A sustainable model for the economy and society

Our society is facing unique challenges in these times of globalization. The mass unemployment that has come about over the past three decades is excluding more and more people and is leading to an accelerated erosion of the foundation on which the German welfare state is based. Demographic change is pushing costs up and at the same time reducing sources of income for social security.

Growing insecurity about the future of the welfare state is worsened by the undermining of an implicit basic expectation of residents-that they can participate in an "upwardly mobile society." A people's belief that things will be better in the future, for their children and society at large, is being pitted against a growing pessimism about the future. Individual and collective preservation of the status quo often is given precedence over a willingness to change. There are still too few people who can imagine the opportunities that this crisis presents. In this context, what could a new and encouraging sociopolitical orientation consist of? What could guidelines-for a sustainable model for our economic and social system that offers sociopolitical guidance about where we are going and how we are getting there-look like?