Are we all still only moving around in our bubbles, unwilling and unprepared to engage in the positions of "the others"? Will only someone be heard who polarises and defames loudly enough, who ignores facts, denies them, twists them, who even calls for violence? The debate over the corona measures has given a new urgency as we address the question of how democracy can be lived and protected in times of an erosion of the centre and social cohesion. Karoline M. Preisler asks herself these questions and, as a passionate democrat, advocates creating new tools and meeting places for the necessary dialogue on controversial topics such as the limits of freedom, religion, climate crisis, immigration and the family.