United Kingdom and Gibraltar European Union membership referendum
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What's true? Actually a simple question. But she is not so easy to answer. More than half of the Germans believe that they often come in contact with reports that are wrong or at least distorted reality. After all, a third say they find it difficult to detect such messages.
Germany is even doing quite well there. In other European countries, the confusion is greater. In France, for example, more than 80 percent of citizens believe that they are often confronted with false reports. In the United Kingdom, the share is 75 percent, according to the latest Eurobarometer survey.
Pretty serious findings. When the sense of truth gets lost, societies become incapacitated. Two recent developments obviously have something to do with the loss of the common fact-finding base: the hanging around Brexit and the yellow vests protests in France.
It is not even so important, if notifications are actually wrong - or if the citizens are only suspected of having falsehoods prefixed. Much falls into this category: vicious fake news, set in the world of propagandists, activists or intelligence agencies and disseminated through social networks, as well as reputable press reports, the truth of which is wrongly called into question by users. In any case, uncertainty is the result - with destructive side effects.
Trust is good, knowledge is better
Democracies are founded on truth. You need a consensus about what is - and an understanding of what should be .
Dictatorships can exist for a long time with lies, falsehoods and half-truths - until at some point the difference between reality and propaganda becomes so unbearable that the system collapses.
But where ultimately the citizens decide as voters, they need at least a basic understanding of the most important facts. There is no need to know everything. It is sufficient if experts in politics, administration, science and media enjoy the citizens' trust in thematizing and correctly reproducing the relevant. Knowledge societies are based on division of labor. Not everyone has to know everything. But he needs to know who he can trust.
However, in a world where there is no common evidence base, social understanding of the state of society, its real problems, and possible solutions becomes difficult, if not impossible.
The Brexit is a dead end
REUTERS
Theresa May
This is Brexit. All the intellectual wretchedness of the Brexiteers revealed to Michael Gove, who dismissed the credibility of the experts per se: "The people in this country have enough of experts," he announced during the campaign in 2016.
These were those warning voices and studies that attempted to quantify the consequences of Britain leaving the EU. Positions that did not suit the Brexiteers. They should be discredited. Gove was one of the leading anti-EU activists. Now he is considered one of the closest confidants of Prime Minister Theresa May.
Much of what the experts vilified by Gove have foretold becomes reality. If, contrary to expectations, May does not bring their deal with the EU in the remaining short term through Parliament, Britain could leave without a contract in April. A disaster.
The whole Brexit drama, in all its absurdity, would have long since stopped, British citizens would take note of the consequences of the EU exit. The Brexit is a dead end. This is already obvious and can be proven in numbers. The goals of the Brexiteers are not achievable. Britain will not regain real sovereignty, limit immigration or create more prosperity. All these promises have long since been refuted by facts.
Nevertheless, surveys show that there is still no clear majority against Brexit. The British people are as divided as they were in the referendum three years ago, although today it is much clearer what the costs are. But those who do not believe the facts do not count for them. And because the mood in the population is as it is, the members of the lower house egg dance to egg dance on - in the end, possibly the worst of all conceivable deals to land.
Feeling fake news
DPA
Emmanuel Macron
The phenomenon of yellow vests in France also results from a fundamental mistrust. It is an uprising of sections of the population that feel detached and have nothing left but cynicism for the ruling system. President Emmanuel Macron has made an effort with his big "national debate", taking a lot of time, listening and arguing. But that does not get in the way of the hardcore demonstrators. They want to overthrow the system - because it seems wrong and implausible.
This shows a fundamental tendency. In countries that, like France and the United Kingdom, have a wide spread of actual or perceived fake news, citizens also tend to have little faith in politics and public authorities as a whole.
On average, just 31 percent of the French and 32 percent of the British trust the respective political institutions - much less than the citizens of Germany (54 percent) and other northern European countries. A similar gap can be seen in the confidence in the media.
A pattern becomes apparent: where the political and media institutions enjoy little trust, there is also mistrust of the truth. Where does this connection come from? Who's to blame?
[1] Proportion of respondents who indicate they are familiar parties, national parliaments and governments, regional authorities and the EU (simple average); [2] Proportion of respondents who fully agree with the statement that they often come in contact with news or information that you believe is false or that misrepresents reality.
All are under general suspicion
The accusation is in the room, deliberately scattered fake news, for example by interested Russian circles, would promote the decline of the Western public. But that's not enough explanation. The high degree of mistrust and the large differences between the Western European countries suggest that other factors play a much more important role, in particular: the universal provision of traditional quality media, education and culture, and the capacity of public institutions to respond to local citizens' interests. All of this can help to impregnate citizens against the confusion and polarization of social media publics, even if it is not a guarantee.
The Brexit and the protests of the yellow vests can therefore be understood as rebellions against London and Paris - and that means against the central institutions and the elites that preside over them. In a noteworthy part of the population, the politmediale complex is under general suspicion. One does not believe the senders of the messages (politicians) or the messengers (the media).
Hate would be out of place. No country is immune from such developments.
The most important economic dates of the upcoming week
Monday
Munich - German Economy - The Ifo Institute presents new business climate index data. Most recently, the barometer showed a significant slowdown in the economy, especially in industry.
Tuesday
Nuremberg - German mood - GfK publishes its current consumer climate study.
Wednesday
Frankfurt - Farewell to Mario - The European Central Bank faces its observers at the conference "The ECB and Its Watchers". For the last time Mario Draghi will be there as ECB boss.
Thursday
Berlin - Thänk you for traveling - The heavily criticized and kriselnde Deutsche Bahn presents its balance sheet.
Wiesbaden - German inflation - The Federal Statistical Office provides a first estimate of the inflation rate in March.
Friday
London / Brussels - B-Day - Originally scheduled date for the withdrawal of Great Britain from the European Union.
Nuremberg - more jobs? - The Federal Employment Agency announces the labor market data for March.