A little later this year than last, which I think is a good thing. I caught a faint whiff this morning and by this evening they were as noticeable as ever. Ah, May!
And the SPÖ (Social Democrats) are marching again. This year, the parade looks a little bigger than the past few years, perhaps because of their solid results in the elections last Sunday. Beautiful weather and a well-trained brass band are part of the tradition.
Not surprisingly, one of the banners called for solidarity. This took me back to an exercise I used to do with my U.S. American summer school students in Vienna.
To highlight one of the major differences in worldview that I see between the USA and Europe, I would ask my students for their associations with the word “solidarity.” This question was almost invariably met with confusion. What associations should they have with that word? Then I would give them examples of what my Austrian students of the same age would answer: Lech Walesa, of course, sticking together, and taking care of each other. Some Austrian students would even get into the political aspects and how solidarity is built into the systems here. I see the common use of and familiarity with the word “solidarity” as a cultural artifact for the more collectivist system here.
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