Who Are You?

It is as obvious as it is tragic that, to this day, we have failed to set aside our selfish, short-sighted pursuit of comfort in favor of a future worth living for everyone. This is especially true for us in the Western Hemisphere, who have access to abundant resources and act undeterred against our better judgment—resources that are available to us in unlimited quantities. As we already noted back in the 1980s: «Yesterday we stood on the brink of the abyss. Today we are one step further.» In the meantime, the young people have shaken us awake: Are we all the last generation? A shudder, a sense of dread about the future, a brief jolt through our society. That moment of clarity crumbled shortly thereafter in the clutches of populists of every stripe—right, left, and conspiracy-obsessed—always just a mouse click or a swipe of the finger away from the reality of life. With the pandemic, what had been looming for some time finally became clear, as if under a magnifying glass: We have relied on a social consensus that doesn’t really exist. Emancipation and mindfulness gave way to ideologized narrow-mindedness and cancel culture. And ugliness no longer manifests itself only in the hostile oppression of others, but even within one’s own group. 

So what can we do? For me, putting the individual at the center remains an ideal. To ensure this doesn’t become an empty phrase or apply only to the child in a Waldorf class or the customers at the drugstore, I make it a goal, in every encounter with a stranger, to look the other person in the eye—even before forming a hasty first impression—and ask: «Who are you?» Then preconceptions fade away, possibilities open up, and stories unfold. In this way, the person walking past me carelessly—or even the one annoyingly blocking my path—becomes a human being who, with their longings and hopes, flaws and quirks, inhabits the same world as I do. I like to imagine what it would be like if every interpersonal encounter always began with this question on both sides. Wouldn’t this be a good and easy first step toward a peaceful world in which we can open up spaces for the future together?