[Nettime-bold] Re: <nettime> Fwd: Letter to Thomas Klestil

[Phil Graham <phil.graham@mailbox.uq.edu.au>]

At 12:20 AM 16/06/00 +0200, Heiko Recktenwald wrote:

>Sorry for my poor english. But if you live in a contry full with
>paragraphs, where you are allowed to say this and that, you can say thats
>the other side of the coin, that it is a big insult not to choose the
>right words, as in this case. Or do you think the judges in austria are
>unfair etc ?

I have no idea what the judges in Austria are like. I was passing on a 
message I received. That's why I don't give a shit. However, from what I've 
read of the Pelinka case compared to Haider's comments on the public record 
in the past, I don't see how Pelinka could be fairly convicted. Haider 
*has* trivialised some pernicious aspects of National Socialism. He has 
done so publicly and has even apologised for doing so, or for at least 
giving the impression that he has done so.

> > Insensibility? Frankly, can you blame people
> > for being especially sensible to totalitarian regimes in Europe? Do you
> > think totalitarianism's all over and done with there?
>
>Well, this is the beginning of the whole austria discussion again.

No it's not. It's a response to your assertion about sensitivities to 
totalitarianism in Europe. You said it, not me. Not even the authors of the 
text I sent said it. You did.

Totalitarianism was not confined to Germany. In the late 20s - early 30s it 
was a populist movement in France, England, Italy, Australia, the US, 
Spain, the USSR, and Japan to name a few. It was an expression of the 
perceived need for "strong leadership" in the presence of increasing 
inequality and degraded social conditions throughout most of the West. It's 
a movement that is not over yet. In fact, I think government tends to be 
more totalitarian now than it's ever been, if you take the word in the 
sense that Mussolini meant it (and it was his invention). Common 
equivalents today are "whole of government approach", "joined up 
government", and so on. A misunderstanding of the meaning of "totalitarian" 
is the source of much wasted emotion and confused perceptions, yours 
included I think.

>Haider
>isnt a totalitarian politician. Its not a question of liking him or not,
>he simply isnt such a devil...if you stay in reality.

I didn't say he was. I have not seen enough of his policies to know what he 
is or isn't in terms of political traditions. I was responding to your 
comment about "European sensibilities", not commenting on Haider or the 
Freedom Party (although even such a name in today's negative public 
discourse immediately raises cause for concern in me because, based on 
general trends, it most likely means precisely the opposite. But then I am 
not claiming intimate knowledge of Austria).

My response is, again, clearly, unambiguously: who can blame Europeans for 
their sensibilities? Fifty years is not very long in human history, unless 
of course you subscribe to social amnesia as many today insist upon doing 
(cf. "The End of History" and all the "Third Way" idiots).

You seem to be very defensive of Haider and to know a lot about his 
political proclivities. Perhaps you can tell me: is Haider of the liberal, 
socialist, or conservative tradition. Or is he a mixture of two or three of 
these? Perhaps he is libertarian, but certainly not anarchist - neither of 
these I suspect. Perhaps a "social credit" type? A nationalist? 
Protectionist? What? What are his policies?

Tell me what political stripe Haider is, and why you think he is benign. 
These are genuine questions and requests for which I've yet to receive a 
clear answer from anybody.

>Anyway, best wishes from grey europe to black and white australia etc,

There is nothing black and white about Australia, but some people here are 
trying their hardest to make it so (I am assuming this last is a smartarsed 
comment from you and not a mistranslation). You are the one setting up 
good-evil binaries regarding Haider, not me. I was merely passing on a 
message that I thought would be of interest to others.

Phil


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