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Austria is sleepwalking toward a far-right victory
- ldehaan 3y agoAustria is So lucky,these corporate fascist leftists need to get their asses beat.
- Simulacra 3y agoA similar article was written about the Danish vote to the right and journalist and politicians still don't seem to get it. The voters voted for this. Instead of talking down to them, and discrediting their votes, politicians and journalists need to start considering why the policies that were enacted by the governing party failed. Why did the voters reject those? I think voters across the world are sick and tired of being told by politicians what they should do and think. It should be the other way around.
- tivert 3y agoCan't the far-right parties, politicians, and voters just be banned; for democracy's sake and to avoid a "tragic election result"?
- the_mitsuhiko 3y agoWhy sleepwalking? Seems very awake and intentional.
- hasty_pudding 3y agoMy thoughts exactly. What if the left has been destroying their country through unchecked spending and immigration and the right are the only people awake enough to see it?
- OtomotO 3y ago"What if the left has been destroying their country through unchecked spending and immigration and the right are the only people awake enough to see it?" We had no left government in ages ;) The ÖVP is moderate to right and is part of EVERY government since 1987 (!!!) Also see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ministers_of_finance_(Austria) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ministers_of_finance_(...
- Propelloni 3y agoBut the left wasn't in power the last 7 years. The center-right and the Greens were and are in power. It requires some mental gymnastics to frame this coalition as left. But to be frank, I'm not following Austrian politics closely. If the FPÖ is anything like the German AfD they are actually a very pro free-market. anti-social and worker-hostile party. I don't know why struggling people would vote for them, but they do.
- OtomotO 3y ago> I don't know why struggling people would vote for them, but they do. In stark contrast to many, I know a lot of people voting for the FPÖ, although all my close friends are far more left than right. I have family that votes for the FPÖ, I have acquaintances and I know them, because I talk to them, uncondescending and am very interested in their motives. And quite frankly: Most of the time it's simply not logical. I can point them to laws the FPÖ enacted (because, you know, stuff like that is public), laws that DIRECTLY hurt them and they still vote for them, because "the foreigners, they will take everything we have!" And even foreigners vote for them. People that are not Austrian citizens but already living in Austria feel like they belong here but now the gates should be closed. It all boils down to emotions and the good ol' divide et impera, which has worked for millenia all around the world. Some have their reasons, e.g. because they like what the FPÖ is doing at local levels.
- AlexandrB 3y agoI was about to post the same thing. The article strikes a very condescending tone towards Austrian voters - like they're idiots for voting this way. Meanwhile, as usual, it's the economy that has people upset: > Year-on-year inflation peaked at 11.2 percent in January 2023 and remains above the eurozone average. And natural gas prices increased by 103 percent in the first half of 2023 compared with the same period the year prior. These kinds of numbers have very real consequences for people living paycheck to paycheck.
- archagon 3y agoWhen has the far right actually solved any real problems instead of exacerbating them?
- akmarinov 3y agoAustria uses predominantly Russian natural gas via the Ukrainian pipeline. Sure, it sucks that prices are going up, but going against Ukraine and against Bulgaria - the two countries that can transit that Russian gas to them - isn't the smartest of decisions.
- AniseAbyss 3y ago[dead]
- rob74 3y agoSo then the alternative is to let Putin have his way with Ukraine, just so gas prices stay low? It's really interesting how similar the "political programmes" of far-right populists are across the globe, from FPÖ to Orbán to Trump: anti-immigration, vaccine skeptic, isolationist, against international treaties and organizations (EU, UN, NATO, ...), and (most interestingly) consistently pro-Putin. I wonder why...
- 1337shadow 3y agoIn EU, electricity price is indexed on gas price, and so, we the gas price is applied to cheap nuclear energy. Also, care do demonstrate how buying Russian oil to India saves Ukraine? Thanks.
- foraway 3y agoI think the idea is that only people who agree with the author are Austria.
- lorddoig 3y agoBecause admitting that right/centre-right views are democratically popular would mean they'd actually have to grapple with the issues going on. It's cheaper and easier to make comparisons with the Nazis and play to the raw outrage of their readership than actually engage in real journalism.
- ch_sm 3y agoThe comparisons with the Nazis - in the case of the FPÖ - are not exactly far-fetched. They have a history of engaging with Neo-Nazis.
- Simulacra 3y agoThe left has been calling everyone on the right racist and Nazis for so long that it's lost its punch. Just because someone disagrees with you doesn't make them a Nazi or racist.
