[spectre] what is required so that everybody can live in peace and freedom

[Jānis Garančs]

On 07/03/2022 15:25, Mathias Fuchs wrote:

>
> At the moment there are discussions across different parties and 
> groups in Austria to consider whether the "eternal neutrality" that 
> has been negotiated and agreed upon by Austria, the US, France, UK and 
> the Soviet Union in 1955, should be abolished and instead an attempt 
> should be made that Austria becomes a NATO member. 


> Now here is my answer to your question of how can we live in peace and 
> freedom: Maybe we should stick to neutrality, maybe we should spend 
> the money our nation has  - and that is our money, tax money and other 
> -on kindergardens, schools, on a lively artistic scene, on a critical 
> infrastructure of activists and intellectuals. !!!   And not spend our 
> money on missiles, tanks and mid range rockets.
>
> What about that?
I do not think that example of 'neutrality' of Austria (with its 
'not-neutral' role in WW2, and thus 1955 deal, is intellectually and 
morally fitting for the East Europe, especially knowing what happened 
right afterwards in Budapest 1956. It is not that Austria (or Mathias 
Fuchs) has discovered a wonderful scheme - by swapping military expenses 
for 'kindergardens, schools, on a lively artistic scene' - also by 
profitable deals with military aggressive monster (Austria's deals with 
Russia, etc.) that has has increased military spending around 4x (from 
pre-2000 to around 2016)- and cutting down 'a critical infrastructure of 
activists and intellectuals'!

Example of Baltic states (Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania) have been neutral 
in 1939/1940) - but violently annexed because of Europe-dividing deal 
between aggressors Germany and USSR.

Also after 1991 Baltics have been continuously harassed by Russia, 
threats of military invasion to 'protect Russian citizens' and cutting 
off chunks of territory, exactly what happened with Moldova 1992, 
Ukraine in 2014 (among other conflicts).

So - no, it is not 'neutrality' and 'pacifism' (and profiting while 
jeopardizing other community members), that enables 'peace and freedom' 
- but honesty in international relationships with the peers, collective 
security against the aggressive,totalitarian bully, by protecting common 
values of being able to express different political opinions, being able 
to elect oppositional political forces, without danger of being 
imprisoned, poisoned, killed, or simply outlawed for doing that!

JG