Jan Fleischhauer sees Habermas as an hysterical doomsayer

The commotion over the euro crisis has reached a hysterical pitch, notes journalist Jan Fleischhauer in his column for news portal Spiegel Online. In particular he criticises German philosopher Jürgen Habermas' warnings of a "post-democracy": "When Habermas starts talking he really goes for maximum impact, as we see. This is the way it was 25 years ago when he spoke of 'the West's political culture' going to the dogs. ... Now it's financial fascism he wants to save us from. ... Contrary to his reputation as a cool-headed great thinker, Habermas clearly belongs to the ranks of the apocalyptic-minded hysterical doomsayers. In his account of the euro crisis, politics has long since been caught up in the wheels of the economy. ... Instead of trying to ensure social equality the democratic decisionmakers are preoccupied with providing the markets with business. They are the slaves or, like the German Chancellor, the willing accomplices of 'a crazed financial capitalism' that is interested solely in the short-term prosperity of the shareholders and regards the democratic legitimation processes as superfluous. ... In reality all the rhetoric is aimed at exonerating the politicians of their responsibility, leaving them free to continue with the politics of convenience."   

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