Editorial - Here's what our politicians must finally understand

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We'll get to the solutions in a moment, I promise, but first – sorry – one more slap in the face: our political class needs a reality check. I'm not sure whether the events of the past few days will be enough of a wakeup-call, as the first reflex in crises is always to cling to the familiar. That won't be enough in the future. Our politicians have been able to rest on the illusions of successes of previous generations for so long that they have forgotten what responsibility they really bear: nothing less than the existence of the free world. Social cohesion, security, energy supply, pensions, democracy itself… everything seemed so firmly anchored and is now crumbling under our feet.

The foundation of our current lives is built on sand: a wealth gap that has been widening for decades, fossil fuels as the basis of our energy supply, climate change, spiralling growth at the expense of others, worries about how to finance retirements, rescue packages for banks and companies that cut staff yet pay out millions in dividends and bonuses… dead ends that have made our society just rich enough that our politicians have been allowed to ignore them until now. There has always been one more curve in the road, one more blind spot that has hidden the inevitable. Now the bill is due, and they have to explain to the "normal people" that the tricks that have made the rich so very rich and the powerful so very powerful will be at their expense – again. The days of people doing "just well enough" are over. The populists have ripped the golden plasters off society's gaping wounds. But they are not doctors. So what must the politicians – the ones who really want to help – finally realise so that the patient doesn't bleed out?

Firstly: populism wins. Full stop. Not for everyone, but for a significant part of society. You can't ignore those folks. People want concrete, tangible solutions to their concrete, tangible problems. Nobody can blame them, life is hard enough. It's a truism that there are no simple solutions to complicated problems. Instead of seeing this as an insurmountable hurdle, it needs to become a guideline for communication: If you have to explain why your policy is good, you've lost. If you have to back up a statement with statistics for it to make sense, you've lost. If you have to explain maths to people for them to understand why your genius plan works, you've lost. K.I.S.S.: Keep it simple, stupid. Behind the scenes, you can cram as much finesse into the projects as you wish. But when it comes to communication, you have to be blunt. Everyone has to immediately understand: This will directly improve my life in this way. When elections become a test of knowledge about the complexities of legislature, simple answers win. Always.