Back to the Future? (e)

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For a change, the most powerful country in the world actually has a megalomaniacal business leader, and since no one could have imagined that this would actually happen, all we can do now is imagine how surreal the outcome will be. Unfortunately, in reality, things usually unfold with sober consistency rather than with the comforting melodrama of a movie, where the Magnificent Seven prevent the worst at the last second. Neither the umpteenth cavalry nor any Hollywood freak can turn things around here and now. Nevertheless, some people seem to have retained a mindset as if life were just a crazy world theater best enjoyed in a relaxed and cheerful mood. Not me.

For some time now, I’ve been experiencing an eerie cinematic déjà vu. You may recall that in the second installment of the "Back to the Future" trilogy, the villain Biff Tannen – any resemblance to real people was entirely unintentional at the time¹ –comes into possession of a sports yearbook from the future. Using the game results listed there, Biff becomes a billionaire through sports betting and, with a shallow media empire, also rises to political power. The consequences for society: arbitrary rule and neglect, Sodom and Gomorrah. Our young hero, Marty McFly, narrowly manages to correct the disaster in the past through time travel by taking the sports almanac out of circulation. But what if that same nightmare becomes reality and, without a time machine, can no longer be reversed?

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¹ P.S. in February 2025: The film trilogy recently celebrated its 40th anniversary. The coverage now provides us with more specific details. It turns out that screenwriter Bob Gale’s team definitely had the Trump Tower and its despicable owner in mind. However, they considered this reference so outlandish that it was meant to be a particularly funny exaggeration. How things can lose their charm over time …

„Farewell democracy!“– An apocalyptic mood as Obama leaves office. (Photo: IMAGO / ZUMA Wire)

A high-tech world with highly sensitive networks and transparent communication really shouldn’t fall into the wrong hands. But unfortunately (oops!), that’s exactly what just happened. Cautionary dystopian tales alone apparently no longer have any educational effect, people just don’t care about anything. For every trivial update, we reflexively agree to terms of service in a foreign language, and throw in our date of birth, blood type, and account number while we’re at it. Why shouldn’t the Americans just click on some real estate guy and appoint him president in the White House? After all, he’s a profit-driven entrepreneur who can easily do without climate change and focuses on simple solutions without regard for future generations. This doesn’t just warm the heart of the German arms industry, every shady business is warmly invited to the U.S., as long as it creates any number of jobs.

I fear that the coming period will be marked by the most despicable deceptions and cheapest tricks that U.S. economic and financial policy has ever seen, with the sole aim of fabricating the supposed track record of a brazen braggart.

It’s depressing how far we’d already come into the future and how quickly we’re slipping back out of that enlightened mindset. My personal observation: Since 1984 (!), a decline in media standards – and with it, a creeping process of dumbing down – has also set in here in the Federal Republic of Germany. That was when RTL, the first private TV station, went on the air. And our American friends are years ahead of us in every respect.