- airpoint 3y agoSounds like you’ve no actual clue of the history of FPÖ.
- lorddoig 3y agoThat's as may be, but it's also a well-rehearsed cry of establishment media: - "Neo-Nazi accused a fan of Nigel Farage, trial told", BBC [0] - "Farage’s fascist past?", The Independent [1] - "Giorgia Meloni appoints minister once pictured wearing Nazi armband", The Guardian [2] - "Milei appoints former minister with pro-Nazi past as head of state lawyers", El Pais [3] The first isn't anything to do with Farage, really. The rest are childhood indiscretions and one case of a bad taste outfit worn on a stag party. Google any democratically elected leader from the right followed by "nazis" and you'll find articles like this. [0]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-57258375 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-57258375 [1]: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/nigel-farage-fascist-nazi-song-gas-them-all-ukip-brexit-schoolfriend-dulwich-college-a7185236.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/nigel-farage-... [2]: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/01/giorgia-meloni-galeazzo-bignami-nazi-swastika-armband https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/01/giorgia-meloni... [3]: https://english.elpais.com/international/2023-12-02/milei-appoints-former-minister-with-pro-nazi-past-as-head-of-state-lawyers.html https://english.elpais.com/international/2023-12-02/milei-ap...
- agilob 3y agoWhen people are leaning towards far-rights it's sleepwalking, when they are leaning towards far-left they are a progressive society.
- n0t3ths81 3y agoIs it really far-right or simply not left?
- bun_terminator 3y agoBarely right at all in fact
- xyzzy4747 3y agoSleepwalking is a condescending term, like the author knows better than them. You know what else is stupid? Excessive over-regulation and the stagnation of Europe's economy, which aligns with the author's politics. >Year-on-year inflation peaked at 11.2 percent in January 2023 and remains above the eurozone average. And natural gas prices increased by 103 percent in the first half of 2023 compared with the same period the year prior. Left-wing politics are going to improve this? Lol. Please remind me who are all the groups that got everyone to stop building nuclear power?
- sph 3y agoPossibly controversial in this day and age of Twitter takes: Germany did not sleep walk into a NSDAP victory. People actually voted for it. A reason there is so much political division is the stupid belief that the bad outcome happens because nobody is awake/smart/educated enough to stop it from happening. No one considers the fact that they are living in a bubble, and the majority might have a totally different view, and thus political affiliation, than your bubble. You can thank the social media recommendation algorithms for turning this bubble into a cozy echo chamber. An intellectual prison where both sides move further and further away, each with their own set of truths, beliefs and interpretation of the world. The saddest thing is, media and journalists are the ones most entrenched in the social media idiocy, and help it spread like wildfire. Party politics were a mistake, social media made it exponentially worse.
- AnimalMuppet 3y ago> Germany did not sleep walk into a NSDAP victory. People actually voted for it. 30-something percent, IIRC. Enough to give them a large presence in the legislature - the largest, though not a majority. But they didn't really run things until Hitler was appointed chancellor. Appointed. Not elected. So, yes, Germany did vote - once - for all those Nazis in the legislature. Hitler would probably not have been appointed if the Nazis only had, say, 5% of the seats. But Germany didn't elect Hitler to run the country.
- mopsi 3y agoI looked it up: 44%. That's more than is common for governing parties in many political systems (the rest coming from coalition partners for a parliamentary majority), so it's entirely fair to say that NSDAP had people's mandate.
- indigochill 3y ago> Party politics were a mistake Agreed, but I don't see practically how to avoid them in a democracy/republic, even if you started from a totally clean slate and could unilaterally make all the rules before setting it loose. A successful political campaign requires funding and if you don't want directly corporate-sponsored politicians then let's assume for the sake of argument you can create parties which don't take corporate funding. Can't have them running on public funding or you give incumbents a massive potential for corrupt campaign funding. And different geography drives different motivations. What someone farming in Kansas cares about is probably significantly different from what a lead engineer in San Francisco cares about, even if you zeroed out all their existing cultural biases. People with similar interests then will naturally gather to campaign for their interests. Those interests will probably fund candidates they want to succeed. And that then leads into a vicious cycle where the winners (even if they're not actual corporations) get economic benefits they use to fund the next favorable candidate and so on and you end up eventually more or less where the US is now.
- hasty_pudding 3y ago[dupe]
- rob74 3y agoYour comment doesn't become more true (or, let's say, convincing) if you post it twice...
