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March 2000

The Devil You Know

The dangers of turning a deaf ear toward Jörg Haider

There is nothing primordial, or irrational about hating foreigners. It satisfies a psychological need to belong to a group and provides material benefits. It is rational for political managers seeking power to spread the belief that their party is better, to bring ethnic or national tradition to propagandistic levels, to play on people’s ignorance, to do what is necessary to gain a following. Jörg Haider won 26.9 % of the votes in the last Austrian election by employing tactics that will, if not successfully opposed, lead to an increase in social violence in that country. Until now, Haider has effectively used demagogy to capture and maintain power. By using nationalist, racist and neo-fascist clichés, he has been able to brand himself the supporter of the Volk and to stoke the belief that it is in the Volk’s best interest to engage in a preemptive attack against foreigners and minorities. The latter, with their supporters, are beginning to respond. Unless something is done to prevent it, the level of violence can only escalate. Verbal violence gives rise to hate as well as to an even stronger belief that “we” must destroy the other side before “they” destroy us. Discrimination on both sides will become a way of life and physical brutality an ever-present danger. The official organs of the EU acted as expected to the announcement that Haider’s party, the FPÖ (Freiheitliche Partei Österreich), was to become a member of the governing coalition. They proceeded with eyes wide shut to free-trade and its discontents, a shortage of analysis, a surplus of political arrogance and a desire to handle business as usual. Equating Haider with Hitler and the FPÖ with the Nazis, they have taken action to restrict diplomatic relations with Austria. Haider is not a criminal and the members of the FPÖ are not Nazis. He is a political populist, a good marketer, playing the niches, capturing hearts and minds by means of clever packaging. He says what his audience wants to hear. In interviews with ZDF and Der Spiegel, he is well mannered and serious, wielding the jargon of a neo-liberal economist who aims to shower prosperity on all. Before veterans of the SS, he talks about what a wonderful program Hitler had for the workers, how members of the SS were upright citizens and suggests that the KZs were camps where criminals were punished. At a macho male Stammtisch, he insists that women should stay home and have babies. At a recent dinner held in commemoration of Martin Luther King Day, he met New York City mayor Rudi Giuliani and Roy Innis, the national director of The Congress of Racial Equality. No doubt he presented himself quite differently to each of them. The actions of the EU show their inability to distinguish between Haider’s populist rhetoric and political terrorism. Haider is responding to local resentment of what is perceived as a global cultural takeover that is overwhelming and insulting in its proportions. At best, globalization may be able to create a unified market. It will not and cannot produce a unified Austria, Europe, America or the world. The EU’s frail attempt to come to terms with the ethnic and national vulnerabilities that result from the process of globalization is simply misdirected, plays into Haider’s hands and sets the stage for political terrorism. It also shows the EU’s incompetence to carry on the work of democracy — to neutralize hate and reduce prejudice through open discussion. Haider shouldn’t be muzzled. He should be interrupted, interrogated, forced to talk — and not only by the opposition parties in Austria. Tourist organizations, foreign students, foreign businesses, importers, religious organizations, artists, sports teams and reporters have a job to do. Telling the difference between advertising slogans and the truth does not require a diplomatic license. <<<

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