographics, » Germany, » France
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