News reports would have us believe there is widespread relief across Europe that Austria voted for a Green president rather than a far right candidate allied to the National Front in France. And of course I am relieved as well.
But I am not celebrating too wildly: more than 46% of Austrians voted for someone who would appear to be a fascist. This time the momentum has been stopped, but the trend is profoundly worrying. And it appears to have been very typical in its make up: urban Austria voted Green, and rural Austria voted fascist. The implication is that fear of social integration underpins these votes, and the reality does not.
The need for new narratives is urgent. If not the number living in fear can only grow.
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Indeed. One of my former PhD students with whom I keep in touch lives there and says it is no surprise Hitler came from Austria. The Germans have come to grips with their Nazi past but the Austrians carried on quietly being ultra right wing. When I complained about the right wing bias of the UK press he “sadly in Austria its not only the press that is incredibly right wing.”
One of the ‘problems’ with the current so-called ‘popularist’ trends is that they are being grouped by the media under the same political umbrella when, in fact, there are important national differences reflecting local issues and how they impact on various elements in their respective societies. The Italian Job (haha) strikes me as being very different to ‘Brexit’, which in turn is quit different to the situation in Austria, where its mono-cultural heritage resonates much more strongly. Trump’s victory also reflects some uniquely American issues. While we have seen the4 decline of many Northern towns & cities, it’s not on the scale of the almost total economic depletion of the US ‘Rust Belt’. Then there’s the issue of their complex (and corrupt) voting system which is probably the least democratic in the western world. Finally there is the Marine Le Pen nationalist movement in France, the origins of which date back further than Farage’s campaign and is firmly rooted in the country’s North African colonies. Hollande’s disasterous Presidency has only served to enhance the opposition parties.
While it is encouraging and necessary that elitist political hegemony is strongly challenged in any country, and vital that democracy is not undermined / by-passed by powerful vested interests, at the same time one must hope that the baby is not thrown out with the bath water. Hence, I believe it is dangerous to assume that these current popularist trends are equally ‘prisitine’ in their objectives. Simplistic reportage by the MSM makes it difficult for ordinary voters to distinguish between them.
If there is a common ‘enemy’ it has to be neoliberal economics which has created such unprecedentd inequality and social instability. I’m not sure that the leaders of all popularist movements are prepared to abandon this nonsensical ideology. There is hope in Iceland & maybe in Italy. But no chance in the US, France and the UK!
Hmmm……….
I would recommend staying in Vienna to anyone – a very relaxed city when I visited in 2002, very open people, great sense of humour and I found Austrians to be quite content and easy going at the time which surpised me. We even went to a local heuriger (tavern) to sample some new wine and the locals there started talking to us as if we locals too. One of the flak towers was being used as an urban climbing wall.
I’ve never felt so relaxed in a foreign place.
My view is that the dark side of globalisation has been reified by time – that the dark secret was that the developing nations or third world was going to be developed by sending the developed world’s jobs and investment to them to get more of a return.
To illustrate this, at my workplace, you used to get a Schaffer pen after you had completed your external training. The first pens given were made in America. Latterly they were made in Vietnam. The latter one was slightly more expensive too!
I honestly believe that the abuses of globalisation (and immigration) by business has been rumbled by people the world over. And that is what people are angry about.
You can arbitrage commodities like copper, cold and silver until the cows come home and people will grumble about prices but you will probably get away with it.
But when you arbitrage human beings, their dreams, their lives – then this is what you get.
And what is really bad is that we’ve seen this happen before. But surely we can do better than this?
Richard, most of those who are uncomfortable with uncontrolled mass migration from dangerous parts of the world are not fascists. It is disgraceful for you to suggest such a thing.
Such dismissals of legitimate concerns are in large part what has driven Brexit, Trump, etc. You and your ‘progressive’ friends will continue to make things worse until you learn to engage with people without shouting fascist or racist or bigot or deplorable at those you disagree with.
I’m a big fan of yours and I thought you were better than that.
Oh come on, get real
The Aistrian far right agree fascists
That does not mean I am saying sll with concern about migration are fascists. That is a fabrication of your own making, not mine
Cobblers Richard. The implications of what you said are clear. If it’s not describing people as fascists then it’s labeling anyone who raises the issue as ‘far right’; same implication, different words, all designed to get people to shut up.
Just like the in the rest of Europe many decent liberal people in Austria are concerned to protect western liberal values FROM fascism in the guise of Islamism. You ‘progressives’ keep on bandying the insults around instead of accepting that there’s a problem and contributing to the solution and see where that gets us all, because if us nice liberals don’t deal with it then we’ll leave space for the real far right to do so.
That is complete nonsense
I am completely aware of the risk of Islamic terrorism
I am utterly opposed to making that an issue for all Muslims
Once the terrorist threat was from Ireland and I know something about the sentiments and prejudice that flowed from that
Treating all Irish people as a threat was wrong
But you are doing something similar and I will not stand by and condone that