12 Feb. Loud or quiet?

Quiet or loud? Do I stay in the background, or do I step into the foreground? Is it no longer enough these days, to simply make the best possible contribution (in this case, voting). Do I have to be a role model now, even if I don’t know whether I even want to be one due to a lack of expertise? Is this even about expertise, or is it about standing up? About raising my voice, mobilizing my community, taking a stand, demonstrating for a democratic Germany.

How do I want to live? What are my values? How great is my personal responsibility once I have a big enough number of followers, and in what way does my voice have the greatest impact? Is a completed ballot and regular engagement with the alarming political situation in my own country (and beyond) no longer enough? Should I feel bad for posting ads and happy-allday-life-content on Instagram without expressing political opinions? Is discourse only valuable if it is loud and accusatory? Maybe.

I have been asking myself these questions for the past few days. More precisely, I have been asking them since several athletes called on their social media platforms to take a political stance. „One must not shy away from responsibility because this concerns all of us. Whether an athlete or not.” Of course, this concerns all of us. It never did less. Of course, it is about paying attention, taking action, getting involved, raising our voices, fighting against far-right parties and their supporters. But no…

As much as I support taking action and being politically engaged, as much as I use this channel to speak out my own opinion on important topics, and as much as I want to see change in our country—that the shift to the right slows down, that there are always voices opposing what Merz, Weidel & Co. are saying, and as much as I expect no less from myself than to contribute to steering the political landscape of our country away from this brown-blue-black mess it currently is, I still don’t believe that the only good way in these times is for everyone to loudly voice their opinion and use their reach to set something in motion.

What chaos would erupt if everyone just started talking without listening to each other? That helps no one—except maybe the parties that thrive on chaos.

I only would like to put the following close to your heart. Take care of your election documents in a timely manner, don’t look away – this is about your future too. Go vote, resist, listen to your fear – it’s real, educate yourself, use the Wahl-O-Mat. No political frustration, but confidence and hope that we can do better.