- hasty_pudding 3y ago[flagged]
- the_mitsuhiko 3y agoI wonder which left that would be in Austria.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- OtomotO 3y agoDepends on where you live... in Graz the KPÖ (Communist Party of Austria) was elected a while ago. In Salzburg there was a mayor-election that ended in a second ballot between the SPÖ (socialist party of austria) and the KPÖ candidate. The FPÖ is mostly voted by the people in rural areas that have never seen an asylum seeker... similar to how the rural people voted for Erdogan and how the rural people vote for Putin... Ignorance is not a bliss for everyone, just for the ignorant.
- ch_sm 3y agoLike the article says, it‘s very likely that the FPÖ will win the next election. Even optimistic liberals share this expectation. Kickl, I‘m afraid, is much more serious in his anti-democratic ambitions than the FPÖ leaders preceeding him. It‘s frankly worrying.
- AlexandrB 3y ago> Kickl, I‘m afraid, is much more serious in his anti-democratic ambitions than the FPÖ leaders preceeding him. Can you elaborate? The article doesn't mention any anti-democratic policies the FPÖ wants to enact.
- xinayder 3y agoEvery time there are important elections I keep reading that Austria is sliding towards far-right. I don't remember when was the first time I heard this, but it was a while ago and I guess it was the first time in the 21st century that Austria chose a far-right PM. Don't know the repercussions, but I guess this is a common thing? And why is it such a huge thing that Austria is shifting towards far-right? I know it's a problem for most countries, but is there anything important about Austria shifting towards this end of the political spectrum?
- OtomotO 3y agoJust historic reasons. We should know better after Engelbert Dollfuß and Adolf Hitler.
- Rucadi 3y agoAren't these socialists?
- OtomotO 3y agoNo, one was a fascist and Dollfuß was ... well, read it yourself https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engelbert_Dollfuss https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engelbert_Dollfuss There is this famous quote in German, let me translate it to you: "You become a good christian by going to the church, as much as you become a car by going to the garage" The same applies to everything. Just because someone calls himself by something doesn't mean shit.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- xienze 3y ago> but is there anything important about Austria shifting towards this end of the political spectrum? Because the media's favorite go-to about ANYTHING right of center is "Nazis! Nazis! Nazis!" and well, Hitler was born in Austria, so this is an omen or something.
- 3y ago
- OtomotO 3y agoWhat I can't stand is the old "but the left wing does unchecked spending" myth. The ÖVP reigned ABSOLUTE for decades (!) in Niederösterreich and it has the second most debt of all Austrian states. Also: The ÖVP is moderate to right and is part of EVERY (federal) government since 1987 (!!!) Also, guess who provided the minister of finance?... well, no need to guess: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ministers_of_finance_(Austria) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ministers_of_finance_(...
- blitzar 3y agoThe best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter. I am not sure which side is more retarded these days - left or right. Anyone with half a brain looks on at the tribal demagoguery and disengages from all things political; thus all we are left with is chancers, grifters and charlatans.
- junglistguy 3y ago[dead]
- junglistguy 3y ago[dead]
- derelicta 3y agoHopefully KPÖ will agitate enough to guarantee their presence in the federal assembly.
- OtomotO 3y agoThe Beer Party should join forces with the KPÖ
- derelicta 3y agoIf they are willing to spend their efforts spreading class consciousness, why not ? :D And also if they understand being part of a commie party in parliement is just to be able to act as a vanguard party.
- OtomotO 3y agoIt's a shame the term "Communist" is burned forever by some idiots calling themselves communists who clearly were not. Yet this is an argument that I'll always lose, because it's academic. I hope the KPÖ is on my ballot this time and I can give them my vote.
- derelicta 3y agoMmhhh whats the country/party you are refering to if I might ask?
- OtomotO 3y agoAustria/KPÖ and the problem they have with the naming or at least that's what many people I've talked to and in the public discourse. That's why some people have taken to calling it "Karitative Partei Österreichs" :)
- Simon_ORourke 3y agoThe headline here is mighty disingenuous, Austria has been voting in far right parties since the late 1990s. In fact, as a country they've moved very much to the right even in the last decade. It's not sleepwalking into anything if the voters consciously keep voting this way in larger numbers, in fact it kind of absolves the Austrian electorate from what they've chosen... "It wasn't me mister, I just sleepwalked into voting for a bunch of unreformed nazis".
- em1sar 3y ago[dead]
- em1sar 3y agoBeautiful to see it, hope Germany is next!
- uaserussia 3y ago[dead]