Institute for Continuing Professional Development

Lothar Späth
Ministerpräsident des Landes Baden-Württemberg

"The Federal Republic Facing New Challenges -
Do We Need a New Concept for the Social Welfare State?"

"Politics reflects the state of society. What I wanted to suggest is the need to resume this fundamental debate. A society in which only individual groups want to protect their rights and defend them unconditionally against the other parts of society is precisely the egotistical society clinging to yesterday which is unable to develop the individuality, sense of freedom and, ultimately, the inner substance which are prerequisites for a modern, peaceful future society."