The fisherman's story sets the scene very well. A lonely fisherman enjoys his fishing along the seaside. When an entrepreneur comes by, and tells him he could catch much more by investing in a new net, a new boat, etc... the fun is over. The fisherman asks the entrepreneur why he should change the way he fishes. Obviously: to become richer... Indeed, but what is the advantage of that? Well, you don't have to work anymore and you could spend your entire day doing what you like: fishing. Well, that is exactly what I'm doing already, says the fisherman. We all know the fisherman will now be condemned to change.
We all feel like the fisherman from time to time, we don't realise we chase the other fishermen as if we were entrepreneurs. Society is increasingly turning into a "maelstrom". "Fluids" and "turbulence" are the physical metaphors for our accelerating society. The author believes this increased speed is not just to be understood as "more of the same in less time". He believes the "Beschleunigung" radically changed society.
He points out that acceleration manifests itself in different ways. There is the technical acceleration, well known as the multiplication of scientific and technical breakthroughs. There is the increased neurotic pace of daily life. And finally there is the increased rate at which we change our social environment: our work, our suppliers, our associations, and even our "life" mates. The author believes we have come to a point that these three accelerations are even reinforcing each other.
Hartmut Rosa reveals some underlying motives. The changing environment encourages us to keep all options open and we have become afraid of missing opportunities. On top of that, our uncertainty forces us to take nothing for granted. We have to justify what we are doing with our time and the pressure has become totalitarian.
Like always, there are paradoxes. The increased "turbulence" (my own metaphor) also leads to a new "steady-state" , even "status-quo". More and more, we have the feeling nothing "really" changes. For many people, this lack of orientation and meaning is problematic.
It goes without saying that "Beschleunigung" is just one, interesting way to characterise "our time". There may be other ways to interpret the current evolution. Whatever the interpretation is, steadfastness and resilience in the pursuit of a meaningful life seem to be key qualities to survive well in the accelerating society.
I refer to my earlier blogs: "Lifestyle", "Time and energy in households" and "Status anxiety".
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