Culture matters 4: ATTITUDE TOWARDS CHANGE

All things have to change to something new, to something strange.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet

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If we look back at the world’s history, the first thing we’ll notice is how everything has changed- not only the beings on Earth, but also the Earth itself. There is land where there wasn’t, there were plants that aren’t anymore… The world keeps changing and that’s also true for our whole lives. And although change is such a central part of life, not all people feel comfortable with it. Today I’ll examine the American and the Austrian attitudes towards change when it comes to changing things and people.

Changing things means mostly improving technologies and optics. The American point of view is according to the Peace Corps site “New is better”. I think the same is true for Austrians. We enjoy having smaller cell phones, new modern clothes, new cafeterias etc. As you see it’s not only about things, but about everything around us. If it’s new it’s considered to be better and sells like hotcakes. However not everyone is happy with the things around changing. The elderly, for example, keep moaning about the good old days, when they had their old washing machine that worked so much better than this new one their children bought for them. And it’s not only senior citizens who aren’t always content with changes. Just think about the new cover child of “Kinderschokolade”. I know so many people of my age who got so angry about it. Some even refuse to buy any more “Kinderschokolade”… So all in all, in Austria change is obviously assumed to be a mixed blessing.

Now for changing people and their lifestyles, Americans think also very positive about any changes. They think by changing, they can become better people and improve their lives drastically. Things are not better, just because they’ve always been done like that. That shows for example in the high turn-over rate in American workplaces and also in their mobility. Austrians, in comparison, don’t like changing their lifestyles. They feel strong bonds with the place they where raised and don’t easily leave that places. I’m not sure, but I think very often that has to do with fear. People don’t think life could be better somewhere else, so what’s the point of moving? And why changing jobs if the one they have isn’t absolutely horrible. Maybe they hate what they’ve got to do every day and they’re miserably paid, but other jobs might be much worse. Don’t ask me about the logic behind this, but it’s the way a lot of Austrians think.

To sum up Americans are pro-change in nearly every way, whereas Austrians aren’t too fond of change. I guess our problem is that we start to like things too easily. I'm a perfect example for that behavior. When I moved into my new apartment I immediately noticed that odd door handle, that you have to turn upwards to open the door. At first I thought we’ll certainly fix that, but after a week or so I got used to it and now I really like it. In fact I absolutely adore our dear incorrectly assembled door handle. Here is it: