What continues to preoccupy me—to use a deeply German word without a direct equivalent—is the situation with the educational institution. Looking into it reveals an abyss: a structural breakdown that erodes our democracy and social cohesion simply because no one is looking. Power imbalances are ruthlessly exploited to ignore basic rules. I am now being unlawfully threatened with the withholding of payment for work I have fully delivered, simply because I refuse to fall in line.
I ask myself: Where does this fear of speaking out come from? In the GDR, while serving in the border troops, I once came terrifyingly close to ending up in the Schwed military prison. Back then, connections to Soviet military personnel—who ultimately held more power than the Stasi—saved me. Today, there is no threat of prison, but the ultimate consequence could be financial detachment and social stigmatization. It is humanity's deep evolutionary fear of being cast out of the group—the sociometer effect, the boundaries of Dunbar’s number.
Yet I will honor my sense of justice. I cannot let this stand, because I perceive my responsibility as a human being differently. I stand with Goethe: “Noble be man, helpful and good.” To be noble, in this sense, means sounding the alarm when recognizing clear wrongdoing.
