Hello, I'm the part time spitman
BARBARA: Great White Wedding, Allotment Garden, Bausparvertrag: Is there a new Spießbügertum?
Laura Kajetzke: Rather a spectrum. At one end are the extremely conservative, intolerant, perhaps even misanthropic. Then there are also ecological-correct or outdoor philistines. They too are interested in showing off their values, tastes and lifestyles and saying, "Look, we're doing it right." Many are even aware of this and are self-deprecating, according to the motto: "That's the way I do it, I'm a part time spit."
BARBARA: Where does this attitude come from?
It's getting harder and harder to find the right life in the wrong one. There are so many crises in the world, insecurities, different lifestyles. This creates a yearning for simplification and stability. The word "philistine"? is today more positive again, almost nostalgic. About this term, the German middle class made sure of itself: Who are we? How do we want to be, how do we not want to be?
BARBARA: Nevertheless, there is still the worry of becoming like the parents.
Yes, because the idea is related to becoming inflexible, to persist, perhaps not to be political enough. But one inevitably approaches the values of the parent generation, if one earns more and has obligations.
BARBARA: Why was there more revolt in the past, keyword 1968 ...?
It has become more difficult to formulate utopias. At that time it was very clear what was being rebeled, today the society is more complex, there are more diverse battlefields, especially in the net. Take, for example, the #MeToo or #Metwo movements, which are also directed against stagnant structures, double standards, and what happens behind the scenes.
LAURA KAJETZKE, 40, also researches other "social figures of the present", such as nerds and hipsters
