“Dieses Land wird nur dann frei sein, wenn es ein deutsches Land ist!” (profil, 13.8.1984)
“This country will only be free when it is a German country!”

“Im Dritten Reich haben sie ordentliche Beschäftigungspolitik gemacht. was nicht einmal Ihre Regierung in Wien zusammenbringt” (Protokoll der Sitzung des Kärtner Landtags, 13.6.1991)
“In the Third Reich, they carried out an orderly employment policy, which is not even accomplished by your government in Vienna”

“Hitlers Arbeitsprogramm hatte positve Effekte” (Wall Street Journal, 8.9.1993)
“Hitler’s employment programme had positive effects”

Jörg Haider über den bei seiner Abschiebung erstickten Marcus Omofuma, der kein Drogendealer war: “Und ich frage mich amal wirklich, was wiegt denn mehr für jene, die Krokodilstränen zerdrückt haben für den zu Tode gekommenen Schubhäftling…Das Risiko beim Abschub oder die Vernichtung von jungen Menschen, deren Leben vernichtet wird, durch den Drogenkonsum, der von jenen kommt, die hier illegal in Österreich ihr schmutziges Geschäft treiben…Mörder unserer Kinder haben hier in Österreich nichts verloren…” (FPÖ-Bundesparteitag, 28.5.1999)
Jörg Haider on Marcuse Omofuma, who died in being deported from Austria by the police, and who was not a drug dealer: “And I am really asking myself: What counts more for thosw, who have shed crocodile tears on the dead detainee…The risk at deportation or the annihilation of young people, whose life is destroyed by drug consumption that comes from those who make their dirty business illegally here in Austria…The murderers of our children have no right to be in Austria…”.

Nochmals über Omofuma: “Ich habe gesagt es ist ein tragischer Vorfall gewesen, aber man muss auch umgekehrt die Seite – und darum geht’s mir -, dass man auch die Seite der Opfer einmal sieht. Dass man also nicht dauernd Krokodilstränen für einen abgeschobenen Drogendealer hat, während man gleichzeitig die Opfer, die er verursacht hat” (Falter-Interview, 23.9.1999).
“I have said that it was a tragic incident, but one must on the contrary also see the side – and that is my point -, that one also once sees the side of the victims. That one does not permanently shed crocodile tears for a deported drug dealer, while at the same time the victims that he has caused…”

Jörg Haider über Roma und die Vernichtungslager im Nationalsozialismus: “Das Nichtintegrieren einer ethnischen Minderheit, die schon einmal vor 50 Jahren fast vernichtet wurde in den Straflagern des Nationalsozialismus, sie wieder anzusiedeln und auszugrenzen, hängt damit zusammen, daß man den Willen, den man hier bekundet, in der praktischen Politik gar nicht einbringt (Kurier, 9.2.1995)
Jörg Haider on Romanies and extermination camps in National Socialism: “The non-integration of an ethnic minority that was once already almost annihilated 40 years ago in the penal camps of National Socialism, the repetition of their settlement and exclusion, has to do with not showing the will that is evinced here in practical politics”.

Jörg Haider zu ehemaligen SS-Leuten: “…daß es in dieser Welt einfach noch anständige Menschen gibt, die einen Charakter haben und die auch bei größtem Gegenwind zu ihrer Überzeugung stehen und ihrer Überzeugung bis heute treu geblieben sind. Und das ist eine Basis, meine lieben Freunde, die auch an uns Junge weitergegeben wird, von der wir letztlich auch leben” (zitiert nach Bailer Neugebauer 1997, S. 70).
Jörg Haider to former SS members: “…that there are still decent people in this world, with personality and who stand by their believs even if there is greatest head wind and who have remained true to their believes until today. And this is a foundation, my dear friends, that is passed on to us young ones, from which we ultimately live”.

“Die vornehmste dieser Aufgaben ist die Abwehr aller Bestrebungen, die auf eine Loslösung Österreichs vom Deutschtum gerichtet sind. Wir haben daher in den Deutschen Österreichs das Bewußtsein wachzuhalten, ein Teil des deutschen Volkes mit allen sich aus dieser Zugehörigkeit ergebenden Rechten und Pflichten zu sein” (Deutsche National- und Soldatenzeitung, 29.7.1966)
“The noblest of these tasks is the defense of all ambitions that are oriented on a dissociation of Austria from Germanness. We therefore have to maintain the German Austrians’ consciousness of being part of the German nation, including all rights and duties that result from this affiliation”.

