Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen opens the Bregenz Festival with an inflammatory speech. He warns of social exhaustion and a brutalization of community life. The head of state criticizes an ‘either-or’ mentality that tires many and ‘makes them nervous’.
Van der Bellen sees the opening of the Bregenz Festival every year as a wonderful opportunity to become ‘a little uncomfortable’. Said and done. Because according to his perception almost everything upsets him anyway:
- “Climate – disturbing and frustrating.”
- “Politics – provokes and frustrates.”
- “The EU – worries and frustrates.”
- “Democracy – excites and frustrates.”
- “Even an asterisk or a colon – they upset and frustrate you.”
The Federal President notes a breakdown of social coexistence. Is this due to increasing fatigue? “No, Austria is not tired! That is not who we are,” Van der Bellen continues.
Van der Bellen: A little tired
Democracy, peace, freedom, security, climate, fatherland and Europe would still matter. What makes you tired is the way it is talked about – ‘extremely irritated’.
Van der Bellen criticizes the ongoing cuts: “The world we talk about publicly is very simple. It is explained in a flash. It is clear. Something is black or white, big or small, above or below, good or bad.”
Anger about the ‘either/or’ mentality
The Federal President complains about this ‘either-or’ mentality. Either a climate terrorist or an air polluter. Either an angry citizen or a do-gooder. Whether a swearer or a sleeper. Whether a friend or an enemy. “Open the drawer – put him in – close the drawer. Practical! But dangerous,” the 80-year-old emphasizes. This principle divides people.
These drawers were often labeled. They were then ‘the media, the elites or the system’. But the reality is much more complicated: “In which drawer does someone who harvests his own organic cucumbers and eats a pork schnitzel with it, for example, fit in your coffin? Or someone who cycles to work every day and drives through Italy in an old VW bus in the summer? What about someone called Mustafa who speaks the harsh Tyrolean dialect?
The president sees divisive forces at work
A real, differentiated conversation takes time and effort. But the time is too short and the effort is too labor-intensive. Van der Bellen has been asking himself lately: where has our calm gone? “We humans are not either/or! We are everything in between.”
Unfortunately, there are forces that “do not use our beautiful Austrian contradictions as a bridge to each other, but as an instrument for division.” According to the 80-year-old, this can only work if people allow themselves to be exploited: “Don’t play along. We all have control over whether the atmosphere between us is trusting or poisonous. And division is a poison.”
Clean out drawers
At the end of the spiral, there is always only one thing waiting: violence! “Like on Saturday in the US. There should be no place for that.” Contempt is not an election manifesto. And hate is not a solution to problems. Van der Bellen’s final piece of advice: clean out the drawers. “So that we can talk to each other normally again – about climate, politics, democracy.”
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
