A little bit of planking
Op-Ed: The «Ich-AG» has recently fallen somewhat out of favor. For its inventor, however, the “Unword of the Year 2002” still represents the lifestyle of the future.
Guest commentary The "Ich-AG" has recently fallen into disrepute. For its inventor, however, the "bad word of the year 2002" still stands for the life concept of the future.Ich-AG is the bad word of the year and Dieter Bohlen is the most successful Ich-AG in Germany. He is a musician, producer and PR manager in one. What he tackles, he pulls off. He knows best what he wants. He writes music, an autobiography and markets his private life. He is self-confident, builds networks and uses synergies like no other. He is a master of self-marketing and earns millions with communication. In short: he is the hero of the media society - and a prototype of the "Ich-AG. Aren't individualism and self-responsibility goals that old Europe has been propagating since the French Revolution? Aren't these skills, which we already practice in our leisure time and consumption, also applicable to our working hours? The industrial society is irrevocably coming to an end. Employers and employees are no longer adhering to what used to be ironclad guidelines. Both sides are practicing flexibility. Companies are gearing their personnel policies to the fluctuations of the market. Employees are taking advantage of the offer of early retirement and are increasingly working in the black economy.
The collapse of the old system harbors both risks and opportunities. The "Ich-AG" must manage itself - whether it wants to or not. The previously externally determined lifetime is the limited equity, the only resource that everyone has and no one can increase. This is being re-evaluated and marketed in the media society, namely individually. In the USA, for example, a student can be sponsored by a bank; in return, he holds information events for the financial institution. Such arrangements are becoming more and more socially acceptable, turning one's own life into a strategic planning game. Economic thinking, previously the dominant knowledge of companies, is reaching consumers and citizens. The term "Ich-AG" stands for this change in values.
This artificial word is less a play on words than a programmatic symbol. And it is a working term from trend research, functional and extremely successful. "From the Deutschland-AG to the Ich-AG" was the agenda of our 5th German Trend Day in 2000, when the linguistic bridge was built between the individual and the economy. As the term spread like a virus, Federal President Johannes Rau warned of the consequences: a selfish elbow society. "Work, education and prosperity for all", promised Ludwig Erhard, the minister of the German economic miracle. The solidarity principle of post-war society had a name: Deutschland-AG. Ich-AG stands for the opportunities and risks of the media society.
You may deplore it or welcome it: The majority of people today want to live a self-determined life and are doing so. The "Ich-AG" stands for nothing else. Anyone who deduces permanent damage to the German language from this is an unworldly purist in their field, linguistics. Linguists simply don't like it when reality intrudes into their ivory tower.
> Peter Wippermann is the founder of the Hamburg Trend Office and has been Professor of Communication Design at the University of Essen since 1993.
The collapse of the old system harbors both risks and opportunities. The "Ich-AG" must manage itself - whether it wants to or not. The previously externally determined lifetime is the limited equity, the only resource that everyone has and no one can increase. This is being re-evaluated and marketed in the media society, namely individually. In the USA, for example, a student can be sponsored by a bank; in return, he holds information events for the financial institution. Such arrangements are becoming more and more socially acceptable, turning one's own life into a strategic planning game. Economic thinking, previously the dominant knowledge of companies, is reaching consumers and citizens. The term "Ich-AG" stands for this change in values.
This artificial word is less a play on words than a programmatic symbol. And it is a working term from trend research, functional and extremely successful. "From the Deutschland-AG to the Ich-AG" was the agenda of our 5th German Trend Day in 2000, when the linguistic bridge was built between the individual and the economy. As the term spread like a virus, Federal President Johannes Rau warned of the consequences: a selfish elbow society. "Work, education and prosperity for all", promised Ludwig Erhard, the minister of the German economic miracle. The solidarity principle of post-war society had a name: Deutschland-AG. Ich-AG stands for the opportunities and risks of the media society.
You may deplore it or welcome it: The majority of people today want to live a self-determined life and are doing so. The "Ich-AG" stands for nothing else. Anyone who deduces permanent damage to the German language from this is an unworldly purist in their field, linguistics. Linguists simply don't like it when reality intrudes into their ivory tower.
> Peter Wippermann is the founder of the Hamburg Trend Office and has been Professor of Communication Design at the University of Essen since 1993.
