| |
|
All-Arnold Era for an Austrian,
Los Angeles Times, Dec.17, 2003
For an Austrian living in the
United States, the fact that Arnold Schwarzenegger is governor of California
has some advantages. When I get into a taxi now, I don't get asked about
Joerg Haider, the right-wing politician who was on magazine covers all
over the globe a few years back, or Kurt Waldheim and his World War II
past. Instead it's all Arnold, all the time.
Americans light up when I say where I'm from, and out pours a torrent
of questions - and misapprehensions - about the governor's homeland. Bodybuilding
is not the most popular sport in Austria. (We prefer downhill skiing.)
Nor is "Edelweiss,", played at the governor's inauguration,
our national anthem. (Most Austrians have never seen "The Sound of
Music.")
Misconceptions or not, California's new governor is a PR bonanza for my
country. And while Schwarzenegger and his trajectory from a little village
outside Graz to the Capitol in Sacramento is a big story here, it's huge
in Austria too.
Does that mean that all Austrians are devoted Arnold fans? Not necessarily.
The "Terminator" films were successful in Austria, as they were
the world over, but in Viennese coffeehouses it may be easier to find
people who dislike the violence in those movies than true Schwarzenegger
fans. Nonetheless, Austrians from moderate-left Social Democrats to the
conservative People's Party praised his political success.
Austrians realize that Schwarzenegger's starring role on the world stage
came about because an ambitious young man decided to emigrate 35 years
ago. They also know that internationalization, modernization and geography
(proximity to the now-burgeoningformer Eastern Bloc) have made Austria
one of the richest nations of the European Union. Yet upward mobility,
so much a part of U.S. culture, is not easily achieved in Austria.
And even though immigrants account for up to 20% of the population in
Austria's big cities, it's a far cry from the U.S., where an immigrant
with an Austrian passport can be elected to the highest office in a state.
Not one member of our Parliament comes from the Serbia, Croation or Turkish
immigrant communities. On the other hand, could the consensus politics
that have dominated postwar Austria have had something to do with Schwarzenegger's
attempt to reach out to both Democrats and Republicans in california?
Can a nice, moderate Austrian rescue the U.S.from what some Europeans
see as conservative hard-liners in Washington?
And what mor can Austria expect from Schwarzenegger's American success?
Our politicians hope it will lead to stronger ties between California
and Austria. The rest of us hope that the phrase "Austro American"
can now compete with "Italien American", "Greek American"
and all the others in the most powerful nation on Earth.
nach oben,
Fenster schließen
|