“Die FPÖ ist keine Nachfolgeorganisation der NSDAP. Denn wäre sie dies, hätte sie die absolute Mehrheit” (Pressekonferenz zur Reder-Affäre, 17.2.1985).
“The FPÖ is not a successor organization of the NSDAP. If this were so, it would have the absolute majority”

“Ich war bei Freunden in Namibia, dem ehemaligen Deutsch-Südwestafrika, mit meiner Familie zusammen, weil ich ein bisschen erproben wollte, wie das Zusammenleben mit den Schwarzen so ist, wenn sie die Mehrheit haben. Mit den Schwarzen ist es wirklich so ein Problem. Selbst dort, wo sie die Mehrheit haben, bringen sie nichts zusammen. Da ist einfach wirklich Hopfen und Malz verloren” (Jörg Haider, ZIB2, 1.3.1995).
“I visisted friends in Namibia, the former German Southwest-Africa, together with my family, because I wanted to test a little bit how living together with the blacks looks if they have the majority. It is really a problem with the blacks. Even in places, where they have the majority, they accomplish nothing. This is really a lost cause”.

“Nicht die Freiheitlichen sind die Schädlinge der Demokratie. Wir sind das Schädlingsbekämpfungsmittel. Bei uns regieren die Rothäute und die Schwarzen – und nicht, wie üblich, daß sie in den Reservaten leben” (Die Presse, 10.9.1990)
“The members of the FPÖ are not the vermins of democracy. We are the pesticides. Here the redskins and the blacks rule – they do not live in reservations as is usual”.

Given this latent right-wing extremist and fascist potential in the mind of many Austrians, they tend to elect for the extreme right-wing in situations of political crisis (like the SPÖ-ÖVP quarels) and economic crisis (like the current strong price increases and the new oil and financial crises that are indicative of a new economic crisis of capitalism). There are hardly counter-forces to such periodical shifts towards the right because traditionally there is a weak political left in Austria. It seems to be a historical law that in Austrial political and/or economic crisis take the form of in the realization of fascist potentials. The voters did not simply vote for the political right because they are disappointed, but because there is a dangerous potentialof at least 30% fascist-minded Austrians that is activated in crisis situations.

Austria not only lacks an institutionalized left, it also lacks a culture of protest, social movements, and has only a weak civil society. This is on the one hand due to the system of the social partnership that brings together capital and labour interests in negotiations and has historically forestalled strikes (there were NO major strikes in Austria in the past decades). On the other hand most Austrians have an attitude of servitude, and an authoritarian belief in leadership that migh be deep-rooted in the history of the former Austrian monarchy and the later rise of National Socialism. Anyway it is counter-productive to protests and promotional for the rise of institutionalized right-wing extremism. The protests against the inclusion of the FPÖ into government in 2000 were the first mass protests in Austria after 1945.

The danger now is that the Conservative ÖVP will try to form a coalition-government together with BZÖ and FPÖ, just like they did in 2000 (when BZÖ and FPÖ were still one party). Such a development could very well result in a development towards a new fascism in Austria. Austria and Austrians have not learned from history. The full negativity of history could very well repeat itself.

In the television debate between the Conservative (ÖVP) front-runner Wilhelm Molterer and the Social Democratic front-runner Werner Faymann in preparation for the Austrian general elections on September 28, 2008, Molterer proved his lack of knowledge of German. He showed a sign with a quote from the newspaper Der Standard (The Standard) that contained the subtitle “STANDART 12.6.08″. Such illiterates are unsuited for government and politics. Faymann: “What have you brought here? STANDART. I tell you very honestly, Mr. Molterer, the sign says ‘STANDART’. I just want to tell you how one writes ‘Standard’”.

The topics that the competing parties have thus far presented are superficial and neglect the actual problems that people are facing in their everyday lives (such as the sharp rice in prices). This can also be observed by taking a look at the topics that are represented on election posters:

The ÖVP placards racist, right-wing, conservative values: “Enough is enough! Somebody who wants to live here, must speak our language. No immigration without taking German courses. No rights without duties”. “Families need help against the rise in prices! A double amount of family allowance each Sepember. Promised-Kept!”

The SPÖ relies on the unpolitical topic of trust in politicians: “Werner Faymann. The new option”. “Enough quarreling. Werner Faymann. SPÖ”

The same strategy is pursued by the Green Party that has election posters, which present their front-runner saying: “Permanent quarrels? Not with me”. “Dropping principles? Not with me”.

