Our growing weaknesses
12 januari 2026Lecture for Rotary Club Frankfurt
Vulnarabilities
I particularly enjoyed the Frankfurt exhibition in the Städel Museum on ‘Rembrandt’s Amsterdam Goldenen Zeiten?’ in February 2025. The artwork was incredibly moving and captivating and the stories about city-life in the 17th century opened my eyes and inspired me to the talk I gave on January 12th this year. Rembrandt showed in his drawings that Amsterdam was a pioneer, they were doing what few cities at that scale had done before: taking care of their vulnerable inhabitants. Others, including the 17th century Frankfurters, regarded this highly. Of course, I knew about these activities. The old city centre of Amsterdam still has the buildings dating from those times for the orphans, mentally disturbed and rehabilitation homes for convicted criminals. What I did not know was that Amsterdam had a leading, or guiding, roIe in this subject. Taking care of the vulnerable was necessary then, as it is necessary today.Others, including the 17th century Frankfurters, regarded this highly. Of course, I knew about these activities. The old city centre of Amsterdam still has the buildings dating from those times for the orphans, mentally disturbed and rehabilitation homes for convicted criminals. What I did not know was that Amsterdam had a leading, or guiding, roIe in this subject. Taking care of the vulnerable was necessary then, as it is necessary today. When I stated to my own Amsterdam Rotary Club that it feels good to take care of people in need, I was criticized by a one of our youngest members with Turkish roots: “Do not you think it is rather arrogant and paternalistic to look after and to take care of vulnerable people”? I did not know what to say; I felt exposed and unsure. . I felt vulnerable. The theme of this talk: there is no strength without weakness.
Who is the boss?
The degree of paternalism in a society explains a lot about how that society functions and how cultures may polarize and find themselves in deep-rooted conflicts. This effect trickles down into society, becoming ingrained in companies, politics and education to name a few. Important sources for my work as a sociologist are the intensive, up to four hours, in-home observations and interviews. These were conducted with as little interventions as possible, where the respondent talks freely, for instance about how the last weekend was spent. My aim was to avoid socially desirable answers and trying to discover ‘golden sentences’. These are key sentences that explain the life-style choices made, determining patterns about family, friends, money, work, leisure, media, beliefs, dreams and fears. I collected hundreds of these golden sentences and since 1997 ‘we’ (Motivaction International, the company I founded in 1984) ask worldwide: “Do you agree or disagree to: The father should be the head of the household’. If you compare your personal viewpoint today with the situation when you were a child or even the situation at your grandparents’ time, we are already seeing interesting patterns. In Germany, a representative sample of the general population shows an unaltered 25% confirmation over the last ten years. However, there was an increase of 9% that disagreed (from 32% to 41%). The ‘neither’ group lowered from 42% to 34%. In my opinion, this shows a stable, rather traditional, group that still considers the father dominant. Equally interesting is that the groups who rejects this dominance is growing over the years, slowly moving towards a majority.
Cultural differences
We know that as countries and cultures differ, so does the degree of paternalism. Within overall national figures, there are specific subgroups that mostly respond as expected. For instance within regions (e.g. Bible belt) or political orientations (e.g. Republicans versus Democrats). Let me show you some numbers representing the degree of paternalism: Sweden (16%); Spain (19%); United Kingdom (25%); United States of America (41%); Canada (31%); Turkey (58%); Indonesia (90%). If Canada were to be ‘integrated’ within the USA, it would be the end to a Republican majority. And all these analyses made are based on only one statement. This is Sociology. We can go a lot further into detail and look at a specific social domain such as Education. In a country with a low-level of paternalism such as Sweden (16%) we find a completely different educational system from a country with a high-level paternalism, such as Indonesia (90%)
Sweden (16% paternalism) Indonesia (90% paternalism)
Aspirational: Controlling:
Highly individualistic High-power distance
Independent Respect for elders
Personal achievement Decisions taken top down
Self-expression Traditions and religion are highly valued
Minimal hierarchy High Uncertainty avoidance
Informal Communications Structured discipline
Open to innovation Hierarchical thinking
Technical advancement Teacher centered
Independent Institutions Learning by memorization
Critical Creative Thinking Mistakes are punished
Problem solving
Collaboration between people, raised in such fundamentally different systems could be rather a challenging. And more importantly, such cultural differences are a major source for failed mergers or take-overs but are often not respected or not well understood; cultural differences are a major source for failed mergers or take-overs. Just consider so many misunderstandings in debates at the United Nations. A big waste of energy and money, and besides, it makes all participants vulnerable.
