Young generation: Richard David Precht warns of this fatal development

“Change used to happen in decades,” opens Johannes RehulkaSecretary General of the Austrian Raiffeisen Association (ÖRV) presented the program. “Now it is happening at a speed that presents us with challenges.” Precht even speaks of such a drastic revolution, which has never happened before in human history. “Economic revolutions cannot be reversed,” he says. “They lead to social and political changes. Always.” The goal must be to deal with crises and challenges, he appeals. Not to prevent them.

What does it take? A paradigm shift, “a comeback to confidence,” says Lower Austria’s governor Johanna Mikl Leitner. As well as courageous and performance-oriented people who are willing to take risks. But that’s exactly where another challenge lies

Security instead of freedom

“Young people today are growing up in a matrix full of security,” criticizes Precht. “Lawnmower parents” would remove any obstacle out of caring and thus deprive their children of the opportunity to deal with negative experiences themselves. Young people would then also expect this feeling of security from life, from politics and from their employer. “You gradually exchange freedom for security.”

This development is also reflected in a new future study by ÖRV, for which 1,000 people were surveyed by marketmind. “We see a shift towards security-oriented values ​​among young people,” analyzes marketmind director Kerstin Hofer. “If we lose the feeling of freedom, we will not be able to be innovative and consistently productive,” predicts the philosopher. Now would be the ideal moment for this. “All good ideas arise in exciting times,” says Precht.

He calls for encouraging young people to adopt a mindset that is not oriented towards the digital world. Because in the digital world there is a solution for every problem. However, this expectation would not stand up to reality. It would be better to learn to understand; Not to see challenges as a problem, but as a design task and as something to which each individual can proactively contribute.

Raiffeisen Day 2026: Hameseder says goodbye, Tinhof takes over

300 top representatives from all sectors and federal states accepted the invitation to Raiffeisen Day on June 26th. Last but not least, the Attorney General Erwin Hameseder to pay tribute to his function as part of the event Erwin Tinhof handed over. This was re-elected by the General Assembly the day before. “It makes you emotional, but also proud,” says Hameseder, looking back on his four years as attorney general. As a thank you for his services, ÖRV General Secretary Johannes Rehulka presented him with the Raiffeisen pin in gold with diamonds. The association’s highest award.