All over Europe not only religious and national holidays are observed, but also a socialist holiday, which we always thought was a bit strange – and in a way quite telling (as far as we know, there is no holiday celebrating the free market). Traditionally the rank and file comrades tend to gather around their leaders on May Day, waving their party-approved banners and dutifully applauding at the appropriate moments. Not anymeure, as Clouseau would say.
The sign says: “Lying press, system of lies, scandal” – in Germany these demonstrators are somewhat condescendingly referred to as “Wutbürger” in the mainstream press (i.e., “angry citizens”). The term essentially implies that while they’re momentarily irate, they have no plan anyway, and can be expected to calm down again soon enough. This seems to have succeeded in making them even more angry. Photo credit: IMAGO
In several European countries the political situation is deteriorating at warp speed lately. We say “deteriorating” not because we commiserate with the establishment figures that have come under pressure, but because the alternatives are usually not exactly appealing either (more on developments on this front in a follow-up post).
Here is a scene from May Day celebrations in Austria, that must surely have shocked the country’s political elite. Socialist chancellor Werner Faymann and the bigwigs of his fast-shrinking party found themselves confronted with a rather unusual May Day crowd. This was actually the second shock for the establishment in a very short time – the first was delivered on occasion of the recent presidential election.
The video shows Faymann delivering his traditional May Day address, which is essentially a sequence of socialist platitudes like every year – only garnished with occasional references to “difficult times” this time around.
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