Populism
Until a couple of years ago, sociologists expected a worldwide decline of paternalism, but the opposite seems the case. In worldwide surveys it can be seen that boys and young men feel more vulnerable than one generation above did at the same age. They see girls and women emancipating, being more disciplined, more aware of their equal rights and taking positions as medical doctors, judges, professors or prime ministers. As a counter movement, growing conservative and misogynistic behavior is shared on different social media platforms, referred to as the Manosphere. This movement cost the female candidate Kamala Harris in de United States Presidential elections precious support. Prominent American figures like J.D. Vance and Elon Musk perform as role models and supply financial support because they know these Manosphere platforms like to sabotage social structures, independent institutions and reasonable political parties. Specifically for your upcoming elections in Saksen-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern this may result in a growing popularity of populist parties.
A very different development should not be underestimated; I am referring to Competitive Authoritarianism. We are all aware that this is not a new phenomenon, but we seem not to have learnt from the past. The principle is very simple: populist leaders state that everything must change and they promise ‘free beer’. As the majority of the population is only short-time focused; these populist parties win the elections. As soon as they are in power, they start systematically eliminating civil society, eliminating Rule of Law, eliminating independent media, eliminating Electoral Law. Authoritarian power and dictatorship are difficult to bring to reason, and it is not only failed states such as Iran or Venezuela that took this path. The way back to democracy can be a hard and long one. I wonder if your Friedrich Merz can handle this battle with the low popularity he has: “We have to trust ourselves, our courage, decisiveness, ‘tatkräftig’, ‘entschlossen’, ‘sachlich’, ‘nüchtern’. Is this enough? I think he is rather vulnerable and this makes Germany vulnerable. On the other hand: positive change has not completely disappeared: Zohran Mandani was elected as the mayor of New York. He needs to be well protected.
Europe
Yet we must count our blessings; Europe has never been so rich, so well educated, so peaceful, united and strong. But for decades the United States of America has done the dirty work, and we now find ourselves rather over-regulated, and with little political strength. More vulnerable than we were aware of.
There is work to be done. If we consider Europe’s ten most valuable companies by December 2025 it seems that it is dominated by lady handbags and beauty products (LVMH, Hermès and L’Oreal are high-ranking). The German car industry does not appear in this Top Ten, not even if we add BMW, Mercedes and Volkswagen. Of course, we must consider that these lists are constrained, and change by the hour. Also, some high-value companies are either private or not listed. I refer to the suppliers of tools and parts for the German Car Industry. It goes without saying that the German Car Industry, once the backbone of the European economy was not fully aware of innovations beyond their sight. With rearguard action or ‘Ruckzugsgefecht’ Europe shall not win the battle. I am not in a position to teach you about the Shanghai Shock of 2023 nor about the opinions of Moritz Schularich (LfW) or Hildegard Muller about the existence of the German Car Manufacturers in ten years from now.
The Rotary 4-Way Test always starts with the question ‘Is it True?’ I am asking you: Who do you think is responsible for our accumulated knowledge about the negative features of batteries and full electric driving? It probably helped temporarily, so did the fraudulent software. Delay of an EU ban on fossil energy for car engines is not very innovative either. Europe needs to be stronger and with the bankruptcy of the Northvolt battery factory in Sweden we are again, also in this domain, more vulnerable for the future.
