I’ve been living in Vienna the last few weeks, and will be here until the end of October.
Every time I visit Austria, I’m struck by the lack of “paranoia” in the population. Part of this may just be a smug assurance that the socialist government will take care of their needs—there is virtually free health care for all, subsidized housing, subsidized education, guaranteed pensions etc. (Although some are now asking where the money to pay for the promised benefits will come from in the future).
Not to mention the human trait—very pronounced in Austria—of ignoring the world around you to focus on friends, family and work.
Yet, despite the omniscient presence of "nanny government," there is no feeling of “Big Brother” here. Yes, there are now closed circuit TV cameras in the U-Bahn (subway) station, and even in some of the subway cars). I’ve also noticed a crackdown on “Schwarzfahrer” (literally, “black riders,” or people who try to ride public transit without paying). More transit police are checking subways, trams and buses to make sure riders have paid the correct fare. If not, a 60-euro fine is due on the spot.
Naturally, the Austrians complain about this, and some of the ones that I know ask me if it’s like this in America.
I tell them that I don’t really worry about CCTV or random ticket checks in the USA.
What I worry about, I tell them, is police armed with automatic weapons knocking down the door to my home in the middle of the night, and shooting everyone there if we even flinch. Or civil forfeiture laws where the government simply seizes everything you own without accusing you of any crime, forcing you to prove your property “innocent” in order to recover it.
“That sounds like Nazi Germany,” one friend told me a few days ago.
Yes, it does. Frightening thought, isn’t it?
