Commentary

I recently read an article entitled “Politics as Theatre,” a critique of all that I have tried to do in politics. It argued that in politics, there is no place for a realm as superfluous as theatre. To be sure, in the early months of my presidency, some of my ideas demonstrated more theatrical flair than political foresight.

Some names sound destined for legend. Like Leopold Hawelka. And Josefine Hawelka. But no, they weren’t characters in a play by Arthur Schnitzler. They were two of Vienna’s most admired Kaffeesieder, coffee house proprietors.

It is increasingly evident that Europe’s political leaders, for all their commitment to the Euro’s survival, do not have a good grasp of what is required to make the single currency work. The prevailing view when the Euro was established was that all that was required was fiscal discipline – no country’s fiscal deficit or public debt, relative to GDP, should be too large.

It is difficult to decide where to start: Is Hungary’s government to be criticized first for its dilettantism, or for its authoritarianism?

With their backroom politicking at the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF) exposed, the nation’s politicians have shown scant remorse. According to Werner Faymann: “Parties having no say at all, that doesn’t exist in all of Europe!” 

While the end of the world has been predicted many times, 2012 is a particularly popular year for apocalypse theories. Human beings just love the idea of being able to predict the future. Of course we also like to speculate on our origins. We tell stories of ribs and utopian gardens, or turtles upon turtles to help us imagine it. 

The U.S. rating agency Standard and Poor’s has become a something of a joke in Austria. What? They downgraded us? While still awarding a AAA to the United Kingdom?  

Since the London riots, every Austrian knows that unemployment in the U.K. is high – in fact 8.6%, whereas here it still hovers around 4%, the lowest in the EU.  Our public debt, while too high at 70% of GDP, is far below the eurozone average of 86% and far below the U.K. at 148%, both figures counting financial interventions.  All in all, it’s just not funny! 

All over the news, we read how people are trying to capture “in a nutshell” what is really going on in Europe. While I doubt that there is any nutshell way of putting the situation, the attempts are impressive. 

The recent Education Reform Initiative (Bildungsinitiative)has raised sharp debate about overhauling Austria’s educational system. Although its goal is admirable – better, more equal education for all – its approach may be overzealous.

The holiday season is upon us, and 99% of us are protesting bankers, big business and bonuses. At this time of year, people living in countries with Christian traditions are battered into submission by call centre infomercials collecting money for the hungry, the orphaned, the blind – anything, really. We save up all our goodness for one time of year, when some of us get extra Christmas pay, or we just want to up our deductibles. Or maybe we really do feel like doing good.