The controversial psychoanalyst Prof. Klaus Ottomeyer in his contribution to the Tolerance Talks warned that the whole life is determined by the logic of “Homo Oeconomicus”. He criticized the fact that exchange values such as money or gold and their accumulation today are the most important values in our society, while living values such as human rights or sustainability would have to contend with a “permanent relation”. These are somehow taken into account in the pursuit of capital multiplication, but served primarily as a “promotional means”, according to the emeritus professor of the Alps-Adriatic University of Klagenfurt. “The prevailing neoliberalism favors a norm and value chaos that scares people and increases the pressure on each individual,” Ottomeyer said. Above all on the labor market, the fear of being exchanged quickly and easily – driven by an excessive performance cultivation and evaluation pressure – now prevails. Trumps Credo “You’re fired!” shows vividly and drastically how a certain kind of employee suspicion has become salonable. This dominance of Homo Oeconomicus is now going so far that not only companies try to position brands, but individuals themselves stylize as a brand, which Ottomeyer judge as an absurdity par excellence. So everybody is de facto chairman of his own fan club, examples are cases like Theodor Guttenberg, Karl-Heinz Grasser or Donald Trump. Above all in politics this questionable return of the authentic serves as a response to the increasingly complex world, Ottomeyer said. (ws)
