Introduction – Always Hyperactive
To the song of Herman van Veens „Schnell weg da, weg da weg“ („Get out quick, out, out“) - people running, scurrying around, hyperactive, all over. Like remotely controlled people connected by headphones connected to smartphones vigouously speaking into emptiness. A mother on a mobile phone annoyed and coordinating events, her child shouting. A father running to the kindergarten two small children behind trying to natch his pace. Another person jogging while pushing a pram, phoning while swallowing a red pill. In a cafe half faces behind laptops. Always in stress and ready for competition in all situations of life. “We must remain competitive!” is the central theme of the globalized world which unites continents and enterprises along with their employees. Whoever wants to be part of the labour market and society must arm himself from youth onwards with every fiber of his body. Our lives are now inherently competitive. Our self control is merely the subjective side of an objective compulsion. To quote Byung-Chul Han professor for Philosophy and cultural sciences at the university of arts in Berlin: “Formerly companies were in competition with one another. Within companies however solidarity was possible. Today however each one competes more and more with the others even within a company. This absolute competition raises productivity considerably but it destroys solidarity and public spirit”. How was it possible to come to this development of a totally flexible person? Was it unavoidable? The film “Marketable people” investigates this and the following questions: What does it do to people when they always have to be marketable? And what happens to our society? Were there any alternatives and how can we get out of this situation now?