Democracy Forum: The Whining Society – Where Is the Courageous Citizen?

About this event

This edition of the Democracy Forum invites sociologist Tilman Allert to dissect what the organisers call the “whining society”. Ulrike Ackermann, herself a political scientist and director of the John Stuart Mill Institute, will lead the conversation, probing the rise in depression-related sick leave, the proliferation of safe spaces, and the growing chorus of victim groups that demand special treatment. The evening asks whether German society is genuinely sick – or just prone to complaint – and why indicators of initiative and innovation are slipping at the same time. Allert, emeritus professor of sociology and social psychology at Goethe University Frankfurt, brings a long perspective on the elementary forms of social life. His latest book explores how everyday interactions sustain – or erode – a functioning community. The discussion sits squarely within the forum’s broad aim: to have a respectful but unvarnished dispute about the ideas that underpin liberal democracy, without shouting matches or taboos. You’ll sit in the intimacy of the Holzhausenschlösschen, listening to two sharp minds wrestle with questions that hit close to home: How much protection does a free society need before protection itself begins to suffocate it? The talk is entirely in German, the tone is serious, and the audience is free to disagree – but there’s no performance, just a rigorous exchange of arguments.