The death of democracy

Jorg Haider, a 49 year-old lawyer by practice, formerly led the Austrian Freedom Party, a right-wing party (considered radical extremist, but it is socialist Europe that's talking). Austria's last elections showed an unexpectedly strong support for the "yuppie nazi", as his enemies like to call him, and eventual ruckus caused by the European Union (EU) led the party chairman to resign in disgust. In any case, here is the story.

Austria had been long ruled by the socialist majority, the omnipresent Social Democrats. It's true. Go to Europe and half the left wing liberal parties there are named either Liberal Democrats or Social Democrats. In any case, in the early 1990's a lot of people in Austria got sick of the welfare state and started voting for him. Despite his anti-Semetic and anti-immigration views, he gained strong support from all over Austria. Don't call me a hypocrite. Hey, even I don't like him, but I'm was even more disgusted by what happened next.

He was elected governor of his home province of Carinthia for a second time in March 7, 1999. Some people are already mighty pissed off about what he has said, but it is democracy, and they elected him, after all. Silent majority, anyone? In the October 3, 1999 general elections, Haider and the FPO enjoyed an extremely strong showing. While final results await a count of the absentee ballots, the unofficial tally has the FPO emerging in a second-place tie with the ruling coalition People’s Party (considered right wing in Austria, but would be considered moderate in the US), having obtained at least 27% of the popular vote. The Freedom Party will gain 12 parlimentary seats, for a total of 53. The ruling Social Democrats, while maintaining their first-place position, were left with the smallest lead since World War II.

On February 4, 2000, a new Austrian government is sworn in with ministers from Haider's party. Israel recalls its ambassador (and he will probably not be missed), Europe (actually, the EU) reacts with outrage. The EU proceeded to slap sanctions on Austria, and protests in the streets of Vienna drove Haider to resign from his post. But it succeeded to discredit him. Helped along by the liberal media, people continued to harass him and his party until he quit. So much for progressive politics, which was what the protestors were claiming to be doing.

The protestors ignored the fact that he wasn't even chancellor yet, and his party still did not hold a majority. What really is disturbing, from what I see here, is definitely not Haider's rise to power (which is what the liberals are saying). It is more the death of democracy. How people can go against a democratic vote because it displeased them, and proceed to sling mud, slander and riot until their wishes are met, and the subtle approval from the socialist EU. According to a poll, 85% of Austrians is telling the EU to fuck off (literally), for messing with their affairs. Here are a few guesses at what Haider might do, according to his opponents, if he becomes chancellor (he's not, and yet you people still complained):

1. Install his "Nazi" policies into law. Highly unlikely, considering the liberal Social Democrats still hold a majority in parliament.
2. Dissolve parliament, Hitler style. Somehow, I just don't think that's going to happen.
3. Order a second Kristallnacht. Uh, I don't think so........
4. The Second Holocaust. Some people have actually accused him of planning this. Oh well. Political radicalism makes some people lose their heads sometimes.

While the EU blatantly infringes on Austria's sovereignity and gets away with it, the vote of the silent majority of Austria has been overriden by an obnoxiously loud bitching minority, who would willingly ignore democracy for their own political interests. It isn't important people voted for him, we don't like him! Then again, what place does democracy have in a socialist continent? Not too much. Long live socialism! To hell with national sovereignity!

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Then again, what the hell do I know? I'm not Austrian, and the closest I got to Vienna was a 2-hour stay at the airport on the way to London. This came out of 1 hour of research and reading newspapers over the past 3 months. Any Austrians out there feel like telling me why Haider should get kicked out even though he got voted in, feel free to post it here.

Well, Democracy needs a few essential ingredients: Namely, A) Education, B) Free Speach C) Equal Discussion by Sides about Issues D) Time Education is probably the most important part, and probably the one most lacking every where. Education about the government, ethics, money, and everything. But, most public education doesn't talk about anything beyond the base level, so only a few become free thinking individuals, and instead become part of the mob, which is in turn controlled by a few elite. And, as we all know, "Absolute power corrupts absolutely". Besides, giving everyone equel power is the point of democracy right? Rather than feudalism. Second, is Free Speech, a mixed blessing. Good ideas and bad alike float around, and people don't have enough time to digest it all, because self-government is no longer a high priority in the western mind frame. Which brings me to my last to points (the class gives a sigh of relief). Democracy needs equel time given to all valid viewpoints and at least some consideration of all views, even if they are different or alien to you. But you need time to have all this, so we must do as the Athenians did and make government important and integral part of our everyday lives. If we don't, democracy is already dead.

When you join the EU sovereignty isnt given up. The EU isnt a country its a Union of Sovereign Countries Thats why the rest of the EU shouldnt have a say in the internal politics of Austria. The imposition of sanctions to influence the democratic affairs of another country is ethically and morraly wrong. However ethics and morals tend to be in short supply amongst Politicians and so what happened isnt suprising.

Democracy was stillborn, then the society of the spectacle raped and mutilated its infant corpse.

And now, an excerpt from Transmetropolitan, by Warren Ellis:

There's a jungle rhythm beating out below me; the sound of truncheons being hammered on riot shields, police tradition when things get nasty.

I'm in Angel's 8, above what will doubtless be known as the Transient Riot. History's only written by the winners, after all, and if the cops want it called the Transient Riot, then that's how it'll be. Because there's Transient blood all over this place. And you know what?

It's not their fault.

The Transients couldn't have managed this on their own. They're just big kids who thought it'd be fun to live in an alien body. A sane society would've tagged them for the waterheads they are and bought them a big playground. But no one even checked to see if their silly claim for secession was feasible. Civic Centre just decided to stamp on them instead. They paid a few Transients off to start some trouble, deliberately marring a non-violent demonstration.

Spontaneous violence, the only excuse Civic Centre would have to send in the riot cops. These people are bleeding down there for a scam. It's a show of power. How dare anybody ignore the authority of Civic Centre? How dare a bunch of freaks try and think for themselves?] So let's go out and stomp on children, lunatics, and incompetents, because by damn it makes our balls feel big.

I can see a blatantly unarmed Transient man with half his face hanging off, and three cops working him over anyway. One of them is groping his own erection. I'm sorry. Is that too harsh an observation for you? Does that sound like the Truth?

Fuck you. If anyone in this shithole city gave two tugs of a dead dog's dick about Truth, this wouldn't be happening. I wouldn't be seeing a Transient woman with blood on her face huddled in a porn-store doorway, clutching her belly. I wouldn't be looking down at a dead boy, thirteen if he's a day, draped over the hood of a police wagon. No one's eyes would be bleeding from incapacity sprays or the nerve bomblets the cops are launching from Cranberry. I wouldn't be surrounded up here by the people who have to live and work here, weeping openly.

Enjoying this? You like the way I describe disgusting shit happening to people you probably walked past in the street last week? Good. You earned it. With your silence.

You see, here's how it works; Civic Centre and the cops do what the fuck they like, and you sit still.

Your boss does what he likes. The asshole at the tollbooth, the bouncer at your local bar, the security guy who frisks you at the clinic, the papers and feedsites that lie to you for the hell of it. They do what they like. And what do you do?

You pay them. This "riot" here, this terrible shit-rain visited upon a bunch of naive and uppity fetishists, you paid for it. Lap it up.

You must like it when people in authority they never earned lie to you.