China
China’s Supreme Leader Xi Jinping seems to be patient, but his dream is clear: China is to become the richest and most powerful country of the world. He asks his people to work very, very hard, to compete without mercy and to be the best in everything. Every citizen must be idealistic, must dare to take responsibilities, support hardships and be ready to fight. The country is leaping forward. In Chinese universities 41% of the students graduate in science subjects such as Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Computer Sciences, Technology. In Europe we reach 18% of the students. Typical arrogant and paternalistic comment from our side: “Our educational level is of better quality”. Excuse me? Have we not learnt? Please look at the numbers. Soon enough there will be better and stronger teachers leading to higher quality education in China. But China is also vulnerable. Aside from the real estate crisis and the growing unemployment, the population is shrinking rapidly. As a result of the one-child policy in a patriarchy that values men more than women, there are many millions more men than girls. Even more alarming are the censured and vanished studies about the ‘staying flat, do nothing at all, or do only the minimum’ generation. These youngsters see their aging parents and grandparents suffering to earn little money to stay alive. The state of China did not seriously invest in pensions and care for their vulnerable elders. Businesses are subsidized and stimulated to compete at the world market. More and more of the younger generation see little hope and perspective, considering that at old age you still have to do lousy jobs. Because these studies have disappeared, we do not know how big and serious this vulnerable new generation is.
Human Rights
Since 1948 we pride ourselves to have a Universal Declaration of Human Rights. However, more and more autocratic world leaders do not adhere or just reject all ‘woke’ documents, declarations and words. Article 1 is founded in that all humans are born free with equal rights and should live in dignity, long known about anti-discrimination. Lesser known is Article 29 on ‘Duties and Limitations’. It teaches us that we all have obligations towards others and that no one should look away from problems or vulnerability. Everybody means everybody, and it does not mean pampering, it means mutuality, everyone does what he or she can do. Let’s call it ‘Gegenseitigkeit’. We have known for a long time that a homeless person (no job, no house, no insurance, no nothing) costs the community an average of €50.000.- per year. These costs are for assertive outreach community treatment (Interferenzpflege) by police, medical care, cleaning, etcetera. Populist politicians pretend they can wipe out this ‘nuisance of what they call incorrectly ‘immigrants’ and criticize the over regulated and soft policies of democratic politicians. Even though they also have a point here, it does not help to fight this complicated battle with a simple clean up or violent suppression.
Rotary comes in
We could look more seriously at the business model and spend the €50.000,- per person more wisely. After a personal experience at your Hauptbahnhof one year ago, I realized that Amsterdam Central Station, unlike 20 years ago, is a safe, clean and rather pleasant place to be, almost like an international airport. I managed to find the Amsterdam Central Station Manager and have an interview with him and asked how he managed to keep the whole area so pleasant and comfortable. “I cannot’”, he answered: “It is a battle 24/7 and it never stops”. He talked for more than an hour about his team, the different stakeholders and all the tricks and measures to keep it enjoyable for everybody. Of course, the ‘problematic people’ have not disappeared, and other neighborhoods and parks are suffering. The growing number of shelter houses in Amsterdam can hardly handle the ever-growing numbers of many East-European people that lost their jobs and houses and find themselves in a dead end road and do not know where to go next. Alcohol and drugs are a challenge that can hardly be resisted. Obviously, every situation is different and there is not one silver bullet solution. Rotary Club Amsterdam is supporting shelter places for the vulnerable, and on a regular basis we are cooking healthy meals. Dental care is provided to several people that have become handicapped in order to re-integrate in society. Last year we gave tickets for a musical show to a dedicated group of cleaners and their partners. They were taken aback by this gesture, as they are often not seen or respected. We all realize it is just a drop on a hot steel plate, but we also do not want to stay indifferent and as Rotarians we all know that strength starts with moral strength.
Thank you so much for inviting us to come and talk about caring for vulnerable people. We are looking forward to your next visit to Amsterdam with a challenging program. Also the manager of Amsterdam Central Station sends his regards and invites all of you to stop by, and hear more about his battles and experiences.
Frits Spangenberg
