In Search of the Moral Compass

Where are they all when it comes to taking a stand? When the time has come to uphold what was so boldly proclaimed not too long ago? In a Republic of Cowards, the moral compass is lost faster than election promises are broken. Why is that? Heidi Kastner’s YOU COWARD! is an attempt at a diagnosis.

Cowardice is not a contemporary invention. It is and always has been a central component of human society. Even in ancient cultures, the coward was considered a disreputable fringe figure of the community. The German encyclopedia “Brockhaus” of 1894 knew precisely: cowardice is a “habitual state of mind in which a person shuns dangers or pain to such an extent that, on one hand, their freedom and ability to act are paralyzed, and on the other, their sense of honor and shame is dulled.” Today, these fringe figures seem to constitute the majority. So, is cowardice a kind of pandemic?