Ralf Dahrendorf on social models in times of crisis

Sociologist and publicist Ralf Dahrendorf investigates in the monthly magazine Cicero whether a prosperous society can also remain good and free in times of crisis. "Rich, good and free societies - distinguished by competitiveness, social cohesion and liberal democracy - are simply not the same. ... It is rather easy to describe a rich society. These combine a high per capita income with a distribution of wealth that guarantees opportunities for all and a decent standard of living for the majority. A good society is much harder to define: one even hesitates to apply moral categories to societies. Above all this refers to civic societies, those which thrive on individuals' initiatives, which exclude no one and are marked by enough social cohesion to prevent people from falling through the social net. But the squaring of the circle proposed here has three elements, and the third, the free society, could prove the most difficult. For it is here that modern societies are most threatened. Some are ready to sacrifice political freedoms to attain economic and social goals. The belief is even spreading that change is only possible if freedom is limited. The danger of a new authoritarianism is looming unmistakably. ... All those who love freedom face two great challenges: removing barriers to change without replacing them by arbitrariness, and surviving in the global market without sacrificing social cohesion."

» more information (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » Philosophy, » Global
All available articles from » Ralf Dahrendorf

» To the complete press review of Thursday, November 27, 2008