Multi-ethnic Society -a Curse or a Blessing?
Simplified Version
Is it a curse or a blessing in disguise to be surrounded by a mix of different cultures from all over the world situated here in Austria, but more specifically in Vienna?
Austria never really was a go-to country for different cultures because of its secluded background. Sure, after the walls fell some people from the surrounding areas around Austria came flooding in, like the Slovaks (otherwise known as Tschuschen- a very diminutive term most often heard in the Viennese dialect) and Hungarians and even a few Polish families found their new home here in Vienna. But are these people and their culture not similar to that of the Viennese? After a while, however, the Austrians got used to these faces, like how one gets used to all things new, the ‘new’ ends up becoming the norm, and it was not a problem to live together in harmony.
The eastern society living in Vienna, however, is not at all like the sister counterparts of Austria. These are the people you will see creating trouble in the streets and in schools, leaving trash anywhere and everywhere they see fit- either on top of tables or benches or on the ground, basically anyplace but a trashcan; to put it simply: not the type of culture that integrates easily if even at all.
So is it a good thing for Vienna to be a multi-ethnic society? A single benefit would be food. No longer does one have to spend enormous amounts of money in a fancy restaurant to get Indian food for example. We have bazars and ethnic markets to cater to such cultural needs, not to mention several small eastern supermarkets (which pop out of nowhere fast and are all technically opened illegally without any type of business license, but they have no need for those because the state overlooks it and brings the easterners in in the first place- but good luck to any local trying to open up some kind of business, the state wont approve it anyway even if the would-be owner had the proper license). But is the food really worth it?
With this cultural mishmash that Vienna has unknowingly turned into, it creates a lot of problems on several different levels. An obvious hurdle would be communication. In Vienna, one speaks German. For tourists, it is natural that store- and transportation employees speak a little English, or at the very least, have some knowledge thereof. Keep in mind though, that most of the people integrating also do not know English, maybe a few basic words, but even that is giving too much credit. Is it okay for a citizen of Vienna (born locally or not is completely irrelevant) not to know a single word of German, or to refuse the fact he or she should learn the language that is spoken there?
Another problem that is on the rise are the cultural “ticks” one brings with them to Vienna from where ever it was they came from. Austria has a Christian religious background. That means every person, man or woman, boy or girl, gets treated the same with equal respect. One is not portrayed as the ruler and one does not tower over the other sex. The importance of both is mutual. Almost all of the people one sees nowadays in Vienna have their heads covered with scarves (in case you are unsure what that is supposed to mean: almost every person you see is some type of easterner, whether they are Muslim or Arabic or Egyptian or another brand of easterner, who the heck knows!). If you move to a different country to live in, you should be slowly forced to adapt to the ways of living there. If you are the type to push back and be forceful and live off society because the state finds it fine, you should not be here, but more importantly you do not belong here.
Austria’s culture is disappearing fast. It is getting buried by everything else and even the Austrians do not seem to care. That should not happen, but maybe they deserve what they are getting?