Die Intelligenz und ihre Feinde

The exploitation of fossil fuels such as coal, oil or natural gas enabled the emergence of today's global industrial society. Cheap energy has led to an unprecedented increase in population. Nevertheless, the democratic mass society of the West, which gave birth to the welfare state, is on the verge of destroying itself again. One reason for this is that the parties fighting for majorities are outbidding each other in promises and overindebted the state. However, the actual reasons for this self-destruction lie deeper than that: while in the ascendant phase of Western societies entrepreneurial forces predominated, since about 1970 the striving for equality has dominated public debate. Today, not only are hereditary differences in intelligence denied, but false incentives also discourage the high-performing and performance.