The Freedom Party (FPÖ) also attempts a racist-populist strategy: “Social security for our people. They are against HIM. Because HE supports YOU. HC Strache 08″. “Asylum fraud means flying back home”

The Liberals (LIF): “Sincerity. Openness. Fairness. This would be a three-way coalition for the next government!”

Promising abstract trust by persons and parties is almost cynical in a time when many people distrust politicians because they benefit less and less from overall material wealth.

The true issue for the people is income distribution. But this is neglected by the parties because they do not seem to have solutions and finding solutions would be uncomfortable for some.

Statistics show that corporations and the rich become ever more wealthy in Austria because the mass of people becomes relatively poorer.

Profits, wage share and productivity in Austria (Source: EU AMECO Database)

The image shows that in the past 40 years the productivity in Austria has doubled (blue graph, left scale). This resulted in an overall growth of wealth. But the wages have been relatively declining. The wage share, which is the pshare of the total economic wage sum in the gross national product (GNP), has decreased from more than 70 percent in 1980 to approximately 55 percent in 2008 (yellow graph, right scale). At the same time corporate profits have grown almost exponentially (red graph, right scale. They amount to approximately 80 billion Euro in 2008. This shows that the reason that many Austrians think that financial survival becomes ever more difficult and that the recent price increases have hit them hard, is that corporations increase their profits by keeping wages relatively low.

The next image shows that the profit share (blue graph), which is the share of the economic profit sum in the GNP, has continuously increased in the past decades in Austria.

Profit share in Austria

It is also interesting to see which Austrian corporations are the largest ones. They are ordered by capital assets (in billion Euros) in the next table.

Austria’s largest corporations 2008 (Source: Forbes 2000)

1 315 872 Austrians (21.4% of all incomes) earned annually less than 8 000 € in 2005 (Source: Statistisches Jahrbuch 2008, table 34.19). Their income amounts approximately to the profits of the 13 largest Austrian corporations listed above. (Total income of these 1 315 872 Austrians (Statistisches Jahrbuch 2008 ) 4.829 billion Euro, total profits of the 13 largest Austrian corporations: 9.26 billion US$=approximately 6.26 billion Euro).

The next image shows that the profit rates, i.e. the relation of profits to investment costs, of listed Austrian corporations have had high magnitudes during all of the past ten years. In the past couple of years, the average profit rate of listed corporations has always exceeded 10%.

Profit rates of listed Austrian corporations. Source: Shareholder Performance Test 1998-2007, Contrast Management-Consulting

The average tax rate on capital was 23.4 percent in Austria in the year 2006. The average tax rate on capital in the European Union is 33 percent. In Ireland, France and Denmark, it is above 40 percent. Austria is one of the taillights in the ranking of tax rates on capital in Europe (Source: Tax Rates on Capital 2006, Eurostat).

Tax Rates on Capital 2006 (Eurostat), in percent
Ireland 42,5
France 41,5
Denmark 40,9
United Kingdom 39,7
Spain 38,7
Cyprus 36,6
Italy 34,4
EU27 33,3
EU25 33,3
Belgium 32,3
EU15 31,9
Czech Republic 24,9
Finland 24,6
Germany 23,4
Austria 23,4
Netherlands 20
Slovakia 18,1
Lithuania 14,1
Estonia 8,4

Why do many Austrians feel so affected by the recent prince increases? Because profits stand over human interests in Austria. Because capital taxation is so low. Because wages increase at a much lower rate than profits. The only solution is a trend reversal – to admit that corporate profits and one-sidedly distributed wealth are immoral and perverse and that a redistribution from corporations and the upper class to lower classes is needed desperately. How can this be achieved? By a heavy increase of tax rates on capital and wealth. And this also means that it has to be clearly communicated in the public that there are groups (corporations, stockholders, the rich), from which a certain wealth needs to be taken, in order to give it to poorer groups. This shows that established Austrian parties are not willing to put an end to income inequality. They represent dominant economic interests. As a result, the issue is neglected and people are told that the causes of the increase in prices are immigrants or that the solution is increasing the family allowance. One should not expect change after these elections. Election campaigns, in which there is a personalizing, superficial focus on trust in politicians and that are silent on the issue of capitalism, are expressions of a politcal circus show that ridicules the suffering mass of the people.

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