1 Rabbits and Rockets

We live in times in which transformation is frequently discussed. The word is, as is the case many people today, thrown around carelessly and hastily. What it means, however, is often lost in the process. Transformation means transformation, and this can be understood either way. When a magician in a vaudeville show pulls a rabbit out of his top hat, this transformation is a trick, something real, but the processes behind it are not clear to us. Surprisingly, most people in the audience, after seeing this or a similar trick, ask themselves, "How did he do that?" After the show, people put forward theories and attempt an analysis. They might even google how these "pulling a rabbit out of a hat" tricks work. After all, they are standard practice among professional magicians, and somehow, as they say these days, it can't be "rocket science." Upon further inquiry, it may turn out that the matter is not so simple after all. It takes a pretty well-oiled process to pull the white rodent out of the hat without anyone noticing that it was actually there all along. But once curiosity is piqued, it never stops challenging us. How did they do it?

2 Here or from yesterday

What does this have to do with the transformation that today not only focuses on the socio-ecological sphere, but is gradually transforming the old order of industrial society into a digital knowledge society? Everything. Because it seems that people are far more interested in magic tricks than in real transformation. They aren't interested in how the economy works or what digitalization is good for, except, of course, to change their smartphone once a year. That's why so many people can constantly pull rabbits out of the hat and pretend it's not a trick that's been done countless times before. People aren't paying attention. Why? There's no transformation, no transformation without interest, without curiosity. Psychologists know how this works. The word "interest" is as much a part of transformation as the chicken is to the egg. Interest, in its Latin origin, means "to be between something," that is, on the path to recognizing and understanding something new and, in doing so, leaving the old behind. Interest also means "to be present," that is, to be attentive, or simply "interested." Let's summarize: Anyone who isn't interested in transformation isn't caught between the old and the new, but is stuck in the past, meaning they haven't moved. And that also means they're simply not involved. Not today, not in the future. Anyone who doesn't ask questions, doesn't want to know anything, isn't curious about how things work and how things are going, stands still and makes themselves redundant. It's that simple.

This applies to states, cultures, organizations, and, of course, above all, to those who designed all of this and for whom it exists: the people themselves. On the one hand, we live in an attention economy in which people constantly worry about not being seen. The astute social psychologist Abraham Maslow predicted this back in 1941: Once prosperity and comfort zones have been established at the first three levels of human needs – existence, security, and social (community) – people want to be seen, to have respect, and recognition. But this fourth Maslow is only "half the truth" if one doesn't resolve this quest for recognition, which today happens not only on TikTok and Instagram, with the fifth level: self-actualization. By this, Maslow didn't mean that everyone at this level does whatever they feel like doing, but rather that people consciously use their abilities and talents to make the best of themselves. This, by the way, is also what benefits the community, the others, the most. Strangely enough, this is where things get pretty shaky. People like to take a selfie of themselves and share it with others. But they don't believe they can handle the supposedly complex nature of the transformation. They superficially portray themselves as cool and tough, but this is very often just a trick to distract from their own fear and powerlessness. They're stuck. They don't know how. They haven't learned how.

3 Caring cares for the stunted

Now, we don't want to prematurely turn those who doubt or despair about the transformation into victims – especially not that. This is a pattern often used in our time by politicians and the media, the most important players in the attention economy: victim roles turn people into something they are not, into helpless figures, into objects who need someone to care for them. In pre-modern times, this role belonged to the nobility, the clergy, and the landowners. Their subjects "belonged" to them, literally, but they also had an obligation to care for them when danger threatened – at least, that was the promise. In factory society, this role was assumed not only by the "director," but increasingly by the state itself. It took care of the most important matters of life, as if the citizens were simply too stupid for it. Every life-or-death risk was guaranteed by politicians. The risk that a company goes bankrupt, with job security guaranteed, the risk that energy and life will become more expensive – due to pandemics, inflation, and global crises – with the government's large-scale watering can. But too much concern leads to stunted people who then don't realize that it's their own money, from which they'll get a little back – after deducting administrative costs. So it's not a guarantee, but actually a dirty trick that must be paid for today and tomorrow, including by future generations, our children and grandchildren. Aren't we curious to know how things could be done differently?

4 Take only what you need

In democracies, all constitutions recognize the principle of subsidiarity. It means that those who can should help themselves, so that those who truly need help—because they are sick, old, and helpless—can receive proper help. So, it's not about the false principle of justice, where I'm entitled to what my neighbor has, but about genuine, effective help, which is only available if some don't take what they don't need. The principle of subsidiarity makes perfect sense to us in a small, intimate circle. If a child has a stomachache and needs chamomile tea, their siblings don't have to share it. If it's a child's birthday, their siblings also get a piece of cake and a glass of lemonade, but not the same gifts as the birthday child. And: people who, in their company and in society, always wait for someone "above" to tell them what's right and what's wrong, are very independent in their free time, organizing clubs, weddings, building houses, and completing complicated tasks that no one else would have quite expected of them. The principle of subsidiarity is thus very true to life, a piece of culture and law that we can be proud of because it is entirely genuine. But we must also allow it to live. What seems logical to us on a small scale, we don't do in the larger context.

5 Confidence

Self-realization and self-help, i.e. subsidiarity, are siblings of a fashionable word that is also indispensable for a successful transformation: self-efficacy. Here, too, it is about each and every one of us taking responsibility, in this case even the one very fundamental self-commitment: confidence in our own abilities and competence. It is no coincidence that this self-efficacy is crucial in difficult times. It is about the confidence that we are mature, that we can tackle the problems that exist today soberly but with great confidence in our abilities. This works all the better because our society, culture, politics, and media encourage us to understand the fundamentals of this time, to awaken interest in it, and to be curious about which solutions might be the best for all the unanswered questions we have. This, by the way, is also what we all should expect from leadership in politics and business: to enable people to help themselves and advance, and, as consultant Reinhard Sprenger once put it, "to have more confidence in them than they have in themselves." This isn't a trick, but rather the prerequisite for us to be part of the 21st century and not be left behind. Faith, confidence in ourselves. This is what Immanuel Kant talked about in his essay "What is Enlightenment?" – he immediately provided the answer: "The courage to use one's own understanding." This should be our goal. It certainly is a successful start into the knowledge society.

The essay by Wolf Lotter appeared in ÖBAG Annual and Sustainability Report 2022.

Wolf Lotter For over 25 years, he has been writing about capitalism, its transformative power, and the relationship of modern consumerism to it. In 1999, he was one of the founding members of the business magazine "brand eins," for which he continues to write essays, which, he says, "serve the long-overdue economic emancipation."