Abstract: . . .  I-am-me oriented persons themselves assume responsibility for their strong and weak egos, their personal ideals, and the accepted norms as well as discontinue utilizing the responsibility of the therapist, the social worker, or educator and exercising control over these. The last word belongs to Erich Fromm: „Productiveness is man's ability to use his powers and to realize the potentialities inherent in him .“ (E. Fromm, Man for Him- self , p. 84) Copyright © 2006 by Dr. Rainer Funk, Ursrainer Ring 24, D-72076 Tübingen Tel. 07071-600004, Fax -600049; E-Mail: frommfunk[at-symbol] aol.com Translated from German by Dr. Jo Van Vliet, Tübingen  . . .
. . .  senseless, and would probably even lead to a reinforcement of this mindset. What productiveness means concretely depends on the type of nonproductiveness preponderant in a society. What, then, do productiveness and strengthening of the productive orienta- tion mean for the social character orientation that is I-am-me directed and becom- ing all the more dominant? My reflections on psychodynamics and on the psy- choanalysis of the I-am-me orientation suggest the following summary. The general goal is always to counter the I-am-me orientation assisted by „made“ ability with an experience of the ego assisted by human ability and to recognize and gradually reduce the dependency on „made“ ability. This does not require the rejection of „fabricated“ or „made“ . . .
. . .  and nonproductive orientations. An „activating“ effect of productive „prac- ticing “ and a „passivating“ effect of nonproductive „using,“ for example, can be established. Another possible parameter is an effect giving energy and an effect consuming energy. 9 A second possibility for more specifically determining productiveness and productive orientation is the use of psychoanalytic concepts to discover which fate the productive powers of growth suffer with which type of nonproductive so- cial character orientation. In the case of the authoritarian character orientation we can say that the authority will lead the human being to project the individual pow- ers that make autonomy and independence possible onto the authority, to make this strong . . .
. . .  academic education at this level as a liberation from „bondage,“ yet have absolutely no idea what they want to major in at the university or what profession or occupation they want to pur- sue. The dependency of many I-am-me oriented persons on internalized norms and ideals is not only evident in their proverbial cynicism but in a com- pensation through increased dependency on groups and institutions proffer- ing ideals and norms as „fabricated“ ability (for example, in the form of ethics boards or political correctness). There is no doubt that the striking observations named above indicate that the I- am-me orientation actually reduces ego strength and weakens the psychic pow- ers for growth. For these reasons it can be classified as a nonproductive . . .
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