A Complete Fool: An Anatomy of the Federal Republic of Germany

by Karl Richter

Karl Richter critiques modern Germany, tracing its social and political decline to the abandonment of traditional values, and argues for a return to a merit-based societal structure influenced by ancient philosophical ideals.

Antiquity was based on a hierarchical worldview of humans and the universe, which also distinguished between ethical values: the superior at the top, the inferior at the bottom. Gods were placed above humans, who were above animals and the rest of creation. This order was naturally reflected in smaller scales; for example, Plato clearly understood that in humans the head, the seat of intellect making all decisions, is at the top, while the organs necessary for the body’s material functions, such as digestion and metabolism, are located in the lower regions. One might smile at this, but that’s how antiquity saw it.