The choice of bourgeois, green or liberal parties is not infrequently an expression of social prosperity. But this is seriously threatened these days. The economic consequences of the corona pandemic are inexorable: the inflation rate has risen sharply recently, and life is becoming less and less affordable. At the same time, economic growth is limited by supply chain bottlenecks and a shortage of raw materials – a situation quite comparable to the USA in the 1970s. The ECB only speaks of temporary catch-up effects, but if inflation expectations shift permanently, a wage-price spiral could be set in motion, which can lead to even greater inflation. Blessed are those who have invested their wealth in real estate, stocks or cryptocurrencies. The fixed-rate saver is stupid.
In Europe, the conservative governments are overturning in a row, most recently Germany, which will in future be led by an SPD chancellor. It is basically irresponsible that in these times the Greens are boosting inflation with eco-measures. Now is not the right time for climate protection measures, cargo bike grants or CO2 taxes. Everything that drives prices up drives people into the arms of the socialists and the Greens cannot benefit from that either, because just because they are on the left does not necessarily mean that they are perceived as a social party. The green voters in my private environment are all civil servants, executives or doctors, but they too will sooner or later feel the consequences of the pandemic. Very similar effects could be observed in Great Britain after 1945: Churchill got the people through the war, but then lost the election to the socialist challenger. The people had had enough of the hardships and instead chose political forces who promised to spend the money with full hands.
This example should be a warning to Austria, because the slide to the left can hardly be denied. The fall of Sebastian Kurz as one of the most important European figureheads of the bourgeoisie and conservatives could mark the beginning of a political turning point, so that for the first time it is not unlikely that you will suddenly wake up with a Chancellor Pamela Rendi-Wagner. The left will seize the opportunity and call a culture war in which they will attack the top performers head-on in order to blame them for the precarious economic situation. The goal is not to raise general prosperity again, but to expand the influence of the state. Debates like the ones we are currently having about the corona vaccination are in truth only opium for the people because they divide and distract from what is really important now: Not whether everyone is vaccinated at work, but whether the workplaces will still be tomorrow exist. The ÖVP is now called upon to focus fully on economic and labor market policy, because green experiments could only aggravate the situation unnecessarily. We cannot expect minors making noise at Fridays For Future or full-time eco-activists to be able to grasp that the near future is more relevant now than any horror scenarios that may or may not be hundreds of years from now enter first. Of course it is important to take care of the environment and to live sustainably, but the eco-transition must also be financed and if people soon have no more money to afford their lives, cargo bikes will not be the most pressing issue.
Unfortunately, economic education in our country is below average and the oversaturation has allowed some nonsense debates about innumerable gender identities and gender asterisks in the Bible. But the tone will soon get rougher again when it comes to existential worries. The promises of salvation of the left are taken up by the thirsty people like ambrosia and the state’s influence is gradually growing again. Prosperity is the most important achievement of the post-war period – we must not sacrifice it lightly.
