Knowledge, dialogue and examples against anger and slogans

The riots in Hamburg around the G20 summit shook us as a team – not least because of the descriptions of a colleague who was on site (passing through from an appointment). He first fled from burning Molotov cocktails and then, after hours of waiting in spookily empty station halls, caught the last train out of the city. Our attitude is very clear: there is no justification or tolerance for violence, which is also directed against completely uninvolved people. Of course we also discuss intensively in the team, when scandals such as the current one in the car industry come to light – and we also understand that such events can trigger feelings of powerlessness and anger, both on the industry and politicians, who obviously didn’t want to look so closely for a long time. At the same time we see no reason for conspiracy theories. The global economy is too complex to be controlled by a few individual masterminds with evil intentions! Take the example of the banks: in relation to former interest rates, they now receive only half or a third of the price for the same core product (loans). However, the demands for scrutiny and diligence on the part of regulation have in some cases even increased. Of course, this is why the discount interest rates are particularly high, and of course the bank does not want to grant small loans but concentrates on the big deals – otherwise it will not survive. Why then continue to pay out high bonuses? Well, the gentlemen (and ladies) have manoeuvred themselves into a nice prisoner’s dilemma: whoever cuts first, fears losing thousands of employees. For once, a cartel-like arrangement would be something that the population would support – a rogue who calls it hypocrisy. The companies are stuck in their own system – and are being overtaken right and left by “fin-tech” start-ups that are seizing their chance to use innovation to cut costs and speed up processes. Many customers are already changing, very slowly even the mainstream – this too is a kind of “right to vote” in our democracy. Not every traditional company will survive this. We have it really good in liberal Germany, where there are usually freedoms and rights for which billions of people envy us – starting with the right to demonstrate peacefully. Of course, not everything goes smoothly, but you can work, get involved and do things better yourself. The excesses of Hamburg would be a good reason to discuss how to make people experience even more self-efficacy so that they do not (believe that) need violence as an outlet. Good examples and more dialogue. Blaming belongs in the kindergarten. Photo (c) fcl1971 (free images)