The FPÖ is one of the most successful extreme right-wing parties in Europe. They claim to represent the common people, who are working hard and having trouble making ends meet. In Austria, the working class and sections of the petty bourgeoisie have traditionally voted for Social Democratic Party. That tradition changed with the rise of the FPÖ 30 years ago. In the last election in September most of the working class voted FPÖ, which succeeded in articulating social problems in terms of race, not class. / One might think that the ball itself and the police restrictions caused a major outrage in the Austrian media, but that would be mistaken. The media outrage was over the actions of the antifascist protests, focusing on what the BBC termed nothing but “minor incidents” such as smashing windows. Most of the media decided not to concern themselves with the odious substance of the Burschenschaften ball or the erasure of democracy by the police. All they could talk about was what they called a “left-wing extremist” by a group called “the black block.”. But wait, it got worse. The president of the Viennese police said live on TV that he wanted to identify those injured by the police that sought help from the rescue service so that he could press charges. Essentially, those who sought medical attention can now be prosecuted.
Posted on: Mon, 03 Feb 2014 19:37:21 +0000
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