Monday, June 09, 2008

Austrians: “We’re Not Fooled”

Despite the best efforts of Austria’s media and political leaders, a recent poll shows that the Austrian people aren’t buying the bill of goods being sold to them by the European Union.

According to Die Presse, as translated by our Austrian correspondent ESW:

Survey: All power sits in Brussels

A majority of the population is convinced: National politicians have no influence.

53 percent of Austrians are convinced that policy is determined almost exclusively by Brussels. They see local politicians as largely deprived of any power. This is the result of a recent Market survey. Only 36 percent believe that national politicians are able to exercise great influence and that the EU is a pretext. The rest are undecided or refused to answer.

Indeed, the influence of local politicians has changed after (Austria’s) EU accession. They must find a common solution on many important decisions, especially in the economic sector, with representatives of all other member states. However, on central issues such as taxation, education or social policy the EU has little influence.
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In particular, people with higher education (with high school, university degree) still see a large concentration of power politics in their own country, according to the Market survey. Less educated people tend to see Brussels as overpowering.

Market survey

53% are of the opinion that: Austrian politics is largely without power. The EU is predominantly in charge of policies.
36% are of the opinion that: Austrian politics is not at all without power. The EU is a pretext for the politicians.

When ESW sent me her translation, she included the following in her cover note:

What I found interesting is the fact that there is a majority of Austrians who believe what we all know: Austrian politicians are powerless; the EU is in charge of everything. However, it wouldn’t be a proper MSM without “explaining” that all is well, that there is no EU influence on taxation, education and social policies.

Another interesting point is the number of higher educated people who are of the mainstream opinion, i.e. the official line, and that less educated believe what you and I believe. Does that mean the less educated know more? And how do they know more? Is it a gut feeling?

Multiculturalism and political correctness, like Marxism, are diseases of the intellectuals. That’s why well-educated people are more likely to succumb to them — they get infected during the extended process of their education. Some of us are resistant to the pathogens, but most are not.

The totalitarian hells of the 20th century were dreamed up and implemented by intellectuals, with ordinary people as their unwilling victims. The softer 21st century version — call it “Marxism Lite” — is being shoved down the throats of the populace in the same manner.

In the Marxists’ grand social experiment, average citizens are the lab rats. It’s no wonder that they object to the role.

5 comments:

livfreerdie said...

A high school or college diploma doesn't make one "smarter", just more "educated".

Tom

dienw said...

And the hard studying, strong memorizing, A student is the most infected: he has to justify all the false knowledge gained from his hard work.

talnik said...

In my experience, the more "educated" people are the less critical thinking they employ (younger folks, that is). The world is as they were taught in their early twenties, despite their own life experiences, period.
It takes years of indoctrination to accept ideas that are antithetical to one's own interests, ideas such as abortion, P.C., relativism and multiculturalism. On top of it all they often arrogantly consider themselves sophisticated for believing such nonsense.

the doctor said...

I must admit that I tell my students that seats of higher education teach you to think critically , you leave thinking that you know a lot about a subject . However I point out that they will have to learn "common sense" before they will be of any use to society and only life experience can teach that. This could explain the Austrian poll results .

Henrik R Clausen said...

The totalitarian hells of the 20th century were dreamed up and implemented by intellectuals, with ordinary people as their unwilling victims.

True.

Particular interesting is the fact that EU was drafted up at approximately the same point in time, in the 1920's, as a method to fix the WWI problems, with the same structure as the long-defunct League of Nations.

EU, with its current structure, is not an answer to the problems we face today.