Tired of winning
"As long as farmers do not see any prospects, they will not move," the leader of the young farmers said in the trade press this week. Perspective means: the prospect that things will get better for you later; that there actually is a good future.
When you talk about your perspective, you also talk about the fear that things could get worse. That you're going to lose. That fear makes farmers put on the brakes. And that applies to more people and groups in society.
Social and economic changes never happen without a struggle. They always grind and also cause victims. And it is precisely the victims of today and tomorrow that have a strong motive not to immediately agree to innovation and change. Even if they do endorse the goal – for example more sustainability or more equality. This is the blind spot of 'progressives': the ideal is beautiful and attractive and so they assume that the future will soon be better for everyone: a win win situation. Unfortunately, the latter is not always automatically the case. Just think of Donald Trump and the persistent, broad support he continues to receive even now. Trump uses a different social and economic view, namely zero sum. In other words: there are always winners and losers. And so you just have to make sure that you end up on the side of the winners as quickly as possible. That also explains his diffuse support base. They recognize themselves in this image. They are either the people who are still the 'winners' and who are afraid that all the changes in the corner of the 'losers' end up. Or they are people who are currently at the bottom and who would love to end up in the camp of the winners. “You will get tired of winning,” was Trump's attractive promise in 2016. Not that it has achieved anything, but his worldview is still valid for many. Because they also see evidence of this in their daily lives.
The lesson that progress thinkers can learn from this: recognize that there is 'gain' and 'loss'. Name that and take action. 'We offer you complete security' is not a political message that many people will still believe in 2020. People also do not expect absolute certainty. They do want honesty. And above all, support, help and a realistic perspective to cope with all the major changes. Major transitions by the Dutch government were often accompanied by cutbacks, which meant that the Dutch government had to pay the bill in advance, resulting in increased contradictions.
Fortunately, that thinking is now changing. Politics is once again opting to invest in training, new jobs and modern infrastructure. Sometimes also for buying out, if there really is no other option. With the realization that people can also get between the wheels of changes. In this way the chance of a win win world a little bigger than before zero sum world of Donald J. Trump.