New far right coalition government in power in Austria! Threat of alienation from the EU! A new page opens in the ominous future of Europe and possibly beyond! How's it look to you? ------------------ "The crows are already stoned", he said. With a look of dispassion on his sad face.
peachy. Just freakin' peachy. My hat goes off to the "wisdom" of Austrian people. How was it Flash said it? Was it something, like, GRRRRRRRRRR?
I think it's more like Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! and Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! GGGRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!! But let's not over analyse! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! ... Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Whatever their electoral process is, the party in question seems to have gotten in there legitimately. There were no bloody coups, no revolutions, just good old fashioned politics in all their beauty and beastliness. We the World have absolutely no right to tell Austria what to do, especially since they haven't done anything yet. Isolating Austria will only alienate them and validate the position of the "fascists". China has committed more crimes againat humanity than Austria, yet everybody is dying to get into bed with the Chinese. What's the difference? ------------------ I may not agree with what you have to say, but I will fight, kill, and die for your right to say it.
Oxygen, As the World, we have every right to tell Austrians what to do. They can do whatever they want in their own country, of course -- but they shouldn't expect to do whatever they want with the World, if the World happens to dislike them. That includes trade -- as potential partners, we have every right to pick and choose our company, according to any criteria whatsoever we see fit. As to China, I agree. We've been way too soft on China, given the amount of "progress" they've been making. Why, even now they are cracking down on Phalun Gong. Just for that, they should have been put under sanctions a long time ago. Aside: I actually am not sure that sanctions in themselves are an effective tool to effect change (e.g., look at Cuba.) But at the very least, sanctions are an effective way to let our opinions and dissatisfaction be known. As a democratic nation, U.S. should be the last to hold back its opinions. ------------------ I am; therefore I think.
China has always been a distant and inscrutable place with a totalitarian communist political system. But they are looking to the capitalist West, more and more for trade. The West and China are moving towards each other. Austria on the other hand, lies in the dead centre of Europe and is in an easy position to exert its influence to the rest of it. Now that they have officially adopted the cancerous ideology of racism and judging from history and their most famous son(Hitler), it would seem to me that a serious metastasis of their fascist disease could easily take place, given the right conditions. Take into account that fascist, nationalistic political parties (in Europe and UK)have consistently been winning more and more votes during the past decade, especially during the last five years. Europe, being on the doorstep of the third world, is very vulnerable to mass illegal immigration and this, I think is the root cause of modern fascism within it. I think people with vision and a sense of recent European history, really have something to worry about! ... Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Tab, Just becuase this guy / goverment has a historical conection with the NAZI era doesn't mean the pres. or the right wing goverment are NAZIs. It just means there is a historical conection. I would like to see more on the goverments platform before I make any further judgments, but the media here in the USA seems to be fixating upon the historical conection than any thing eles. ------------------ All I know is what I understand. All I understand is what I know. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
I know very little about the government in Australia, but I would like to throw in a couple of points for consideration, if I may. * I must admit that I found the recent election to retain the Queen of England as head of state (forgive me, that's the American summary) rather odd. That, of course, comes from the fact that we kicked out the crown in the US a long time ago, and have since sat idly by while the British dropped the ball in Ireland, South Africa, and other nations. I have no idea, though, how this fits into the sphere of influence to which the topic refers. (I do, however, see the relationship playing out as applies to the EU ... a matter of whether or not Australia is part of Europe without the Crown.) * Recently, the Chinese countered American charges of political oppression by citing American prison numbers and how they break down along racial lines. Accepting, in this context, that I claim no moral superiority for American racisms, I am curious about the issue of reparations to Aboriginal tribes. While Conrad Richter's A Light in the Forest aptly describes American conditions, I cannot apply these to Australia. However, I was reminded of Richter when I heard an NPR report (mid-late '97) regarding Australian parliamentary debate concerning reparations to tribes fragmented by national policy. The stunning quote was not that Australia should not pay reparations, but the reason why: "... the aboriginal man is the lowest colour of evolution in God's creation." I'm aware that this statement upset many MPs in the orator's own party, but I'm curious how this sentiment played out in Australia, among the voting public. However, in order for either of these considerations to be relevant, I have to assume similar definitions of conservative and liberal for Australia that I do at home. Furthermore, I'm more curious if either of these political happenings are directly relevant to the situation described. I am fully prepared for the answer that they are independent considerations. Consider this, please, as my own curiousity, as, again, I admit my knowledge of Australian government is limited to impressions run through my own cultural filters. But I thought I'd take a moment to ask if these things fit into the issues at hand. thanx, Tiassa ------------------ Take a side you say, it's black and gray. And all the hunters take the hunted merrily out to play. We are one, you say, but who are you? You're all too busy reaping in the things you never sown. And this feast must go on and on and on .... Nobody gives a damn. (Floater; "Beast")
Pisssst Tiassa, They are talking about Austria not OZ Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Actually, I was wondering if the Australian aborigines had it the same way as the American aborigines. Being in the States, all I hear about native people anywhere is from the American tribes. Are the Australian tribes governed the same way? ------------------ I may not agree with what you have to say, but I will fight, kill, and die for your right to say it.
You know what's even funnier? I've been ignoring this topic since its initial post because I've been reading the wrong damn word there. :0 D'oh! (I'll just be over in the corner kicking myself.) --Tiassa
Tiassa, ROFLMAO!! No wonder you've been going on about Australia! And I've been wondering what the heck you were trying to say... Nothing like a little dyslexia to brighten the day, heh? Don't mean to be picking on you or anything, but this really was funny! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! ------------------ I am; therefore I think. [This message has been edited by Boris (edited February 09, 2000).]
Boris-- The sad thing was that I wasn't high when I wrote the Australia post. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Chalk that one up to a lesson learned. thanx, Tiassa Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! ------------------ Take a side you say, it's black and gray. And all the hunters take the hunted merrily out to play. We are one, you say, but who are you? You're all too busy reaping in the things you never sown. And this feast must go on and on and on .... Nobody gives a damn. (Floater; "Beast")
As long as we don't start hearing, "Meine Herren Ihre Stunde hat geschlagen...Sieg Heil!" coming from that part of the world again, I think we'll be alright. Still, this point being made, the Nazi Party was legally elected to power also. Heil... I mean good-bye for now.
