“We welcome many new things that have come about in the course of our lives: achievements above all in medicine, but also in means of transport and technical devices that make everyday life easier, and last but not least social and political advances. Still, looking beyond our own private lives, I see little reason to be optimistic. Can one really trust that peace will one day come to all the many crisis regions of the world and that the mega means of destruction, to which more and more irresponsible governments and individuals have gained access, will not be used? There is a lot of aggressiveness in human nature, which has become all the more dangerous as science and technology have advanced.
September 11, 2001 showed us clearly how precarious peace is. The Cold War is thankfully over, but the gap between rich and poor and the religious and cultural differences that should no longer have a place in a modern, enlightened world have increased the willingness to use violence and terror. The contrast between the proverbial American optimism and the uncertainty and fear of further terrorist attacks is currently large and far from being processed. The coup that gave us a president in the United States who clearly lost the election makes me think and fear for the stability of American democracy. 9/11 would be a reason to review US foreign policy policies and practices that contributed to the terrorist attacks. But that is exactly what the wave of patriotism in America is preventing.
When I was very young, I believed in moral progress. I haven’t had that belief in a long time. Today I worry for our grandchildren who have to grow up in this world full of fear and aggression.”
Source: Wilma and Georg Iggers, Zwei Seiten der Geschichte. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2002, p. 309f (translation)