Abstract: . . .  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 . . .
. . .  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 . . .
. . .  - Productiveness is also a matter of not fleeing from an external reality that is disappointing and limiting—neither into an illusionary fantasy world nor into a virtual community nor into a consumeristic shopping world nor into a childlike world of innocence nor into a sentimental world of love nor into an exciting world of megaevents, nor into a world of exclusively positive thinking and feeling. - A particular difficulty in strengthening the productive orientation in order to overcome the nonproductive I-am-me orientation is, on the one hand, to . . .
. . .  to be socially plausible. In conclusion I would like to return to the question what productiveness means in light of the gradual dominance of the nonproductive I-am-me orienta- tion. 7 In an interview shortly before his death Fromm even said that „the sick are the healthiest“ (See E. Fromm, „Die Kranken sind die Gesündesten,“ in Die Zeit , Hamburg, 21 March 1980). For a more differentiated discussion see E. Fromm, The Sane Society , pp.17-18. Page 14 14 5. What Productiveness Means Given the I-am-me . . .
. . .  this understanding of productive orientation as the practice or utilization of human inner powers the question naturally arises how postmodern persons with an I-am-me orientation actually use these individual in- ner powers. Do they practice the use of their own capacity to love, to care for others, to grieve, to be happy, or to empathize with others? How do they deal with their abilities to fantasize, to perceive and to resolve conflicts, to accept limi- tations and to overcome their own limitations, to face reality, and to hope for a better future? What significance . . .
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