Ex-Health Minister Anschober is on a mission to encourage

Rudolf Anschober, Austria's former Green Party health minister during the pandemic, has found a new mission in encouraging people to believe in a positive future. Since leaving the federal government in 2021, Anschober has dedicated himself to exploring topics he deems important, resulting in three books.

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After leaving the federal government in 2021, I considered what the opportunities were in this, my crisis.

His latest work, "Ermutigung: Erfolgsgeschichten für eine bessere Welt" (Encouragement: Success Stories for a Better World), published in 2024, directly addresses what he sees as a dangerous global trend: the rise of the far-right. Anschober posits that this political shift is fueled by a widespread loss of faith in the future and a diminished sense of agency. He notes that surveys indicate a majority of Europeans expect things to worsen, a sentiment he finds "catastrophic."

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I find this intense rightward shift that is asserting itself internationally to be dramatic. I spent many months grappling with how this is happening.

Anschober argues that the far-right capitalizes on this despair by offering an "illusion of a great time machine," harkening back to a perceived simpler past before migration, climate change, or pandemics. This appeal, he suggests, resonates with individuals overwhelmed by the rapid pace of digital progress. He observes a correlation: the bleaker the public mood, the greater the electoral success for the extreme right.

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My thesis is that very many people have lost faith in the future, that the idea that we can shape the future has been lost.

In contrast, Anschober believes center-left movements have struggled to present a compelling vision for the future. With his book, the former elementary school teacher aims to provide a counter-narrative. He emphasizes that "hope is not the same as optimism." While optimism is a belief in a positive outcome, hope, for Anschober, must be "concretely justified" by tangible reasons for optimism, which he seeks to illustrate through examples of positive change worldwide.

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Optimism is like a law of nature. I am an optimist because I believe in a positive outcome. But hope is always concretely justified.